The Feuding Zappas

I was wearing one of my Dweezil Zappa Play's Zappa shirts at Metallica on Tues night.... got quite a few thumb's up!

 

damn I feel like a ******* I was trying to figure out what that meant , Then I was like hey Grand FUnk has a song called that and then I spelt it backwards WOOOOOOOO

 

Every time this thread gets updated after a few months, I figure there's something new in the feud.

Glad there isn't at the moment.

 

Anytime I wear mine I always get a lot of thumbs up as well. It's almost as if Zappa just gets that respect.

 

We need a new t-shirt that says, "Zappa STILL plays Zappa...and YOU still CAN'T, Ahmet!"

 

Diva and Ahmet's "responses"

Diva Zappa on Twitter

Ahmet Zappa on Twitter

I can't believe what a circus this has become. Reading that completely meaningless document just proves Dweezil has been getting screwed for years.

 

Either Dweezil's done something no one's been told about or Ahmet and Diva are this deluded and greedy. It doesn't make sense.

 

Zappa gets respect.

 

Putting out only the cover page of a legal document is a pretty good sign that the rest of it would make them look bad. The cover tells us nothing other than that they are avoiding answering interrogatory number 1, which doesn't make them look real good either.

Choke on a hologram Ahmet's and Diva.

 

Another reply from Dweezil, a note from lawyer to lawyer:



Twitter

 

When did 4 - 5 come out?
BTB 3 was digital download from Amazon eons ago, the contents of that set came from the Italian "Apocrypha" 4-CD (Great Dane) set

 

Found a lp of "Havin A Bad Day" (Chrysalis version) for .10 the same day I heard about the "Hologram" thing.

 

Actually, the document refutes at least one of Dweezil's main points. It clearly states that Dweezil himself asserted on a DVD package that his name was a trademark of the ZFT even though he produced it himself. Now, he wants to take it back because Ahmet and Diva are in charge.

Not saying that Dweezil has been treated fairly, but he chooses to be selective with the truth when it suits him.

Also, the fact that Dweezil is soliciting disciples is quite creepy. Frank would have NEVER done that. He would have sooner supported a hologram tour.

This is a power struggle. Nothing more. Nothing less. Ahmet and Diva have control over the ZFT. That's their leverage. Dweezil doesn't have that, so he's using the goodwill that he has built up with the fans and the media to garner favor in the court of public opinion. It seems to be working quite well for him.

I do find it interesting that Diva's tweet was the salient one while Ahmet just tried to return fire. (Sorry, dude. Swing and a miss.) Maybe Diva isn't as disengaged as people want to believe.

 

That family have lost their minds.

 

It's too bad because I genuinely think each person in this family feud has a lot of talent. But it sounds like a very dysfunctional family, even when Frank was alive. And I think Gail made it worse by how she ran things, and now Ahmet and Diva just don't know how to handle this business. I think Dweezil has a legitimate claim that, the liner notes of a DVD notwithstanding, he should be able to use his name to market his music. He shouldn't be compelled to sell Zappa merchandise and not receive a fair share of the proceeds. Ahmet and Diva should focus on the Frank Zappa brand and the catalog and the music being released from the vault, and let Dweezil go out and play the music live without all this legal maneuvering to "protect" the ZFT when, in reality, it is really doing more harm than good.

 

Disciples? I wouldn't go so far as to say a pledgemusic campaign is soliciting anything but funds for what is going to be a very costly legal battle. Funds which as he rightly stated the ZFT has an ample supply of, dispite them also being "millions of dollars in debt", as was stated to him when he tried to get the money owed to him from the tour merchandise.

True, that little statement about the Dweezil trademark was probably seen by him back in 2008, yet at the time he probably didn't realize the depths to which his mother would sink to prevent him from earning money. And if someone owned the copyright if your own name, surely you would want it back for yourself.

I'm sure there is a lot to the story we don't know, but from my perspective, Dweezil seems like to victim here. Note that he did not try to fight the appointment of the trustees after Gail's death. He didn't try and claim ownership of the ZPZ name. He went so far as to change the name of his touring act, just so he could continue playing the music of his own father.

 

Wow, Ahmet is getting savaged on Twitter. One can only hope that this "outing" of the legal battle will help bring about a resolution.

 

I am not tempted to offer financial support to Dweezil, even though I have more sympathy for his position. What truly amazes me is how a fine family fortune was squandered on petty legal pursuits.

 

Yeah, if I threw a handful of $20's into a burning dumpster instead, at least I will get warmer for a minute...

 

They sure do love litigation and giving money to Attorneys. I guess they got it from Gail who managed to blow through 20 million dollars on futile litigation.

I can't help but wonder if they are are being somewhat instigated by the lawyers. Once the parties stop talking to each other and only communicate through lawyers it becomes nearly impossible for them to settle their differences. It's a travesty.

 

When the first (of only two? have both)Z CDs came out I chanced it and loved it so, I went back to my local record shop to buy two more as birthday gifts to a like minded friend & family member .At the cash register one person was in the process of paying for his CD and while I was waiting next to him. I had two copy's of Z on the counter. He glanced at my CDs and made the comment " Hmmm, there's something you don't always see.Never seen anyone buy two of those at once before" and it was Mike Keneally (of Z) to my surprise! (Yeah I know better story if it was Dweezil or Ahmet) so, I opened the two copies and had Mike write Happy birthday to" " and sign it for me! I saw Z at the NAMM show (in LA) once great and fun. Did a medley of "classic rock " they called," the history of rock" that was amazing. This spanned a Buying of Mike K. Beer For Dolphins and other MK CDS for me (really nice guy too) Dweezil seems of like character too? Nice and down to earth-ish? This news is a letdown for me though.......

 

I feel better about giving Dweezil money than I do now about the movie/vault kickstarter, which who knows when we'll see the fruits of that endeavour. I do trust Alex Winter in his efforts to make the film and preserve the film footage, but something tells me Ahmet might find a way to stall production along the way.

 

Cool story. And by the way, I actually was able to support Dweezil earlier this year by seeing him in St. Pete. Great show, and my wife who knew no music of Franks absolutely loved the show too. A win-win!

 

There were no "boxes 4-5", that was a hypothetical joke, filled with hypothetical hilarity.