Our Los Angeles rock-and-roll-and revolution tour-guide, Dominic Priore, author of “Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Last Stand in Hollywood.”, shares with us news of his impending illustrated lecture, “Freak Out Hot Spots!,” a symposium filled with photos and super-rare footage of all the locations on Frank Zappa’s 1966 map of Sunset Strip hangouts.
The map, produced as bonus material companion to the Mothers of Invention’s debut album “Freak Out!”, offered a satirical depiction of Los Angeles’ cultural landscape, highlighting nightclubs, record stores, and other countercultural venues. This map mocked LA’s mainstream glitz and celebrated the underground scene that Zappa was a part of. His criticism of authority, shaped by the Watts riots and his own personal encounters with the police—including a notable arrest in 1965—left Zappa distrustful of law enforcement and fueled the anti-authoritarian views often expressed in his music.
Both Zappa’s iconic map and Priore’s book explore the intersection of art, music, and rebellion in 1960s Los Angeles. As Dom puts it, himself: “Dig.”
Freak Out Hot Spots | Philosophical Research Society, Los Feliz | Sun Dec 8