Rock Music

LOS ANGELES -- Baltimore-born rock musician Frank Zappa, who rode to fame in the late 1960s as leader of the eccentric Mothers of Invention, died Saturday evening at his Los Angeles home from the complications of prostate cancer he had been battling for years. He was 52.A family friend, Jim Nagle, said he was buried yesterday in a private ceremony in Los Angeles.The prolific guitarist was one of rock's premier iconoclasts. In an era of increasing commercialism, he never tired of composing, strumming, singing and philosophizing to the beat of a wildly different drummer.

It isn't often that a band captures the sound of the moment as accurately and completely as Rage Against the Machine does. Where most bands fit neatly into a single style, Rage Against the Machine crosses boundaries at will. Listen to the band's selfIt isn't often that a band captures the sound of the moment as accurately and completely as Rage Against the Machine does. Where most bands fit neatly into a single style, Rage Against the Machine crosses boundaries at will. Listen to the band's self-titled debut, and "Bullet in the Head" will have you thinking that the Rage's primary influence was hip-hop; flip over to "Bombtrack," and they sound like a funky metal band; jump over to "Fistful of Steel," and what you'll hear sounds more like industrial music than anything else.

Folk music is back in fashion.Part of it is the music -- acoustic artists are attaining rarely seen popularity -- but a lot of it is the message. Political turmoil, war, economic instability and environmental concerns worldwide are making people relate to folk music once again."

If the world is going to hell -- and who wants to argue that point? -- it must be the fault of MTV.MTV is loud, ugly, crude, nasty, raw, occasionally violent, sometimes sexist, often in poor taste.In other words, it's your basic rock and roll.I don't have to tell you what rock music has wrought. Elvis shook his pelvis, young girls swooned and s-e-x swept the U.S.A. John Lennon said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus, and our moral compass has been spinning wildly ever since. Ice-T produces "Cop Killer," and how long before there's rioting in the streets?

My 13-year-old walked triumphantly into the office the other day."Guess what, Dad? I got Sting playing on the computer!"That's the bad news about multimedia. Drop a grand or two on equipment, and your kid figures out how to blast a rock song at you every time you start up your word processor.Luckily, he isn't into Guns N' Roses.But multimedia is here, and most of the news is good. Software titles that combine text, graphics, sound and even video are multiplying at an incredible rate. They range from interactive detective games to full-blown encyclopedias.

It's described as a "Two-Fisted Art Attack."Denny Dent, the world's only "rock 'n' roll painter," will join hundreds of artists who will take over the streets of Annapolis Thursday in the annual art coup known as First Night Annapolis.His unique craft has earned him a place in "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" and propelled him to performances around the world.Taking center stage, he clenches three paint brushes in each hand and begins his assault on blank canvas. Bopping and weaving to the rhythms of a favorite musician, the tall, bearded painter beats their image out of the surface with fierce strokes, simultaneously bellowing out his creed: "It's not important what you do!

RAPPERS and rockers such as Luther Campbell, Sir Mix-A-Lot and the Ramones are worried about Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton's selection of Tipper Gore for second lady. Two words of advice for them: Chill out.They're concerned because Mrs. Gore is one of the original "Washington Wives." Along with Susan Baker, she co-founded the Parents' Music Resource Center in 1985 to monitor the lyrical content of rock music. The group originally sought a record rating system similar to those used for films.

Rock music has been more than a form of entertainment, the experts tell us. It's a powerful social, political and moral force. It has had a global impact on the way several generations think about war, peace, love, hate, life, death, the environment, drugs, sex, relationships, surfboards, pimples and other profound issues.I'll have to take their word for it, since I've always had trouble understanding the lyrics, except when the singer shouts: "Baby, baby, baby, ah lu-huh-huh-huv you."But if it is such a powerful force, I don't understand why so many rock fans are still angry at Tipper Gore, wife of the Democratic vice presidential candidate.

It's time for a show of hands on whether the new Oriole Park at Camden Yards should have a real, live organist playing campy ballpark music.To all those people who have said "Right on" to the idea since it was proffered in this column a couple of weeks ago, I say what Freddie Graziaplena, the walk-around whiz of Highlandtown, used to say to his friends and neighbors on Election Day: "I need you now!"If you really want it to happen, then do something about it. Go to the phone. Sit down and write a letter.

Not long ago at a U2 concert, a beered-up young man of about 20 staggered over to four men ranging in age from 35 to 40."Oh, wow," said the kid, surveying our group. "I didn't think people listened to rock music when they got . . . older."Then he held onto the railing for support and flashed possibly the dopiest grin ever seen on the Eastern Seaboard."Listen," I said to my friends, "I say we kill this guy right here. A sharp blow to the back of the head, snap his windpipe, it doesn't matter to me."