you can reply to me anytime. no need to apologize.

OK, so I didn't really need to go all smartass.
I did appreciate the use of normal-sized type.
I have actually heard virtually all of Zappa's stuff in huge doses, and Beefheart's stuff is not even close to similar.
I was talking more in terms of music fans. Of course to the general population Zappa is a more high-profile figure, not being a reclusive artist who retired from music in midlife like Van Vliet, and having appeared before congress on more than one occasion. To music fans, however, I would say that Beefheart has gotten his fair share of magazine covers, career retrospective articles, deluxe reissues and the like to be deemed "no longer all that obscure." The Velvets didn't sell for shit at the time either, but I don't know anyone who considers them to be an obscure band, despite the fact that senator Coleman wouldn't know Moe Tucker if she punched him in the face (which would be pretty sweet, and I would pay good money for a photo of).
That's all I was saying.

what does moe tucker have to do with the velvets?

Besides being their drummer most of the time, not much, I guess. Especially not now.

is moe tucker black?

CHINESE.

Oh, I get it.
You're being funny.
I guess I should have said "Velvet UNDERGROUND."
I thought you might cut me some slack since I said "normal-sized type" instead of "a normal font," but I should have known I could not escape your rapier wit!

moe is a "she"? which one is moe tucker?

I can't decide.Blacks all look the same to me.

i vote Frank Zappa.

Frank Zappa was pretty good, but Captain Beefheart was much better. More experimental and crazy.

i don't see a whole lot of "experimentalism" from captain beefheart besides the production side of things, which was largely responsible of zappa.

really, capt. beefheart/magic band took things they liked about howlin wolf and john lee hooker and had zappa produce it all with captain's voice and lyrics. not sure where the experimentalis is in all that though.

beefheart of course!

Zappa (r.i.p) and Mr. Van Vliet were very creative and knowledgeable musicians, however the difference came down to how they used that musical knowledge. Zappa was a little more (loosly-speaking) "normal" in how he wrote music. He made songs. Complex as fuck songs, but songs. Donnie boy was all about having his band use structures that didn't go together on purpose. He was more interested in art than music and wanted the sounds to depict the lyrics or the imagery of the piece.

I love em both, but I voted Beefheart, being an art-rock fan and all.