Today’s Theme Music

Remember the 1980s. Oh, fer sure. Like, totally, unless you were, like, spaced, or an airhead, you know.

Yes, the lingo, influenced by Valley Girls living in the San Fernando Valley, spread across the country until it kinda, like, gagged you with its syntax and mindless expressions. Frank Zappa captured the essence of valspeak in his nineteen eighty-two hit, “Valley Girl.” “Valley Girl” was a big departure to Zappa’s music for me. I’d grown up on dishes of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. His songs carried a hard satirical commentary about American values and commercialism. That’s why I dug him.

Here’s “Valley Girl,” featuring Frank’s daughter, Moon Unit.