Frank Zappa defended his sexually explicit 1973 song ‘Dinah-Moe Humm’ after an interviewer described it as “grotesque”. The article argues that the controversy reflected Zappa’s wider commitment to artistic independence and his refusal to tailor his work to conventional commercial or social expectations.

Released during a period when Zappa was increasingly able to control his own output through his record label, the track used sexual references and was conceived partly as his response to ‘Theme from Shaft’. Zappa said there was “no correct society” and maintained that sex was a normal part of life, arguing that objections to its inclusion in a song were hypocritical or unrealistic.