This one's apparently made the rounds on the internet for some time now, but I can't resist posting it here: Frank Zappa's suit-and-tie-clad 1963 appearance on The Steve Allen Show.

At the time, Zappa was a 22-year-old unknown, not quite yet the assertive persona he'd become, but certainly unflappable in the face of Allen's wisecracking. Over the course of 15 minutes he gets Allen and the studio band to join him in making some far-out sounds on a couple of bicycles.

I'm not sure what prompted Zappa's appearance, but at the end he mentions a new record, "How's Your Bird."

Part 1:

Part 2:

This part put me in mind of the Art Ensemble of Chicago at times – no kidding! (It's also perhaps not too far removed from Henry Threadgill's hubkaphone, an instrument made out of hubcaps.)

Part 3:

(Thanks to Randy Pollok for hipping me to this.)

External References

• The Steve Allen Show on the website of the Museum of Broadcast Communications
• Discussion of "How's Your Bird" on allmusic.com