Free Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies by Pamela Des Barres

way I think about meeting Frank that first time was like an inoculation that didn't quite take."

    The next time she saw this intense fellow, Gail was running an errand for Elmer. "I had to do all the deposits for the Whisky, and I was in line at the bank when I saw Frank in another line. I left my line and walked right behind him, and probably looked like an idiot because I walked up to him three fucking times and didn't have the nerve to speak to him."
    An oddball chick who worked with Gail at the Whisky surprised her one afternoon. "She was one of those girls with long, straight hair, always flipping it around in her hands, huffing and puffing every time she walked by. I never thought she liked me because she always seemed to be evaluating me. One day she started staring at me, so I thought, `Well, I can play this game,' and stared back. I knew it was going to be about who blinked first-it was that stupid-so rather than blink, she said, `Okay, I'd like you to come over to my house for dinner,' and that broke the ice with her. When Gail walked into the house on Kirkwood to the smell of sizzling lamb chops, she realized she had been there very recently. The huffy girl was Pamela Zarubica, the voice of Suzy Creamcheese, and her roommate was Frank Zappa. "We hadn't even finished dinner when the phone rang, and it was Frank. He wanted to be picked up at the airport because his promo tour had been cut short. Pamela said, `He told me not to bring anyone, but we're going to the airport.' I remember thinking it was her intention to hook us up. So I went to the airport and it was all history after that."
    Since I've never heard the romantic beginnings of my fave rock couple, I listen with rapt appreciation. "I was simply standing there and he walked over and made this gesture-to put his briefcase down between my feet. I refused to back up, so I had to move my legs apart. He put it down right between them so the handle was in line with my ankle-bones. I was standing there with this briefcase between my legs and he was really close to me; we were nose-to-nose, and he said, `You're cute!' And that was it. My vaccination."

    Did they both know that this was it? "Well, we went back to the house and he didn't say much, just talked about the tour. At one point, Pamela said, `I'm going to sleep in your bed so you guys can have mine.' She had a double bed and Frank's was a single. Then she offered me a little black slip to wear. Frank was tired from traveling and we just crawled into bed and snuggled up, but absolutely nothing happened. He was a perfect gentleman."
    Was she at all nervous to find herself in the sack with her fait accompli? "Yeah, I was nervous, but you can be nervous and comfortable at the same time. The next morning I woke up, and landing back in my body, realized where I was, and thought, `Oh God, I think he's awake.' I rolled over and the pillow was like a mountain. All I could see was this one eye, wide open, over the edge of the pillow, looking right at me. I heard my voices saying, 'OK, this is it, and if you do not accept this, you'll never hear from us again.'"
    Did Mr. Zappa know he had met his cosmic match? "I never knew that-I didn't know for years, then I read an interview where he said that when he met me it was love at first sight. It's such a corny thing to say-something you would never expect him to say, but he did have his way with cliches."
    And how did this budding rock and roll liason progress? "I knew Frank was the one that morning, but nothing happened. Then he called and asked me out on an actual date three days hence. After the Lenny Bruce eulogy, our next date was a gig. I remember I had to stop at the Whisky to run in and get Frank's amplifier. I was trying to drag this giant thing out the front door, and Mario wasn't helping me. He grabbed my shirt and yelled, `You're not wearing a bra!"
    Did the Zappa romance start out divinely? Was their chemistry irrepressible and obvious? Did they know right