This is sort of like jazz in its own peculiar way, Zappa says during a rap in "Be-Bop Tango," and he's right, because Roxy & Elsewhere is about as close to a traditional musical form as the Mothers are ever likely to come. There's bound to be lots of strangeness — long, spoken raps (preambles), Zappa's own weird form of humor, post-acid fairy tale lyrics and a lot of just plain wasted vinyl — on any double album from the Mothers. But in between there is actually lots of solid and inventive jazz-rock. When Zappa tries (which is rare) he is one fine guitarist, and the rest of the Mothers could doubtless run rings around anyone else in the jazz-rock field if they ever considered it worth their while. Basically, though, you either love Zappa and the Mothers or you loathe them, and Roxy & Elsewhere is still an album for fans only.

“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.