From pweiss@hscmail.mcc.virginia.edu Mon Nov 17 09:50:53 EST 1997
Article: 81594 of rec.music.progressive
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From: Phillip Weiss <pweiss@hscmail.mcc.virginia.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.music.progressive
Subject: ROBERT FRIPP: THE MOTION PICTURE
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 12:02:46 -0500
Organization: University of Virginia
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ROBERT FRIPP

THE MOTION PICTURE

<Scene opens with Robert Fripp sitting at a bus stop.  A bus pulls in
front of him, obscuring our view.  When the bus leaves, we see a woman
next to him on the bench.>

Fripp:  Hello.  My name is Robert Fripp.

<The woman ignores him>

Fripp:  <Handing the woman a copy of the Great Deceiver Box Set>  Would
you like some improv?

<The woman continues to ignore him.>

Fripp:  <Taking out on of the CDs and looks at it>  I could make about a
million of these.  My mama always told me that discipline was not an
end, but a means to an end.  She was a real smart lady.  That looks like
a comfortable shirt.  <pointing to the lady's Kate Bush T-shirt>  I wish
I had me a T-shirt like that.  I bet you could jam all day in a shirt
like that and not feel a thing.

Woman:  Actually, my back hurts.

Fripp:  My mama always told me you can tell alot about a person by the
shirt they wear:  what concert they going; what concert they been.  I've
worn lotsa shirts.  I bet if I tried really hard, I could remember my
first shirt.  My mama said it was my magic shirt.  It would take me
anywhere!

<Scene change to a hippy clothes shop in the early 60s.  Young Fripp is
sitting on a table with Mrs. Fripp and Doctor Diamond on either side of
him.>

Dr. D:  His sustain is strong, Mrs. Fripp, as strong as I've ever
heard.  But his image is as a square as a wooden crate.  But we gonna
fix that right up, ain't we, Robert?

<Doctor Diamond slips a see-through mesh t-shirt over Robert's head.
Young Robert looks at himself in the mirror and starts fondling his own
breasts.>

Mrs. Fripp:  Robert!

Fripp Voice-over:  My mama told me that I got my last name from a bunch
of hobbits or something like that.  She told me that they was real small
and had theyselves furry feets and would go around throwing rings in
volcanoes or something like that.  She said she gave me that name so I
was to remember that an audience's duty was to be receptive to the
creativity of the performer, but I don't know much about that.

<Scene change to Fripp and Mrs. Fripp walking down a street in London.
They pass by a crowd of people who stare at Robert and start
snickering.>

Mrs. Fripp:  What's the matter with you people?  Ain't y'all never seen
a boy in a see-through mesh t-shirt before?  Don't you mind them,
Robert.  Just remember:  you ain't no different from anybody else.

<Scene change to the office of a record agent.>

Agent:  Your boy's different, Mrs. Fripp.

Mrs. Fripp:  Well, we're all different...

Agent:  I know, but Robert here can't play a lick of blues to save his
life.  Blues is what sales, what with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.  We
run a profitable record company here.

Mrs. Fripp:  But there must be something we could do.

Agent:  Is there a Mr. Fripp, Mrs. Fripp?

Mrs. Fripp:  He's on vacation!

<Scene change to Young Fripp sitting outside his house at nighttime.
>From  inside the house, we hear someone going "he-he-he-he-he!"  After
awhile, the Record Agent walks out, mopping his forehead with a
hankerchef.>

Agent:  Your mama sho does care about your music career, son.
Mmm-mmm-mm-mm-mmm.

<Young Robert just sits there, staring off into space.>

Agent:  You don't say much, do you?

Young Fripp:  Music is the medium through which the musician transcends
the constraints of mediocrity.

<Startled, the Record Agent rushes off.>

<Scene changes back to Robert at the busstop.>

Fripp:   It's a funny thing what a young man recollects.  Like, I don't
remember what I got for my first Christmas and I don't remember my first
picnic, but I do remember the first time I ever heard the most beautiful
sound in the whole wide world.

<Scene change to a music studio.  Young Fripp walks in and looks
around.>

1st Musician:  Sit's taken.

2nd Musician:  Sit's taken.

<Young Fripp continues on until he sees a chair next to a drum kit.  At
the drum kit is a young Bill Bruford.>

Young Bill:  You can set up your gear here if you want.

<Young Fripp sits down and starts tuning his guitar to a most Fripped-up
tuning.>

Young Bill:  Are you high or something?

Young Fripp:  My mama says musical integrity defies material necessity.

Young Bill:  <Musing over that statement>  My name is Bill Bruford.
What's yours?

Young Fripp:  My name is Robert, Robert Fripp.

<Scene change to Young Bill and Young Fripp jamming.>

Fripp Voice-over:  From that day on, me and Bill were like peas and
carrots.  He taught me how to keep in time while I taught him that the
nothing worthwhile musically comes without great suffering.  We was real
close, Bill and me.

<More to follow>