Valley Girl (1983)

Moon Unit Zappa grew up in the Los Angeles bohemian enclave of Laurel Canyon, the oldest of avant-garde rock musician Frank Zappa's four children.

Moon's mother, whom her children were raised to refer to as Gail, managed Zappa's business affairs.

As a teenager, Moon attended Oakwood School, a college prep in North Hollywood.

Until Oakwood, she hadn't known about the San Fernando Valley or how other kids lived.

Laurel Canyon had no sidewalks, and neighbors were largely strangers.

Speaking to Lindsay Parker of Yahoo Entertainment in September 2022, she recalled, I think I was 13, and I was pretty frustrated with the way the house was run.

My father was touring all the time, eight months out of the year, so that's a long time to go without seeing the steady parental figure in the house.

And I was like, get back here.

You take care of your family.

And when he was home, he would sleep during the day and work at night.

So then there were restrictions on our own expression and having to be quiet in the house.

And then the world was always revolving around him.

So that's the backdrop there.

Moon realized that the best way to spend time with her father was to collaborate with him.

In her 2024 memoir, Earth to Moon, she recalled, I grab a blue Bic and write the following on white, lined school paper.

Dear Daddy, Hi, I'm 13 years old.

My name is Moon.

Up until now, I have been trying to stay out of your way while you record.

However, I've come to the conclusion that I would love to sing on your album, if you would like to put up with me.

I have a rather nice voice.

For further information, contact my agent Gail Zappa at 650-4947.

I'm available day or night, generally speaking.

I would love to do my Encino accent or surfer-do talk for you.

Later days, dude.

Love, Moon.