Dink Bridgers ~ guitar, lead vocals
Mitchell Holman ~ bass and vocals
Rory Judge ~ drums and vocals

words, music and recording copyright Lee Bridgers 1980

This song, recorded as part of a 16 track demo tape made exclusively for Frank Zappa, was based on a story relayed by Pippo, Mindsweeper's eccentric Italian keyboard player, about a sexual encounter he had with a particularly grotesque groupie. Pippo felt sorry for this very large and unattractive lonely woman, so he let her take him home where he participated in a nightmarish breeding experiment that scarred him for life. He called it his "Act of Mercy." He went into great detail describing the experience the day after. I will spare you. The song was also an intentional dig on Frank, as was at least one other song on the demo tape. This, by the way, is how I managed to run away almost every investor or patron. I made fun of people. I considered the demo tape to be a total failure and recorded over the masters in a following session, but this one recording is now a cherished reminder. Act of Mercy was generally far better in live performance than this studio version, especially when the story was told with Pippo present on stage (sometimes with no pants on)! This particular recording, however, does capture a bit of the energy the song released in live performance (the band was recorded live in the studio withvocal and lead guitar overdubbed--everything in one take). Act of Mercy was a crowd favorite for many months, a danceable rock song in 5-4 time. One fan told me it was so infectious that he always got up and danced to it, but added, "That song throws my hips out of joint."