Zappa Recommendations ?

That's an interesting question, tvad. I've never thought about that! 
I suspect I somehow manage to ignore that aspect to some degree. 
In any event, Fagan's delivery is still that of a "conventional" singer, delivering a "conventional" narrative. I don't perceive the aspect I referred to as "cartoonlsh" as present in the music of Becker and Fagan. 

I'd never heard "Cousin Dupree" so I just listened to it. In this case, the lyrics are simply so blatantly sleazy that I don't see how the meaning could possibly be misconstrued. 

My greatest issue with Steely Dan is the slickness of the music, beginning with Aja. Last night, I watched one of that series on the making of Classic albums that focused on Aja and it was illuminating to hear Fagan and Becker talk about, for example, their loser would-be hipster protagonist in "Deacon Blues". When they talked about this character, I felt much more able to relate to him, than when I listen to the song, itself. There's something about the degree to which the music has been fastidiously groomed that I find offputting or alienating. I much prefer the CTE, PL and KL albums. 

And this is not because I don't like Jazz!  I listen to more Jazz (50's to present) than anything else. Because of this and the fact that I've played guitar for many decades, I can really appreciate the high level of S. Dan's musicianship. But the Jazz elements in their recordings beginning with Aja sound very cheesy/lounge-y to me. They may be hip but they are so highly polished that they fail to engage me, emotionally. I dislike most prog and a lot of Fusion for the same reason. I'm afraid I'm rather myopic in this regard-- music that doesn't engage me emotionally doesn't interest me, period. 

When it comes to S. Dan, the recordings I like, I really like and I listen to them regularly. 

When it comes to explaining my musical preferences, it's really just guess-work. I can come up with reasons why I think I may prefer X yo Z, but I suspect a lot of this stuff really has very little to do with rationality. . . 

Hot Rats which is a terrific intro to Zappa’s world

@stuartk the likeness with dadaïst art is not far off the mark. FZ definitely had an absurdist outlook on life. He even called his non musical business ventures 'intercontinental absurdities'. If you're open to a new 'take' on Zappa's lyrics, you should make an effort to read the book "The Negative Dialectics of Poodle Play" by Ben Watson, a British literature scholar. I won't spoil the fun by saying any more about its contents, but intertextual connections are made from ancient Greek tragedies to James Joyce and all stops in between. you won't believe what you read.

The author apparently was dead serious, but Zappa himself couldn't stop laughing. Ill as he was at the time, he even considered making a project out of it, inviting the author to his house and have him record a spoken word document 'with the fancy English accent and all', perhaps with musical embellishments to be added later. Regrettably this never came to be, it would have been hilarious.

 Does Humor Belong in Music? You bet.

@tvad:

I can appreciate the unique capacity for comedy to unearth truths.

@tuberist: 

"Hot Rats which is a terrific intro to Zappa's world"

In fact, I began listening to "Hot Rats" last night. I enjoyed the instrumental portions but the vocals in "Willie The Pimp", no. It's a perfect example of the "cartoonish" aspect that I find so unappealing. 

@edgewear:

"Does Humor Belong in Music? You bet"

I can't possible make a case against this.

All I can say is that I prefer a more straightforward, sober point of view. You sound like a very well-read person so I'll mention that my favorite author is Wendell Berry. His novels are certainly not without humor but either do they consist of a series of jokes, which is how Zappa's lyrics strike me. And once I've heard a joke, why would I want to hear it over and over? 

It's entirely possible I'm simply too literal-minded and unsophisticated to appreciate Zappa and that's OK.