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Episode details

Radio Ulster,21 Jun 2026,57 mins

The Mothers of Invention - Freak Out!

Long Player with Steven Rainey

Available for 28 days

There's being ahead of the curve, and then there's Frank Zappa. In 1966, the counterculture was in the process of evolving away from the Beats of the late 50s, into the hippies of the 60s and 70s. And before being a hippie was even really a thing, Frank Zappa was poking fun at it. With The Mothers of Invention, he pushed rock further out than it had gone so far, taking pot shots at anyone who came into his field of vision. Experimental and accessible, Freak Out is the beginning of the journey for one of rock's true originals.

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