For tonight, we surrender the full three-hour late-night broadcast to Frank Zappa — no commentary, no interviews, no interruptions. It has been too long since his music owned the studio, and this felt like the right night to let it happen.

This week’s episode also celebrates WORT Community Radio turning 50 years old. A half-century of independent, listener-supported radio deserves a celebration that ignores boundaries and priorities the sound itself, so giving the airtime to Frank — composer, guitarist, bandleader, satirist, studio experimenter — just made sense.

And to every listener, thank you. Without you, volunteer-powered community radio would have gone silent a long time ago. We also hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday. Whether the holiday was loud, quiet, musical, restorative, chaotic, or calm, we hope it treated you well.

Rolling with Scissors has a few small format changes coming up in the coming weeks — nothing drastic, nothing alarming, nothing permanent. Sometimes radio just needs to stretch its legs in a different direction for a minute to stay awake. But tonight, we hold still.

Because tonight is Frank.

This episode is intentionally incomplete — it can’t be anything else. But it is faithful, loud, sequenced like albums were built for, and full of the kind of musical brain-twisting that only Zappa could pull out of musicians without breaking them. It is the perfect artist to honor a station that’s been radically doing its own thing since 1975.

If you already know Zappa, you already understand the appeal of a night like this. And if you don don’t? That’s fine too — welcome. Either way, we’re grateful you tuned in, and grateful the airwaves still have capacity for something genuinely strange.

Happy birthday, WORT. And welcome back, Frank.

our 1

Artist – Song – Time – Album – Label

Frank Zappa – Peaches En Regalia – 03:38 – Hot Rats – Bizarre Records – 1969

Frank Zappa – Willie The Pimp – 09:16 – Hot Rats – Bizarre Records – 1969

Frank Zappa – Son Of Mr. Green Genes – 09:00 – Hot Rats – Bizarre Records – 1969

Frank Zappa – Little Umbrellas – 03:04 – Hot Rats – Bizarre Records – 1969

Frank Zappa – The Gumbo Variations – 16:56 – Hot Rats – Bizarre Records – 1969

Frank Zappa – It Must Be A Camel – 05:15 – Hot Rats – Bizarre Records – 1969

Hour 2

Artist – Song – Time – Album – Label

Frank Zappa – Nanook Rubs It – 04:38 – Apostrophe (’) – Discreet – 1974

Frank Zappa – St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast – 01:50 – Apostrophe (’) – Discreet – 1974

Frank Zappa – Father O’Blivion – 02:18 – Apostrophe (’) – Discreet – 1974

Frank Zappa – Cosmik Debris – 04:14 – Apostrophe (’) – Discreet – 1974

Frank Zappa – Excentrifugal Forz – 01:33 – Apostrophe (’) – Discreet – 1974

Frank Zappa – Apostrophe’ – 05:50 – Apostrophe (’) – Discreet – 1974

Frank Zappa – Uncle Remus – 02:44 – Apostrophe (’) – Discreet – 1974

Frank Zappa – Stink-Foot – 06:32 – Apostrophe (’) – Discreet – 1974

Hour 3

Artist – Song – Time – Album – Label

Frank Zappa – Wind Up Workin’ In A Gas Station – 02:29 – Zoot Allures – Warner Bros. Records – 1976

Frank Zappa – Black Napkins [Live] – 04:15 – Zoot Allures – Warner Bros. Records – 1976

Frank Zappa – The Torture Never Stops – 09:45 – Zoot Allures – Warner Bros. Records – 1976

Frank Zappa – Ms. Pinky – 03:40 – Zoot Allures – Warner Bros. Records – 1976

Frank Zappa – Find Her Finer – 04:07 – Zoot Allures – Warner Bros. Records – 1976

Frank Zappa – Friendly Little Finger – 04:17 – Zoot Allures – Warner Bros. Records – 1976

Frank Zappa – Wonderful Wino – 03:38 – Zoot Allures – Warner Bros. Records – 1976

Frank Zappa – Zoot Allures – 04:13 – Zoot Allures – Warner Bros. Records – 1976

Frank Zappa – Disco Boy – 05:09 – Zoot Allures – Warner Bros. Records – 1976

Frank Zappa – I Have Been in You [Live] – 03:34 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Flakes [Live] – 06:41 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Broken Hearts Are for Assholes [Live] – 03:42 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – I’m So Cute – 03:09 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Jones Crusher – 02:49 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – What Ever Happened to All the Fun in the World – 00:33 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Rat Tomago [Live][Instrumental] – 05:17 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Wait a Minute – 00:31 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Bobby Brown Goes Down [Live] – 02:49 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Rubber Shirt – 02:43 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – The Sheik Yerbouti Tango [Live] – 03:58 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Baby Snakes [Live] – 01:50 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Trying’ to Grow a Chin [Live] – 03:32 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – City of Tiny Lites [Live] – 05:31 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Dancin’ Fool [Live] – 03:43 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Jewish Princess [Live] – 03:16 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Wild Love [Live] – 04:09 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979

Frank Zappa – Yo’ Mama [Live] – 12:35 – Sheik Yerbouti – Rykodisc – 1979 [fade out]

Rolling with Scissors airs live every Tuesday from 2–5 AM on 89.9 FM in Madison and streams at wortfm.org. Missed it? You can catch the episode for two weeks after broadcast at archive.wortfm.org or at rwsradio.com.

While the audio disappears after two weeks, the episode notes and playlists don’t. Every deep dive, rant, and full album breakdown stays right here — so you can revisit the details any time.

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