5 ms·

Joe Frank, Spinner of Strange Radio Tales, Has Died

58 points by klenwell 9y ago

RichardCA 9y ago
TL;DR If you spent time in Los Angeles in the 80's or 90's, Joe Frank was a fixture on KCRW, the local NPR station. His work could be loosely classified as the aural equivalent of a David Lynch movie. I have distinct memories of being out on dates, turning the car radio to KCRW and hoping for "Joe Frank: Work in Progress" to be on, to see if my date had a basic understanding and appreciation of surrealism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9YwALw73gY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9YwALw73gY
- tomjakubowski 9y ago
  Joe was a fixture on KCRW even until quite recently, though often as "reruns". I remember listening to him quite a bit around 2012-2013.
Bud 9y ago
Joe Frank had no peers and no equals. Definitely my favorite radio storyteller. If you haven't heard his stuff, seek it out. https://www.joefrank.com/shop/best-the/ https://www.joefrank.com/shop/best-the/
- nwatson 9y ago
  I see the entire catalog, item "001 – THE ENTIRE JOE FRANK COLLECTION – SHOWS AIRED 1978 – 2002" ... $1,510. I wonder how many they've sold. The first time I ran across Joe Frank was traveling Phoenix <--> San Jose. I tuned into a public radio show, the background track was awesome, and an anthropology professor was discussing his experience at a conference, in a "confessional" interview style, and I thought "standard public radio fare". The storyline was plausible for about two minutes and then veered into a couple of off-kilter details ... then wandered into stranger and fantastical details. The result was thought-provoking, strange, and oddly satisfying. There were various other segments in like and different styles ... and the whole hour-long thing fit together so well. In truth I haven't run across anyone ever that knows about Joe Frank's shows, I've enjoyed them over the years. I wish I could justify $1,510.
  - DrScump 9y ago
    "The storyline was plausible for about two minutes and then veered into a couple of off-kilter details ... then wandered into stranger and fantastical details..." In the Dark was broadcast weekly (Saturday nights, IIRC) by KQED in San Francisco, and I had the same reaction to essentially all episodes: great production values, compelling initial narrative... then devolution into annoyingly unlikely twists, as if he had navigated a bunch of one-way streets into a dead end. And kept driving anyway. The sheer waste would anger me; I had to stop listening altogether.
Wistar 9y ago
I was not familiar with Joe Frank but I did quite enjoy Fresh Air's remembrance of him that aired last night: https://www.npr.org/2018/01/19/579097081/remembering-peabody-award-winning-radio-artist-joe-frank https://www.npr.org/2018/01/19/579097081/remembering-peabody...
sitkack 9y ago
The first Joe Frank I heard was "Enterprising Man" [0], I was hooked ever since. I enjoy the irony of that episode and focus of this forum board. [0] https://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/joe-frank-return-engagement/an-enterprising-man https://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/joe-frank-return-eng...
deleted 9y ago
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58 points by klenwell 9y ago

TL;DR If you spent time in Los Angeles in the 80's or 90's, Joe Frank was a fixture on KCRW, the local NPR station. His work could be loosely classified as the aural equivalent of a David Lynch movie. I have distinct memories of being out on dates, turning the car radio to KCRW and hoping for "Joe Frank: Work in Progress" to be on, to see if my date had a basic understanding and appreciation of surrealism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9YwALw73gY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9YwALw73gY

tomjakubowski 9y ago
Joe was a fixture on KCRW even until quite recently, though often as "reruns". I remember listening to him quite a bit around 2012-2013.

Bud 9y ago

Joe Frank had no peers and no equals. Definitely my favorite radio storyteller. If you haven't heard his stuff, seek it out. https://www.joefrank.com/shop/best-the/ https://www.joefrank.com/shop/best-the/

nwatson 9y ago
I see the entire catalog, item "001 – THE ENTIRE JOE FRANK COLLECTION – SHOWS AIRED 1978 – 2002" ... $1,510. I wonder how many they've sold. The first time I ran across Joe Frank was traveling Phoenix <--> San Jose. I tuned into a public radio show, the background track was awesome, and an anthropology professor was discussing his experience at a conference, in a "confessional" interview style, and I thought "standard public radio fare". The storyline was plausible for about two minutes and then veered into a couple of off-kilter details ... then wandered into stranger and fantastical details. The result was thought-provoking, strange, and oddly satisfying. There were various other segments in like and different styles ... and the whole hour-long thing fit together so well. In truth I haven't run across anyone ever that knows about Joe Frank's shows, I've enjoyed them over the years. I wish I could justify $1,510.
- DrScump 9y ago
  "The storyline was plausible for about two minutes and then veered into a couple of off-kilter details ... then wandered into stranger and fantastical details..." In the Dark was broadcast weekly (Saturday nights, IIRC) by KQED in San Francisco, and I had the same reaction to essentially all episodes: great production values, compelling initial narrative... then devolution into annoyingly unlikely twists, as if he had navigated a bunch of one-way streets into a dead end. And kept driving anyway. The sheer waste would anger me; I had to stop listening altogether.

Wistar 9y ago

I was not familiar with Joe Frank but I did quite enjoy Fresh Air's remembrance of him that aired last night: https://www.npr.org/2018/01/19/579097081/remembering-peabody-award-winning-radio-artist-joe-frank https://www.npr.org/2018/01/19/579097081/remembering-peabody...

sitkack 9y ago

The first Joe Frank I heard was "Enterprising Man" [0], I was hooked ever since. I enjoy the irony of that episode and focus of this forum board. [0] https://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/joe-frank-return-engagement/an-enterprising-man https://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/joe-frank-return-eng...

deleted 9y ago

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