
Joe Frank, Spinner of Strange Radio Tales, Has Died - klenwell
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/19/obituaries/joe-frank-spinner-of-strange-radio-tales-is-dead-at-79.html
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RichardCA
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)

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tomjakubowski
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.

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Wistar
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...](https://www.npr.org/2018/01/19/579097081/remembering-peabody-
award-winning-radio-artist-joe-frank)

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Bud
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/)

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nwatson
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.

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DrScump
"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.

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sitkack
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-
eng...](https://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/joe-frank-return-
engagement/an-enterprising-man)

