Hamilton Reynolds Dept. - Joe Frank

Joe Frank managing pen storage, yesterday

Workshy Four Or Five Guy© MrDave [last submission, May 2020 - Ed.] delivers some swell screed about some guy what we never hear of, which is noteworthy, on account we hear about most guys here. Also - note smart-ass quality screedage! Hoo boy! Leave us hope it garners him some hot chick action on th' next Senior Hayride!

In the Venn diagram where surrealist first-person narrators overlap public radio personalities with two first names, two names stand out: Joe, and Frank. The Krème de la Krème [19 my ass - Ed.] of absurdist monologuing and existential radio drama.

Before Ira Glass' This American Life made David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell household names (for you coastal elites) and Al Gore (with his internet invention) made every one of your neighbors think that recording themselves talking for 30-60 minutes was a public service and viable career path, one man with a reel-to-reel tape recorder and a weekly slot on public radio spun elaborate, often dark and twisted first person narratives and improvised radio dramas week after week, year after year, decade after decade from 1978-2018 (RIP).
 

Ken Nordine - Pen Mug Pro!

And none has done it better or taken it further. Highlighting the absurdities of social and cultural constructs, wrestling with the riddles of existence, identity and meaning, navigating the minefields of interpersonal relationships writ large and small, and poking at the abscesses of the human condition while simultaneously probing its abyss, Frank's broadcasts are like taking shrooms without the bad taste. Or, with his similarly deep baritone voice, like Ken Nordine [left - Ed.] narrating your nightmares while psychoanalyzing their meaning and extrapolating their relation to the nature of human existence. Fun? You bet!! If you don't know Ken Nordine, it's your duty as a Four or Five Guy© to fix that, stat. See below for remedy.

While deep, dark, twisted and full of existential angst, Joe's shows are above all else friggin' hilarious. Not in the nudge-nudge wink-wink manner of the antecedently FoamFeatured© Firesign Theatre who shared a similar appreciation for the absurdities of modern life, but in the dry, sardonic, laughing about it because life is fucking ridiculous and what else can you do fashion. And they've got a good beat that you can dance to! We know th' 4/5G© are obligated to listen to such avant garde artists as Holger Czukay, Steve Reich, Popol Vuh, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, and FoamFavorite Brian Eno -- well, believe me, you'll enjoy listening to them a lot more while Joe seduces and entrances you with a magical tapestry of words taking you on epic journeys of surreality. Existentialism with a great soundtrack; what's not to like?

Joe, before he could afford a pen mug

Listen, bub: I hate spoken word as much as the next guy. I mentioned This American Life above but I lost patience for that long, long ago. Like after a few episodes. Podcasts? Nope (except for the occasional episode of  Heroin Buttsex and Lord of the Rings - "an evidence-driven debate show where panelists explore the three grand themes that weave through all of pop music"). Listening to other people talk is my least favorite thing in the world. But Joe Frank?! Joe Frank is entertainment of the highest order. A good time. Perfect listening for long late night drives or just wandering aimlessly around the apartment in your underwear. Perfect listening for mowing the lawn or just keeping an eye on the Honduran lawn boy while sipping a Mai Tai on the veranda ("watch those begonias damn it!"). 

You like Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia? You'll love Joe Frank. You like - The Monkees?! Well - you might love Joe Frank too! Who wouldn't?!? Probably Trump wouldn't, but that's not you. You're the kind of gal or guy who appreciates quality entertainment like Joe Frank. You're on Fabulous False Memory Foam Island© for chrissakes - if there's an audience for this type-thing, it's YOU.

You want a taste before you commit yourself to the long term storage costs? Here's a bite size excerpt from a live show he did in 2010 with longtime accompanist James Harrah, whose exquisite guitar work you'll recognize from his work with Barry Manilow, Hannah Montana, the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, and of course Bruce Willis's epic The Return of Bruno (I of course am more familiar with his work with John Prine, Herbie Hancock, and Ray Charles but that's just me): https://youtu.be/l6vVXzqOADo

As an enticement for downloading this collection of Joe Frank recordings, scraped from every corner of cyberspace and meticulously tagged for your listening pleasure (two days worth, if you don't sleep), I'm also including a generous serving of Ken Nordine recordings that every gal or guy should have on the shelf (a collection of all the Word Jazz Dot Masters plus Colors and a few less common releases). If you need more Ken Nordine than the six-pack of discs I'm throwing in here, you can download another 44 hours of his original Word Jazz radio broadcasts from archive.org: https://archive.org/details/word-jazz-radio

"Buy a ticket, take the ride."

 

 

MrDave is currently between busboy jobs in his hometown, Hives, SD, where he is president of the Fabian Appreciation Society. "If there is any chicks out there what dig Fabian, or anything, don't hesitate to get in touch!" MrDave said yesterday from his crawlspace condo.