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From: Richard Looney <[email protected]>
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Subject: Joe Frank FAQ
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Subject: Joe Frank FAQ
Newsgroups:
alt.radio.networks.npr,rec.radio.broadcasting,rec.answers,news.answers
Reply-To: [email protected]
Approved: [email protected]
Followup-To: poster
Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions about the
"Apostle of Radio Noir", Joe Frank of KCRW, Santa Monica

Archive-name: radio/drama/joe-frank
Posting-Frequency: sporadic
URL: http://wfmu.org/JF/joe_fran.html
Last-Modified: February 17, 2002
Version: 7.2u

Joe Frank v7.2u
Frequently Asked Questions 2/02

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome to the Joe Frank FAQ, posted sporadically to alt.radio.networks.npr,
rec.radio.broadcasting, rec.answers and news.answers.
This document was created by Richard Looney with assistance from many Joe
Frank fans who are net.citizens. The latest version is also available on
the web at http://wfmu.org/JF/joe_fran.html .

Additional information is welcome - please send to [email protected] .
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contents:

1. Who is Joe Frank? -> Biography

2. What has he done? -> Chronological Listing of Radio Programs

3. How about CDs, video, writings and Internet?

4. Is he still on the radio?

5. Are tapes or CDs of the radio programs available?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Who is Joe Frank?

Joe Frank is *not* the host of a long-running New York talk show, and a
different Joe Frank (Carollo) was responsible for those top-40 hits from
the early 1970s. Joe Frank is best known for the weekly radio show
called "Work In Progress" he created in the studios of KCRW, Santa Monica
between 1986 and 1992. His programs are picked up by some of the more
progressive public radio stations, since KCRW made it available 'on the
satellite' via SASS.

The following biography from KCRW was dated April 1990:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Frank was born in Strasbourg, France of a Viennese mother and
a Polish father. His family immigrated to New York City where Frank was
raised and educated. Frank, who received a B.A. from Hofstra University,
attended the Iowa Writers Workshop and subsequently taught at the Dalton
School in Manhattan.

In the mid 70's Frank joined WBAI, the New York Pacifica station,
as a volunteer. By 1977 he was the host of "In The Dark," a late night
entertainment program that featured Frank's monologues, improvised sketches,
and live music. In 1978 Frank moved to Washington D.C., to anchor the weekend
edition of "All Things Considered" on National Public Radio (NPR). From 1979
to 1985 he wrote, performed in, and produced 18 dramas for NPR Playhouse,
garnering many broadcasting honors, including the 1982 Broadcast Media Award,
the 1983 Radio Program Award from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting,
two consecutive Gold Awards at the International Radio Festival of New York
(1983 & 1984), the American Nomination to the 1984 Prix Italia and a Special
Commendation from the Berlin Prix Futura (1985).

In 1986, at the invitation of Ruth Hirschman, general manager of
KCRW, Frank moved to Los Angeles where he created his own weekly one-hour
program, "Joe Frank: Work In Progress" at the Santa Monica-based NPR station.
In 1988 Frank won both the prestigious Major Armstrong Award and the
Corporation For Public Broadcasting Program Award for his three-part series
"Rent A Family."

In February 1989 "Rent A Family" was adapted and directed by Paul
Verdier at Stages Trilingual Theater. In March of 1989 Frank gave his first
one-man show ("Joe Frank: In Performance") at the Museum Of Contemporary
Art's Ahmanson Theater.

Frank has published two plays, "The Decline Of Spengler" (New
Directions 48, New York) and "A Tour Of The City" (Tanim Press, New York).
A volume of fiction, "The Queen Of Puerto Rico And Other Stories" will be
published by William Morrow (New York) next winter.

Montreal's Theater Anima will present Frank's award-winning "A Tour
Of The City" at Hangar Number 9 of the Old Port of Montreal in June 1990.
This drama, featuring a cast including performers from Cirque du Soleil, will
be under the direction of Jordan Dietcher.

Michael Mann, creator of the television series "Miami Vice" and
"Crime Story," has purchased the rights to Frank's radio monologue, "Night"
and plans to adapt it for a feature film.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starting in 1993, Joe changed the title of his weekly show to In The
Dark. In early 1995 it was announced that Joe Frank would be 'taking a
break' from In The Dark, and the program was removed from the
KCRW schedule. Joe Frank began a new program called Somewhere Out
There on KCRW in January 1996. The shows that year were all monologues,
but afterwards, unlike previously, recycling of his old material became
common. In August 1997 Joe announced his departure from radio. In 1999
he returned with a new series, The Other Side, which is more reality-based,
more confessional, a window into Joe's life (as well as others). A
cornerstone of this series is "Karma" -- its story spills over into many
other programs. About the time of "Karma," The Other Side programs
invariably began to contain excerpts from the lectures
of Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield.

2. What has he done? Chronological List of Joe Frank's radio programs

This listing began as the Work In Progress Program List received from
KCRW in 1987. That list was then augmented by the author of this FAQ
as new shows were broadcast. The productions were originally listed by
KCRW as either monologues (M), dramas (D), or both (MD). This FAQ continues
that tradition, but simplifies it such that programs with a single vocalist
are listed as monologues (performed by Joe Frank unless noted otherwise)
and programs featuring multiple performers are marked as dramas.

Additional information augments this listing:

[ musical artist and title is noted between square brackets ]
Some sources of background music used in selected programs are identified.

{ Comments are enclosed in curly brackets }
The author of this FAQ has annotated the listing with a few comments.

>>> various NPR Productions <<<

1978
-----

The 80 Yard Run
monologue - one hour
{ KCRW's program list placed this show in the middle of the 1979 entries,
but a KCRW announcer's introduction to this program claimed this to
be Joe Frank's very first show, initially broadcast in 1978. }

1979
-----

A Call in the Night

drama - one hour
cast: Beth Dixon, Eric Sears, Arthur Miller, Bernie Mantell, Irene
Wagner & Joe Frank

Arena

drama - one hour
cast: Annalee Jefferies, Arthur Miller, Bernie Mantell, Rosemary
Foley, Eric Sears, Joe & Tim Jerome

The Death of Trotsky

monolog - one hour
[ Miles Davis, "Solea", from "Sketches of Spain" ]
{ the 'nada poem' can also be found in Ernest Hemingway's
"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" }

'Til You're Gone

drama - one hour
cast: Arthur Miller, Robin Bartlette, Tim Jerome, Bernie Mantell,
Irene Wagner, Eric Sears, Rosemary Foley, David St. James, Marcel
Rosenblatt & Joe Frank

Summer Notes

drama - one hour
cast: Tim Jerome, Beth Dixon, Arthur Miller, Lester Nafzger,
Rosemary Foley, Bernie Mantell, Fran Dorn, David St. James & Joe
Frank

1980
-----

The Rare Recording

drama - half hour
cast: Bernie Mantell, Eric Sears, Arthur Miller, Irene Wagner, F.
Murray Abraham, Christina Moore & Joe Frank

Joe Frank in Concert

monolog - half hour
{ live segments recorded at Bushido, a gallery in NYC }

1982
-----

The Decline of Spengler

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Barbara Sohmers, Joseph Palmieri, Lester Nafzger,
Irene Wagner, Tim Jerome, Leslie Katz (or Cass), David Rapkin,
Rosemary Foley, Charles Potter, Arthur Miller & Brother Theodore
[ Steve Reich, from "Music for Eighteen Musicians" ]

Lies

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Mark Hammer, F. Murray Abraham, Barbara
Sohmers, Christina Moore, Tim Jerome, Arthur Miller & Jane Hunt
[ Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company, "Ceres Motion" ]
[ Philip Glass, "Part One" from "Music In Twelve Parts" ]
[ Mantovani, "I Will Wait For You" ]
[ Steve Reich, from "Music for Eighteen Musicians" ]
{ contains "The Night Watchman", which concluded All
Things Considered on Halloween, 1979 }

1983
-----

The End

drama - half hour
cast - ? & Joe Frank

Pilot

drama - half hour
cast: Barbara Sohmers, Clark Gordon, Paul Mantell, Larry Block,
Irene Wagner, Joe, Arthur Miller & Tim Jerome

The Queen of Puerto Rico

monolog - half hour

Sales

monolog - half hour
[ Steve Tibbetts, "Walking" from "Northern Song" ]

Warheads

drama - half hour
cast: Lester Nafzger, Paul Mantell, Arthur Miller, Mark Hammer,
Irene Wagner & Joe Frank

Questions

drama - half hour
cast: Tim Jerome, Mark Hammer, Arthur Miller, Paul Mantell, Eric
Sears, Irene Wagner & Joe Frank

1984
-----

A Tour of the City

drama - part 1 one hour, part 2 half hour
cast: Alan Hunter, Marilyn Casky, Barbara Sohmers, Arthur Miller,
Richard Bower, Tim Jerome, Mark Hammer, Joseph Palmieri, Larry
Block & Joe Frank
[ Steve Reich, from "Six Marimbas" ]
[ Harold Budd, "Flowered Knife Shadows" from "Lovely Thunder" ]
[ Brian Eno, from "On Land" ]
[ Tangerine Dream, "Remote Viewing", from "Exit" ]
[ Popol Vuh, "Brothers of Darkness - Sons of Light" from the
soundtrack of Herzog's "Nosferatu" ]

Across the River

drama - half hour
cast: Arthur Miller, Paul Mantell, Lester Nafzger, Avery Hart & Joe Frank

1985
-----

Dreams Of The River

monolog - one hour

Dear Annie

monolog - one hour

A Pact With God

monolog - one hour

Pretender

monolog - one hour

When She's Asleep, She Looks Like an Angel

monolog - one hour

>>> Work In Progress <<<

1986
-----

Photography

drama - one hour
cast: Tim Jerome, Nick Aulette, Sandy Fazin, David Rapkin, Lester
Nafzger, Arthur Miller & Joe Frank

Rain

drama - one hour
cast: Angel, Shawn, Dinah, Chantell, Lester Nafzger, Larry Massett,
Scott Carrier & Joe Frank

Talking About Love

drama - one hour
cast: Dennis, Doug, Danny, Bobby & Craig

Another Country

monolog - three hours
[ Philip Glass, "Facades", from "Glassworks" ]
[ Eno/Byrne, "Qu'ran" from "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" ]

A Landing Strip in the Jungle

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank with Lester Nafzger, Fred Coffin and Arthur Miller
[ Eno/Byrne, "Regiment" from "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" ]

No Show

monolog - two hours
{ subsequently edited and broadcast as a one-hour version }

Let Me Not Dream

monolog - one hour
[ Brian Eno, from "Thursday Afternoon" ]

Case Studies

drama - one hour
cast: Arthur Miller, Nick Aulette, Tim Jerome & Joe Frank

Cocktails Before Dinner

monolog - one hour
[ Jon Hassell, "Power Spot" and "Wing Melodies" from "Power Spot" ]

Dreamland

monolog - one hour

An American Flower

monolog - one hour
[ Ry Cooder, from the soundtrack of "Paris, Texas" ]
{ also broadcast as "Rose" }

Why I Don't Love You Anymore

monolog - one hour
[ Popul Vuh, "Woe Be To Khorazin" from the soundtrack
of "Fitzcarraldo" ]

Tell Me What To Do

monolog - one hour

Highways West

monolog - one hour
[ Fred Simon, "Time and the River" from "Usually/Always" ]
[ Brian Eno, "Always Returning", from "Apollo" ]

Night Ride

drama - one hour
cast: Tim Jerome, Mark Hammer, Joseph Palmieri, Alan Hunter,
Lester Nafzger, Annalee Jefferies, F. Murray Abraham, Arthur Miller
& Joe Frank
[ Steve Reich, from "Six Marimbas" ]
[ Gavin Bryars, from "The Sinking of the Titanic" ]
[ Harold Budd, "Flowered Knife Shadows" from "Lovely Thunder" ]
{ continuation of A Tour of the City" }

1987
-----

Rent A Family

drama - three hours
cast: Barbara Sohmers, Mark Hammer, Arthur Miller, Tim Jerome,
Nick Aulette, Carolyn Swift, Larry Block, Lynn, Sarah, Carmen,
Thomas, Timo, Sharon, & Christa
[ Harold Budd, "Gypsy Violin", from "Lovely Thunder" ]

In the Middle of Nowhere

drama - three hours
cast: Tim Jerome, Larry Block, Arthur Miller, Laura Esterman &
Ryan Cutrona
[ Andreas Vollenwieder, "The Stone" from "White Winds" ]

The Policemen's Ball

drama - one hour
cast: Tim Jerome, Arthur Miller, Nick Aulette, Larry Block, Barbara
Sohmers, Steve Friedman, Denny Partridge & Joe Frank
[ Rossini's "William Tell Overture" performed by the
Portsmouth Sinfonia ]

He Hesitated

monolog - one hour
[ Eno/Moebius/Roedelius, "Foreign Affairs", from "After The Heat" ]
[ Frank Sinatra, "All My Tomorrows", from the soundtrack
of "A Hole in the Head" ]

At The Border

monolog - one hour
[ Popol Vuh, "A Different World" from the soundtrack of
"Cobra Verde" ]

Thank You, You're Beautiful

drama - one hour
cast: Laura Esterman & Joe Frank
[ Popol Vuh, "Brothers of Darkness - Sons of Light" from the
soundtrack of Herzog's "Nosferatu" ]
[ Harvey Sachs: "What the World Needs Now" ]

To The Bar Life

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block & Ryan Cutrona
[ Penguin Cafe Orchestra, "Rosasolis" from "Signs Of Life" ]

1988
-----

The Emergency Room

drama - one hour
cast: Arthur Miller, Tim Jerome, Larry Block, Paul Mantell, Lester
Nafzger & Joe Frank

Stories For Nothing

monolog - one hour

Building A Church

drama - one hour
cast: Tim Jerome, Tess, Arthur Miller, Richard Eisner & Joe Frank
[ Bill Nelson, "West Deep" and "The Spirit Cannot Fail" from
"Chance Encounters in the Garden of Lights" ]

The Street

drama - one hour
{ vocalists unidentified }
{ This program is so popular at KPFA they use dubs for premiums
during the pledge drive. )

Lines

monolog - one hour

Words

monolog - one hour

Five Part Dissonance

drama - one hour
cast: Eric Sears, Arthur Miller, Avery Hart, Paul Mantell, F. Murray
Abraham, Annalee Jefferies & Joe Frank
{ contains excerpts from "Joe Frank in Concert" and "The Rare Recording" }

Emerald Isle

drama - one hour
cast: Fionualla Flannigan, Larry Block & Joe Frank

Home

monolog by Grace Zabriskie - one hour

Islands

monolog - one hour

Sleep

monolog - one hour

1989
-----

Performer

drama - one hour
cast: Lester Nafzger, Julie Renick & Joe Frank
[ Enya, "Watermark" and "River", from "Watermark" ]

The More I Know You

drama - one hour
cast: A. Lorey, Antony Becker & Grace Zabriskie

Road To Hell

monolog - one hour
[ Country Joe McDonald, "Hold On, It's Coming" ]

Nausea

monolog - one hour
[ Yello, "The Race" from "Flag" ]

Bad

drama - one hour
cast: Tim Jerome, Tess Steincolk, Arthur Miller, Larry Block, Paul
Mantell & Joe Frank
{ essentially the same program as "Building A Church" }

Great Lives

drama - one hour
cast: Arthur Miller, Ryan Kitrona, Tim Jerome, Julie Renick & Joe Frank

Night

monolog - two hours
[ Meredith Monk, "Turtle Dreams (Waltz)", from "Turtle Dreams" ]

1990
-----

The Truth About Women

drama - two hours
cast: ?

I'm Not Crazy

monolog - one hour
[ Andreas Vollenwieder, "Flight Feet & Root Hands" from "White Winds" ]

Iceland

monolog - three hours
[ Eno, Moebius & Roedelius, "Tzima N'arki" from "After The Heat" ]

1991
-----

The Dictator

monolog - three hours

[ Enigma, "Principle of Lust", from "MCMXC" ]
[ David Van Tieghem, "They Drive By Night", from "Strange Cargo" ]

On The Edge

monolog - one hour

1992
-----

Redneck Rounder

monolog by J. B. Allison - one hour

El Cholo (The Beginning)

monolog - one hour
{ vocalist unidentifed }
[ "Spanish Reggae" by The Durutti Column from "Obey The Time" ]

The Best

monolog - one hour

In The Dark

monolog - two hours
{ with Theo Mondle & Debbie Devine }
[ Thomas Newman, from the soundtrack of "The Player" ]
[ Dave Grusin, from the soundtrack of "The Bonfire of the Vanities" ]

Two Babes

drama - two hours
cast: Nancy Condy & Mimi Calpestory

>>> In The Dark <<<

1993
-----

God

drama - half hour
cast: Joe Frank, Grace Zabriskie, Ryan Kitrona, Harvey Per & Helen
Wilson

Problems

drama - half hour
cast: Joe Frank, Grace Zabriskie, Ryan Cutrona, Phil Procter & Alan
Arbus

Pilgrim

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Arthur Miller, Grace Zabriskie, Helen Wilson,
Florina Federescou & Douglas Johnson

Smile

drama - half hour
cast: Joe Frank, Farley Ziegler, Larry Block, Arthur Miller, Grace
Zabriskie, Bob Gordon, Naomi Schwarz & Mike Mallone
[ Mark Isham Sextet, from the soundtrack of "Little Man Tate" ]

Green Cadillac

monolog - half hour

When I'm Calling You

monolog - half hour

The Loved One

drama - half hour
cast: Joe Frank, Grace Zabriskie, Arthur Miller, Laura Esterman,
Lester Nafzger, Farley Ziegler, Heidi Nordberg & Harvey Per

Coma

drama - half hour
cast: Joe Frank, Grace Zabriskie, Patrick Buche & Larry Block
[ Harold Budd/Brian Eno, "The Silver Bell" from "The Pearl" ]

Just A Closer Walk With Thee

monolog - half hour

A Special Family

monolog - half hour
[ Brian Eno, from "Thursday Afternoon" ]

1994
-----

Tomorrow

monolog - half hour

The Cruise

monolog - half hour

Hit Man

monolog - half hour

A Natural Disaster

drama - half hour
cast: Joe Frank, Arthur Miller, Ryan Kitrona & Larry Block
[ William Orbit, "Atom Dream" from "Strange Cargo 2" ]

Joe Frank's America

drama - half hour
cast: ?

That Night

drama - half hour
cast: Joe Frank, Grace Zabriskie, Ryan Kitrona, Harvey Per, Carol
Katz, Helen Wilson, Donna Hardy, Mark Henning & Douglas Johnson

Just Hold Me

monolog - half hour
[ William Orbit, "Water From a Vine Leaf" from "Strange Cargo III" ]

Hawaii

monolog by Tim Jerome - half hour
{ also broadcast as "A Trip to Hawaii" }

Soul Mate

monolog by Laura Esterman - half hour

Either/Or

drama - one hour
cast: Arthur Miller, Joe Frank & Maude Davis

Anthology of Love

drama - one hour
cast: Part 1 - Tim Jerome & Beth Dixon, Part 2 - Tim Jerome &
Arthur Miller

Jerry's World

drama - 1.5 hours
cast: Jerry Klein, Mannie Klein, and Meryl
{ During a KPFA fundraiser telephone interview Joe was aked who
Jerry was, and what it was all about. His response was "Jerry was a
man who lived in New York City. He lived in an apartment, alone
and was very depressed; and what he did was record his phone
conversations, with everybody, for years. and when people came
over to visit at his apartment he'd record them, too. He bacame so
depressed he couldn't leave his apartment. His brother Mannie (who
you also hear in that show) would come to his place with food, to
keep him alive; and ultimately he died, a relatively young man in his
early forties, of a brain aneurysm. After he died, his brother had all
these tapes, hundreds of tapes of these phone conversations and he
knew that his brother Jerry had been a fan of my program and he
thought 'Well, maybe Joe can use some of this material maybe he'll
put it on the air.' So he sent me a excerpts ... and I found this
material very compelling and decided to make a radio series based on
those recordings. So what you hear in 'Jerry's World' is Jerry, who
is now dead, and his brother Mannie who very much admired him... and
this girlfriend earlier of Jerry and then of Mannie and now she was
going out on her own, and her name was Meryl, and there was another
woman involved, but these were all tapes of real conversations and
real life being played out from various times in the life of a man
who died rather tragically." }

Loner

drama - half hour
{ vocalists unidentified }

The Last Run

drama - half hour
cast: David Cross, Ryan Cutrona & Joe Frank

Prayer

drama - half hour
cast: Grace Zabriskie & ?
{ contains material first heard in "A Natural Disaster" }

Haiti

drama - half hour
cast: Rick Overton, Paul & Sonya Verdiya, Tucker Smallwood,
Irving Gelman, David Rapkin & Joe Frank

A Hearing

drama - half hour
cast: David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Marty Castor & Joe Frank

1995
-----

Raymond

monolog - half hour

Insomnia

monolgue by Dana Gould - half hour

Third World Country

monolog - half hour

Hotline

drama - half hour
cast: Davis Black

In A Lonely Place

monolog by Julia Sweeney - half hour

Lilla and the Professor

monolog - half hour
{ excerpts from "Iceland" }

Streetwise

monolog - half hour
cast: William Reinart & J. P. Fenyo

>>> Somewhere Out There <<<

1996
-----

Eye In The Sky

monolog - one hour

Three Shingles

monolog - one hour
[ "Isa Lei" by Ry Cooder and V. M. Bhatt from "A Meeting By The River" ]

Obsessions

monolog - one hour

Bible Salesman

monolog - one hour

The Sacred

monolog - one hour

The Road To Cavalry

monolog - one hour

God Only Knows

drama - one hour

Just Get Me Out of Here

monolog - one hour
[ "The Lower We Fly" by Outside from "The Rough And The Smooth" ]

The River

monolog - one hour
[ "The Veldt" by Combustible Edison from "I, Swinger" ]

Justine

monolog - one hour

White Moon

monolog - one hour
[ "Freestyle Linguistique" by The Mighty Bop from "La Vague Sensorielle" ]

Red Sea

monolog - one hour
[ "Go Faster" by the Propellerheads from the "Dive" EP ]

An Enterprising Man

monolog - one hour

Lost Soul

monolog - one hour

Mountain Rain

monolog - one hour

Escape From Paradise

monolog - one hour

Great Lives

drama - one hour
{ originally broadcast as a Work In Progress show }

1997
-----

Philosophy

monolog - one hour
{ contains retellings of Work In Progress material from "At
The Border" and "Case Studies"

Raymond / Third World Country

monologs - one hour
originally broadcast as two In The Dark programs

The Street

drama - one hour
{ originally broadcast as a Work In Progress show }

Journal 1

monolog - one hour

Performer

drama - one hour
{ originally broadcast as a Work In Progress show }

The Other Side

drama - one hour
{ contains stuff from Works In Progress: "Warheads", "Across
the River", "Lines", etc. }

Rent A Family

drama - one hour
{ editted-down version of the original three-hour Work In
Progress show }

Soul Mate

drama - one hour
{ originally broadcast as a half-hour In The Dark program,
this version has additional material from a Work In Progress show }

Blacklight

drama - one hour
{ contains portions of Works In Progress: "A Tour of the
City", "Photography", "The Truth About Women", and the phone calls
from "No Show" and "Let Me Not Dream". }

Policemen's Ball Remix

drama - one hour
{ remix of a Work In Progress program }

Summer Notes

drama - one hour
{ remix?? of a Work In Progress program }

Fat Man Down

drama - one hour
{ retelling of a Work In Progress: "Dreams Of The River" }

Talk To Me

drama - one hour
{ contains material from an In The Dark program }

Blues Singer

monolog - one hour

Pathology

monologs - one hour
{ First segment by Tim Jerome?, then the 'invisible man' sequence
from the beginning of "White Moon" followed by the 'K2 climb' from
"Mountain Rain". }

Bible Stories

drama - one hour
{ contains the "Joseph's POV" sequence from "God Only
Knows" as well as that 'phone-preacher' business from In The Dark
programs "A Natural Disaster" and "Prayer" }

Therapy

drama - one hour
{ contains material from at least one In The Dark show }

Reprise

one hour
{ a selection of old material }

Last Show

one hour
{ retrospective, narrated by Joe }

1998
-----

The Dark End of the Bar

monolog/drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank
{ subjective retelling of "The Queen of Puerto Rico" }

The OJ Chronicles

drama - one hour
cast: David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Marty Castor & Joe Frank
{ just "The Last Run" followed by "A Hearing" }

>>> The Other Side <<<

1999
-----

Windows

monolog - one hour

Jam

drama - one hour
cast: David Cross, Larry Block and Joe Frank

No Angel

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block, ?

Prison Songs

monolog - one hour

Holy Land

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank and ?
{ contains "Prayer" material once again: "Louder
brother I can barely hear you" (like "Bible Stories", only
different) }

The Box

monolog - one hour
{ stories first heard in "Nausea" (rainy departure) and
another old Work In Progress? }

Predator

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block

The Lover Man

one hour
Joe Frank, ?
{ Some new stuff; later, older repeats: including that
dialog with the lowered-frequency voices }

Clement at Christmas

one hour
{ Interesting new monologs by an unidentified
British actor and Joe Frank, plus the tiresome old "Thank
You, You're Beautiful"/"Soulmate" whining by Laura Esterman. }

2000
-----

Mercy

monolog - one hour

At Last

drama - one hour
cast: Larry Block, Joe Frank and Debi Mae West
{ pre-Karma, Larry describes troubles with
Zachery }

Zen

drama - one hour
cast: Milton Schindler, Milio Brodski, Tamar Braut, Laura
Esterman, Arthur Miller, Grace Zabriskie, Larry Block, Kiei
Talbot, Helen Wilson, Buddhist Teacher Jack Kornfield of
Spirit Rock, and Joe Frank.

The Wire

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block, and Jack Kornfield
{ pre-Karma, Joe flashes back, Larry describes the
play he's doing }

Karma

drama - seven hours
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block, Jack Kornfield; Zachery
Block (parts 3 & 4), Kristine McKenna (parts 5 & 7), Debi
Mae West (part 7)

Bad Karma

drama - one hour
cast: Jack Kornfield, and Joe Frank in phone dialog with
Larry Block and others including Ruth Seymour and the guy
having heart surgery

Karma, Don't Deny Me

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block, Jack Kornfield, Kristine
McKenna, Debi Mae West, Mike Malone
{ contains retelling of Pretender material, and some
other segments from Work in Progress }

Karma Redux

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block, Jack Kornfield, Kristine
McKenna, Debi Mae West

Small World Karma

one hour
{ contains a retelling of the He Hesitated telling of
"The Incredible Shrinking Man" story }

Waiting For Karma

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block, Jack Kornfield, Zachery
Block (offstage), Debi Mae West

Karma Memories

one hour
{ the story of Freddie covers "A Pact With God" territory }

Karma Crash

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block, and buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield

Silent Sea

drama - one hour
cast: Debi Mae West, Larry Block, David Rapkin, and Joe Frank.
{ Poetry by T.S. Elliot (more Karma) }

Mystery

drama - one hour
Roy Eisenstein, rabi Niles Goldstien, Jack Kornfield and
Joe Frank with excerpts from a speech by Kolid Mohammed

Brothers

drama - one hour
{ Jerry's World edited down to an hour }

Bitter Pill

one hour

The Sunday Morning Service

drama - one hour
cast: Debi Mae West, Larry Block, Officer Joe, Maude
Gains, Kelley Kidnigh

Caged Heart

one hour

Two Women

one hour

2001
-----

Karma 4 Dollars

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block and Jack Kornfield

Always

drama - one hour
Joe Frank & the dog guy, Larry and Zachery Block
{ more Karma }

Where will it End?

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block, Jack Kornfield, Debi Mae
West, Everton Sylvester
{ more Karma }

Fire and Ice

drama - one hour
cast: Debi Mae West, Joe Frank, Larry Block and Kristine McKenna

The Angina Dialogues

drama - one hour
cast: Larry Block, Jack Kornfield and Joe Frank

Love Prisoner

one hour

A Death in the Family

monolog - one hour
{ retelling of "A Pact With God" }

Waiting for the Bell

drama - one hour
cast: Laura Esterman, Arthur Miller, Grace Zabriskie, Keith
Talbot, Larry Block, Helen Wilson, Walica Fuller, Lester
Nafzger, Farley Ziegler, Heidi Nordberg, Harvey Per, Jack
Kornfied & Joe
{ Initial monolog from "Lover Man" then excerpts
from "Zen" and "Obsessions" interrupted by that tiresome
"Thank You, You're Beautiful"/"Soulmate" whining. }

Woman And Bull In Paint Factory

one hour

What Women Want

one hour

4 Part Dissonance

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block, Gregory Poe and Buddhist
teacher Jack Kornfield

Emptiness

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block, Jack Kornfield, Debi Mae West

Summer Hill

one hour

Evening Sky

drama - one hour
cast: Joe Frank, Larry Block, Gregory Poe, David Rapkin
and Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield

Don't Know Mind

one hour

The Future

drama - one hour
cast: Debi Mae West, Larry Block, Henry Denis, Kelley
Kidnigh, buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield, and Joe Frank

Margarita

one hour

Stoner

drama - one hour

3. How about CDs, video, writing and Internet? Listing of non-radio work

Joe Frank on screen:
-----------------------------------------
A short video was presented at the Santa Monica Public Library
in 1988. It showed Joe speaking in the KCRW studio, a woman driving up to a
pay phone and making the calls heard in "Thank You, You're Beautiful",
and material from "Pretender", including the scene of Joe with the
pillows stuffed up his shirt.

Jerry Summers, one of Joe Frank's cohorts in the studio, says that "... Joe
did a short for CBS for a late-night summer-replacement show called 'The
Midnight Hour'. The piece was 'Memories', a re-working of a WIP story.
It aired (as I recall) late August or early September 1990, on the final
night of 'Midnight Hour'."

A short film has been aired as filler on the Los Angeles PBS station,
KCET, showing a montage of urban images (among which is Joe at the
microphone) accompanying the first segment from "Islands".

Three shorts are available on Playboy's "Inside Out" anthology series,
released on videotape in 1992:

Volume 2 contains "The Hitchhiker"
(which dramatizes the first segment of "Nausea")

Volume 3 contains "The Perfect Woman"
(which is similar to part of "Sleep", and also dramatizes part of "The End")

Volume 4 contains "Jilted Lover"

Joe Frank stars in these features.

... and the 1995 Zima commercial

Joe provided the voice of the computer in "Galaxy Quest" (1999).

He also had a small role (just a few lines)
in "The Game" (a 1997 film), and has reportedly
provided narration for the following
cable television documentary programs:

"Wild Rescues" on Animal Planet
"Conspiracies" on A&E
"Ends of the Earth" on the Learning Channel
"Hurricane X" on the Discovery channel

Joe Frank in print:
---------------------------------------------
An article about Joe called "Radio Noir", by Jamie Diamond, can be found
in the Los Angeles Times Magazine of Sunday, November 22, 1987. The
Wall Street Journal profiled him in an article in their March 15, 1988
edition. Another article, by Dick Lochte, called "Frankly, Joe's Branching
Out", appeared in the March 1989 issue of Los Angeles Magazine. Much more
verbiage (generally quite favorable) appeared in the wake of the release of
his book of short stories, _The Queen of Puerto Rico_, which was published
in 1993 by William Morrow and Company of New York.

Contents of _The Queen of Puerto Rico_ :

Tell Me What To Do
Fat Man
Night
Green Cadillac
Date
The Queen of Puerto Rico
Winter
The Decline of Spengler

{ Fat Man contains material from "Dreams of the River", and Winter
has similarities to "When She's Asleep, She Looks like an Angel" }

Joe Frank on disk - commercial recordings:
---------------------------------------------
Commercial Recor4dings:

"Strange Cargo Hinterland" is a 1995 William Orbit production.
The track "Montok Point" contains some brief monologues by Joe Frank.

The group Brazzaville released a "2002" CD in 1998 which features Joe
on the "Ocean" track.

Other Recordings:
Some CDs issued on the European Moonraker label contain pieces of Joe Frank
programs.

The "Epilogue" on their First Sampler (Moonraker 050) is a piece from "Smile"
The "Segue" and the "Epilogue" on their Second Sampler (Moonraker 100) are from
"A Tour of the City"

And all his shows are available on CD from KCRW (see below).

Joe Frank Online:
------------------------------
KCRW's web page, not much text, but many links to shows in RealAudio:
http://www.kcrw.org/cgi-bin/db/kcrw.pl?tmplt_type=program&show_code=jf

The Joe Frank Network -- mailing list and message archive:
http://www.joefrank.net/

Pointers to many more sites are available at Joe Frank Link Central:
http://community-2.webtv.net/turbocrazed/JOEFRANKLINKCENTRAL/

The online magazine "Salon" featured an article by Susan Emerling
in March 2000, "Public Radio's Bad Dream":
http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2000/03/07/joe_frank/index.html

4. Is he still on the radio?

Hear Joe Frank on the following stations:

KCRW 89.9 FM http://www.kcrw.org
Santa Monica College
Santa Monica, California
Sundays at 11AM, repeated Saturday at 7PM

WFMU 91.1 FM http://wfmu.org
WXHD-FM, 90.1
East Orange, New Jersey
Thursdays at 7PM

KDVS 90.3 FM http://www.kdvs.org
Davis, California
Saturdays at 11PM

KPFA 94.1 FM http://www.kpfa.org
Berkeley, California
Sundays at 7PM

5. Are tapes or CDs of the radio programs available?

Joe Frank's programs are available on CD from KCRW
(they no longer do cassette tapes). Write the station for
more information at:

KCRW
1900 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405
attn: Jennifer Ferro.

or call 310-450-5183 or 800-392-8855

Some of the programs are available on KCRW's Joe Frank
web page (http://www.kcrw.org/c/jfrank/jfrank.html) in the
Real Audio format.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last-Modified: February 17, 2002
Version: 7.2u
Author: Richard Looney
Disclaimer: The author of this FAQ is not associated with
WFMU, KCRW or NPR; nor does he know Mr. Frank personally.
This document is essentially a record of material heard on
the radio, augmented with information submitted by other
fans of Joe Frank. Although every effort has been made to
ensure accuracy, errors may exist.