[joe-frank-list] WBEZ

[SpringyStepps at aol.com]

I understand the WBEZ practice in the sense that most
radio shows  make a point of introducing themselves
within the show. Le Show does  this.

In another sense, what a daunting task it would be to
create an  introduction to a Joe Frank episode! I don't
think WBEZ talent is up to the  task.

Can you imagine the pressure that falls on the staffer
who has  to introduce Joe Frank, who typically just
dives right into his material?  Knowing that Frank's
voice is rich and practiced, you'd have to be  a
gifted, experienced announcer to pull off an
introduction that sounds  right.

You certainly don't want to introduce the show in the
voice of  Porgy Tirebiter.

And if you are female and know what's coming up  next,
how do you approach an introduction? Do you use a
voice like the See  Clearly Method actress? Certainly
you couldn't use your common voice, could  you?

So, at WBEZ they scrambled around looking for the
person with the  voice that can do justice by way of
introducing Joe Frank. And their search  yielded the
only person on staff, the afternoon janitor, Raul,
whose voice  had just the right timbre and damage from
smoking. They sat him in front of  the mic and had him
cut demo disks. Trouble was, he just couldn't get  to
the level of the accent-free announcement that
English-only radio  requires.

So, they fired him and started their current practice.
As a  result, Raul now introduces Jose Franco episodes
at the local  Spanish-language station, to quite some
success.

Either that, or the  station is just a tape-loading
robot that tirelessly works through the  day's
playlist, and annoucements are mailed in from  NYC.

Robert



Not looking for introductions, just a short identifier. WBEZ always  
announced the name of the show before it started, to the effect of "up next, Joe  
Frank.  Tonight's program is  xxxx."  Simple, all of 4  seconds or so, providing a 
nice reference for those of us making note of  the program perhaps to order 
them off his website, etc.  About 4 or 5  weeks ago they stopped offering that 
simple  courtesy.

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