Dear Friends (radio program)

Dear Friends was a live radio program performed by the Firesign Theatre on KPFK radio in Los Angeles. Twenty-one episodes aired between September 16, 1970 and February 17, 1971. These programs were recorded and later edited into one-hour shows distributed on 12" LPs for national syndication. In January 1972, the group released a Dear Friends double album, a compilation of what they considered to be the best segments from the radio program. The original broadcasts were released in 2010 on the group's Duke of Madness Motors DVD compilation. Another album distilled from the Duke of Madness Motors set, Dope Humor of the Seventies, which also collected material from the Dear Friends radio shows, was released in 2020.[1][2]

Dear Friends
GenreComedy
Running time45 minutes (approx.)
Country of originUnited States
Language(s)English
Home stationKPFK Los Angeles
StarringThe Firesign Theatre: Peter Bergman, Philip Proctor, Phil Austin, David Ossman
Written byThe Firesign Theatre
Original releaseSeptember 16, 1970 (1970-09-16) – February 17, 1971 (1971-02-17)
No. of episodes21
Audio formatStereophonic sound

Episodes

Episode #1 - Live At The Ash Grove

Originally aired live on KPFK on November 15, 1970

Tracks - side one

Intros

  1. P.B. Intros Freddy Earth
  2. Vegetables
  3. Dr. Memory
  4. Animals
  5. Tongue Exercises (P.P.)
  6. Religious Items
  7. Whales
  8. Rap On Cartoon Men Dagwood & Jigs
  9. Segue > Drunks
  10. Arms
  11. Letter From Tokyo
  12. American Koan
  13. Egyptians (P.B.)
  14. Skeleton
  15. Pirates
  16. F.T. Anniversary
  17. Joke Contest
  18. P.B.'S Close
  19. Last Chord Of Music

Tracks - side two
  1. Shaky Open
  2. Music Break (Silhouettes)
  3. Applause
  4. P.P. Bit
  5. Hole Earth Estates
  6. Teenie Weenies
  7. Animals
  8. Vaudeville Act
  9. Georgia Island Story
  10. Don G. O'vanni Spot (40 Great Unclaimed Melodies)
  11. Thanksgiving Piece (The P.A. Encore)
  12. Leary-Duck
  13. President's Names Rap
  14. Thank You

Episode #2 - Power Is Trouble and Trouble's Not Funny

Originally aired live on KPFK on November 1, 1970

Tracks - side one
  1. Satie Opening
  2. Animals In Army
  3. Glaubner's Disease
  4. Dr. Spitz and Dog
  5. Commerce
  6. Dying Pig
  7. Party Lecture
  8. Dr. Memory Show
  9. Citizen X Reviews Firesign Theatre Album
  10. Giant Toad
  11. Mark Time
  12. Mission Inn
  13. Early Farming
  14. P.A. - P.B. Coal
  15. D.O. Coal
  16. Coal Improv
  17. Moon Worms
  18. Amoeba To Oil
  19. P.P. Speech

Tracks - side two
  1. Duck
  2. Winter
  3. BBQ Chanters
  4. Police Records
  5. Leg O Crow
  6. "What's So Funny" Jokes
  7. Willie Sutton
  8. Morning T.V. Guide
  9. D.O. Book Report
  10. P.B. -P.A. On Book Reports
  11. Questions For Kids
  12. Presidents
  13. Names
  14. P.P. Announcement
  15. Harmonica Solo
  16. More Kids Questions
  17. News Items
  18. P.A. Reading
  19. D.O. Whole Earth Poem
  20. Indian Land
  21. Power
  22. Fanfare

Episode #3 - I Could Always Shoot Him With The Camera

Originally aired live on KPFK on October 4, 1970

Tracks - side one
  1. Equipment Trouble
  2. Japanese Miniature T.V.S
  3. Surrogate Mothers
  4. Hair
  5. Drunks
  6. President and Committee (Live From The Senate Bar)
  7. The Greening Of America Discussion

Tracks - side two
  1. Orson Welles Bit
  2. Punter's Girls
  3. Sound Effects War
  4. Fresh Chef
  5. Sex Jail
  6. Sex Movies
  7. W.C. Fields
  8. FDR And Hitler
  9. P.P.'S The Mutt and Smutt Show

Episode #4 - Somebody Put A Mickey In The Ground Zero

Originally aired live on KPFK on October 11, 1970

Tracks - side one
  1. Yale Distorts Tape – 8:15
  2. Conk's Coal Ad
  3. Rocket Scientists's Lunch
  4. "Chucko"
  5. News Items: Sophia Loren, Fires, Agnew
  6. Famous Comic's School
  7. Child And Models At Mott's Miniatures
  8. Can You Stop This

Tracks - side two
  1. Hitler
  2. Opinion Research
  3. The Chinchilla Show
  4. Real America Items
  5. Mixville Rocket News
  6. Spud Commercial
  7. Disaster Reports
  8. Rocket-Fags
  9. Us Census
  10. Crabs(?)
  11. Writer's School Spot
  12. Mutt and Smutt
  13. Music Bit
  14. The Compromise ATC
  15. Warning
  16. Blast-Off

Episode #5 - All We Have To Fear Is Me

Originally aired live on KPFK on December 9, 1970

Tracks - side one
  1. D.O. Intro
  2. Toad Away Hymn
  3. Book Of Punter
  4. Sermonizing
  5. "They Heard Us Talking"
  6. Pudy Valee
  7. President's Songs
  8. Lomesome Beet Song(O:14)
  9. Navy Dress Regs
  10. Heaves Of Hoove
  11. P.P. As FBI Agent
  12. P.B. Kicks On Nix
  13. Music Break
  14. D.O. - Ad Billboard
  15. P.P. Zen Story
  16. P.B. Andalusion Dog
  17. P.P. Poem
  18. Ufos
  19. Sodom And Jubalee
  20. 2 Idiots For Peace
  21. Pauser's Manifesto
  22. Dr. Tim In Algeria
  23. Youthful Folly

Tracks - side two
  1. D.O. Luie's Ad
  2. P.P. Pavlov's Dog
  3. Pooche's Beer Hall
  4. Afternoon T.V. Guide
  5. Watching T.V.
  6. I Am An American
  7. Luci and Desi
  8. C.B. Demille Movie
  9. Beer Ads
  10. Music Break
  11. Food Ad
  12. Hoove's Dogs
  13. Lavender Hoove
  14. Fish War
  15. Weather Report
  16. Carozzi Pot Garden
  17. Beaner Dealers
  18. Gym Hs
  19. Fod On T.V.
  20. Nightinjail JHS
  21. G. Canyon Suite
  22. Fudd
  23. Johnny
  24. Marvin Ratman
  25. Recruiting For FBI
  26. Zen Story
  27. Squash Outro

Episode #6 - Deputy Dan Will Find Us No Matter Where We Go

Originally aired live on KPFK on November 8, 1970

Tracks - side one
  1. Savings and Loan Spot
  2. Beer Drinking
  3. Tri-City Spot
  4. Education
  5. Cock Teasing
  6. Bears and Boars
  7. Baliol Bros. Spot
  8. Mudslide
  9. The F(L)Ag
  10. Police
  11. Aliens Spot
  12. Hanging Athenian Gardens
  13. Criogenics - Foster Freeze
  14. Rabbits
  15. Lucky Duck
  16. News Items
  17. Plane Bombings
  18. Boys Books
  19. Chicanos
  20. Baliol
  21. Deputy Dan
  22. Police Car
  23. Accident
  24. Amos and Andy

Tracks - side two
  1. Baliol Spot
  2. G. Washington Letter
  3. Dr. Memory
  4. Baliol
  5. P.B.-Operation Bootstrap
  6. Fuse Of Doom
  7. Baliol Spot
  8. Tongue Exercises

Episode #7 - Was There A Cow On The Moon?

Originally aired live on KPFK on November 29, 1970

Tracks - side one
  1. Barn Dance Opening
  2. Peter's Birthday
  3. P.P.'S German
  4. Movie Score
  5. Mars-Marsh
  6. Motorcycle
  7. Bird-Dog Song
  8. Dik-Dik Story
  9. Pears-Paris
  10. Tarzan
  11. Copper Smelting
  12. Sex Problems
  13. T.V. Guide Girl
  14. P.P.'S "Bluff" Piece
  15. Pain Pills
  16. Brautigan Poem
  17. Golgotha Discussion
  18. Basket Boys
  19. War
  20. GI Bills

Tracks - side two
  1. Businessman's Lunch
  2. Three Questions
  3. Homosexuals And Doctors
  4. Copper Smelting
  5. Badges
  6. Armegeddon
  7. War With The Cows
  8. "Hell"
  9. Message In Rocket Sequence
  10. Rose In Spanish Harlem Music Trip
  11. Men On The Moon
  12. Film-Makers
  13. Horse-Players
  14. Silence
  15. 2-Minute Light
  16. Money
  17. 45 Seconds To Go...

Episode #8 - Being On Radio Is More Fun Than Watching TV

side one originally aired live on KPFK on October 18, 1970 side two originally aired live on KPFK on December 6, 1970

Tracks - side one
  1. Columbia School Of Broadcasting
  2. Women
  3. City Of The Future
  4. Sermon
  5. "Can't Say That On The Air"
  6. Women's Shoes
  7. Steel Hat
  8. Dr. I.Q.'S Announcing School
  9. The Curbfront Shysters
  10. Pluto Water
  11. Census Taking
  12. Serman Continues
  13. A Letter Disappears
  14. Hitler's Umlaut
  15. Discipline
  16. P.B. Spills The Coffee
  17. Playback Of Spill
  18. Sermon Continued
  19. Lick-A-Boot

Tracks - side two
  1. Negros A Go Go
  2. P.A.'S T.V. Guide
  3. Winnie The Pooh - "Eeyore's Birthday"

Episode #9 - Dr. Memory's Laff-A-While News

Originally aired live on KPFK on January 10, 1971

Tracks - side one
  1. Good News Items
  2. News Opening
  3. Production Code
  4. Bear Story
  5. Cops Broadcasting
  6. Hippie Words
  7. Newscasters
  8. Offensive Words
  9. More Cops
  10. Old Postman
  11. Jackie Globenfelt Story
  12. Selma W. Selma Song
  13. The Morgans
  14. Gump Door(?)
  15. Rocket
  16. Mixville
  17. Bringing Up Father
  18. Baxter Ward On Fiji
  19. Famous Speakers School
  20. Car Wash Ad
  21. Dr. Memory

Tracks - side two
  1. Fiji Islanders
  2. Welsh Accents
  3. Prohibited Words
  4. Exercises
  5. Greaso Practice
  6. Cigarette Ads
  7. Ecology
  8. Army Recruiting
  9. Garden Club News
  10. French Mother Goose Song And Story
  11. Production Code Standards
  12. Russian Book
  13. Children's Zoo
  14. Disappearance Of Animals
  15. P.P.'S Grandfather's Letter
  16. Mixville Rocket
  17. George Put-Put News Ad
  18. Dr.Memory

Episode #10 - All Nite Images

Originally aired live on KPFK on January 17, 1971

Tracks - side one
  1. P.B.'S Voice Prints Of The 60s Spot
  2. P.P. On Concerts
  3. Sleep Researchers
  4. Truck Stop Cafe'
  5. Cell Meeting
  6. Mental Illness Statistics
  7. Fighter Ace
  8. Dall Show
  9. Bottomless Hot Dog Stand
  10. Professional Digester
  11. Glutton's Church
  12. The Pause
  13. Trains
  14. Roman Games Trip
  15. "Doing His Thing" Bit
  16. P.P.'S Ed's Restaurant Spot
  17. Broadcaster's School
  18. Jew In Palm Springs
  19. Yale And Bimidji
  20. Business Meeting: Priests
  21. Help The Hoove Fund
  22. Dialset Story
  23. Negro Records
  24. Duke Of Madness Motors Spot

Tracks - side two
  1. Latin-Rocket Trip
  2. First Buffalo
  3. Extinct Animals
  4. Ike Speech
  5. State Of The Union Race
  6. Big Bomb Scare
  7. "The Young Polluters"
  8. Hoove T.V. Series
  9. Sex Mailer
  10. And Dirty Pix
  11. Sex On T.V.
  12. Review Of "Trash"
  13. Homosexuals
  14. The Talking Porpoise
  15. Blind Kids Sniff Pot
  16. Lady Driver
  17. Russian Driver
  18. Kidnappers
  19. Reminisences Of T.F.T.
  20. Alchemy
  21. Summer Police & Doctors Festival
  22. Outdoor Sales
  23. Beaners
  24. Crucified TV
  25. Truck Stop Reprise

Episode #11 - Welcome To Microorganism State Park

Originally aired live on KPFK on January 24, 1971

Tracks - side one
  1. Jiver Intro
  2. Melon Mtn. Opening
  3. Technical Breakdown
  4. Popularization Of Art
  5. Saigon Yale Club
  6. Jewish Times Story
  7. Kung Fu Ad
  8. Dr. Dog As Brickbreaker
  9. Pet Pills At Fair
  10. Kid Roundup
  11. Kids In The Street
  12. Gravity On Reds
  13. Merc. In Fish
  14. Pres. Punter & Color T.V.S
  15. Rabbit Pellets
  16. Beaners Scoring Weed
  17. Cow Trip (The Cows Are Not Afraid Of The Dr.)
  18. Dr. Whiplash Show
  19. Bazerko Lounge Spot
  20. Dear Nominee Set
  21. P.B. In Holiday Inns
  22. Sheep
  23. 4th Record - Jim & Spade Nixon
  24. Dr. Memory Set

Tracks - side two
  1. Jefferson And The Mason (From the October 18, 1971 live broadcast)
  2. P.P. On Sheep
  3. D.O.'S Ecology Pitch
  4. Tenner's Guide
  5. Whiskey Law
  6. Voices, Forest Growing
  7. Witches Brew
  8. Conquistador Club
  9. Animals You Won't See
  10. Earthworms
  11. (Etc. A Mix Of All These To:)
  12. Forest Fire Stories
  13. "We'll Never Forget"
  14. Clock Striking
  15. Rent Parties
  16. Chinese-Spades
  17. Robert Kelly Reading
  18. Talk About The Poem
  19. Dirty Words
  20. Marijuana Scare - Replay
  21. 5 Min Light
  22. Hollow Trees
  23. Where Trees Come From & What They Are Made Of
  24. Russian Poem To Sleep
  25. Dr. Memory Tag

Episode #12 - Is This The Machine That Answers No "N" Yes?

Side one originally aired live on KPFK on February 3, 1971 and October 18, 1970. Side two originally aired live on KPFK on February 17, 1971.

Tracks - side one
  1. "Dead Air"
  2. P.B.'S Mick Jagger Story – 1:20
  3. Fanfare
  4. Old Men-Vegetables
  5. Rain Falling & Plants Growing
  6. Judgement Of The Birds
  7. Arm Band Plays "Rudolph"
  8. Ascap Financial Report
  9. Agnew
  10. Plastique
  11. "La Condicion Humaine"
  12. Propane Car
  13. Bing Crosby On Teens
  14. Youth-Sex Games On Parade
  15. "Paranoia" Piece
  16. P.B.'S Andalusion Dog Poem
  17. P.P.'S Statement Of Principals
  18. P.A.'S Monte Cristo
  19. D.O.'S Swing Music (From the February 17, 1971 live broadcast)
  20. Station Break (The Firesign Theatre's "Single" release - side A)

Tracks - side two
  1. "Rainin" Music Out
  2. Cabin Rest. Spot
  3. Yes and No Machine
  4. Quotes And Questions
  5. Ben Hur
  6. Women In Wwii
  7. New Money
  8. Monastery In White House
  9. Elkheart Trains
  10. Laugh Track
  11. Stanford Train Trip
  12. Computors On Acid
  13. Subway Tour Guide
  14. "Mr. Prominent"
  15. Bundles
  16. Forward Into The Past (The Firesign Theatre's "Single" release - side B)
  17. Termites Eat Steel
  18. US Seal
  19. Old Cars
  20. Statistics
  21. Earthquake Farewell

Issues and reissues

These shows were distributed to radio stations on 12 inch, white label LPs.

Selected parts of these shows were released by the group on the Columbia Records label as the double album Dear Friends in 1972. Other parts were released — without mention of their origin — as parts of the group's Just Folks... A Firesign Chat album on Butterfly Records in 1977.

Between June 15 and September 28, 2010, New York radio station WFMU (with the cooperation of the Firesign Theatre) aired a 16-week series of archival shows which included all but episodes 1, 8, 10, and 12 of the syndicated Dear Friends in chronological order along with an unsyndicated Dear Friends episode broadcast on September 16, 1970 ("Big Brother Is Washing") and episodes of their other KPFK series, The Firesign Theatre Radio Hour Hour and Let's Eat. As of October 2010, the individual programs from this run are available for streaming via the WFMU website, and a selection of the shows rebroadcast by the station are also available via iTunes.[3]

References
  1. Dope Humor of the Seventies (booklet). The Firesign Theatre. Stand Up! Records. 2020.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. "TVD Radar: The Firesign Theatre, Dope Humor of the Seventies 2-LP in stores 11/27". The Vinyl District. October 23, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  3. Firesigntheatre.com
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