When the Frantics were doing their Frantic Times radio show in the early 80s, I was a tiny little baby and didn’t get to hear it. So now that there’s a chance to maybe get my hands on a bunch of those shows as a series of free podcasts, it only makes sense that I’d plug the fundraising effort. I may also have to toss in the $10 it would take to get my very own Mr. Canoehead voicemail greeting.
They’re looking to raise $5000 for the editing work and such, and so far they’re already up to around $1400 with a month to go.
A short intro for people who have come here by accident, are intrigued but have no idea what this is all about.
Okay, The Frantics are a comedy troupe from Canada. We had our most productive years between 1979 and 1988. We toured with our live stage shows, had a short-lived TV show- 4 on the Floor, and recorded several albums, all of which were made famous by Dr. Demento (see above).
Here’s what we’re doing
We also had a weekly, 30 minute, radio show on CBC called Frantic Times. One hundred and ten half-hour episodes, performed in front of a live audience (lots of real laughs) were produced. That’s what this is all about, making Frantic Times, recorded between 1981 and 1984, available once again. We are taking more than 900 sketches and creating a best-of set of podcasts for new and old fans.
Our goal is to raise $5,000. We estimate that the 100, or so, original, hilarious shows will edit down to 50 killer shows. That equals $100 for each half-hour show. Pretty reasonable, we think.
For podcasting, early 2017.
What are we raising the cash for?
Sifting through the insane amount of material, picking the best, bringing them up to the highest broadcast standards and packaging them for podcasts is time consuming and requires technical skills we don’t have. So we’ve hired an expert in the field and will use the money collected here to produce the podcasts as well as create the extremely fun perks available over there to the right.
A successful podcast series also needs a website, proper Facebook page and other technical things we know nothing about. So the money will be going to that, also.
What are the risks to you?
Fair question. Honestly, pretty low. All the radio shows have been produced. They sound great, as you can tell from the sample. All we’re doing is editing them down to the best-of material and taking out music that can’t be licensed. That’s it.