Love Workshop: Put On a Happy Face

Shooting out of Phoenix in 1976, The Love Workshop was a 15 minute radio comedy show on rock station KDKB. In it's heyday, the station was a daring album-rock station that acquired a rabid fan base. Two station employees, Russ Shaw and Tod Carroll, created alter egos Vern and Craig, and then happily pushed the boundaries of good taste in the name of fun.

Derrick Bostrom's Bostworld blog recently uncovered this lost radio gem, and he describes it thusly:

In one segment, they microwave then eat a small boy surrounded by an accompaniment of jawbreakers and new potatoes. In another, they seduce the recently widowed wife of a Vietnam vet with bourbon and Quaalude. In another, they punch out the subject of a public television “empowerment” program after calling her a stupid lesbian. In still another, they force a guest to try out an I.U.D made of pop tops and bottle caps attached to a dead scorpion.

The writing on the show was brilliant. Their sense of comic timing and attention to detail was impeccable. And in the climate of the mid-seventies, the scorched-earth nature of material didn’t raise as many eyebrows as it would now. But not everyone admired it, apparently. Just as the show was poised to expand into other markets, it was suddenly cancelled as part of a controversial housecleaning of KDKB management.

Russ, the voice talent, went on to real estate (and occasional voice over work, like the classic Discount Tire Company ad), while Vern, who produced and wrote the show, went on to National Lampoon and later wrote screenplays. Check out all the details at Bostworld's intense Love Workshop page, including this interview with 1/2 of the Love Workship, Russ Shaw.

And thanks to Derrick also for allowing us to repost many of the Love Workshop shows. Unfortunately, there are no airdates available, so these aren't in any real order. But still, here is a chance for you to check out their show for yourself:

Abortion Misfortune
Apartheid In Phoenix/Decorating For The Poor
Communism Show
DES Fashion Show
Focus on Rapping: Insurance
Friday Afternoon At Victoria Station
Frog Night
Guessing Games/Convenience Market
Jesus Christ: Air Conditioning Repairman
Johnny Involved: Private Eye
Kent State
Mexican Space Probe
The Music Show
The News
Patrika And The Baby
Project: Suffering
Queers In the News
Rocky Point
The Science Of Comedy
Steps To Approaching The Rape Victim
Stewardess & Secretary Behavior Modification Center
A Telephone Conversation
The Variety Machine
Verne Watching Television: Anita Bryant Orange Juice Ad
The Yelling Show

PS - Many of the files above came Bostworld's way via our pal Wayne Butane, so big ups to him as well.

Comments

[taco truck]

meh. stilted lampoon + fireside meets l. ron hubbard.

[Ryan]

Pure genius. This should be released as some big fancy cd boxset with commemorative poster, coffee mug and slide whistle. This show is amazing and I owe my life to Vern and Craig.

[Anthony]

I just heard "Jesus Christ: Air Conditioning Repairman" on a local college station, and it just so happens to be Greek Orthodox Easter today. An ironic turn of events that turned for the better. This is some of the funniest stuff I've heard in a really, really long time.

[Derrick Bostrom]

The folks at Radio Free Phoenix have finally released these recordings on CD as well:

http://radiofreephoenix.com/loveworkshopcd.html

[gary laatsch]

It will be a birthday present to me from my wife in a couple weeks. I know she bought it at my request. Other than the snippets I here on RFP, It's been 33 years since I heard any of this stuff. Now if I could only grow hair again!!!!!

[Labor Posters]

This show is awesome. And i love the way they put their photos together...