Les Crane
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Les Crane (born December 3, 1935) was a San Francisco-based radio announcer and television talk show host who scored an unexpected spoken word hit with his recording of the poem, "Desiderata", winning a "Best Spoken Word" Grammy for his efforts.
The 45 RPM record reached #8 on the Billboard magazine charts in late 1971. It had great influence on mainstream society (The Establishment) and became a counterculture anthem of sorts, and in particular, introducing many to the culture of prose poetry and spoken word recording. The recording was considered inspirational and positive in a somewhat negative time.
Though Crane thought the poem was in the public domain when it was recorded, the rights in fact belonged to the family of author Max Ehrmann and royalties were distributed accordingly.
In the mid 1960s, Crane was host of a number of late night TV talk shows on ABC-TV as their answer to Johnny Carson. The first American TV appearance of the Rolling Stones was on Crane's program in June, 1964. Bob Dylan, who rarely appeared on television, did a spot with Crane in early 1965. Crane also interviewed important people like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, George Wallace and Robert F. Kennedy. He was married to actress Tina Louise and they had one daughter, Caprice Crane, who became a screenwriter/producer/author. Crane's own acting career was brief, with an appearance in the 1966 film, An American Dream. Crane also was mentioned in the 1966 Phil Ochs song Love Me, I'm A Liberal.
A parody of Desiderata by National Lampoon on their 1972 album, Radio Dinner, went on to fame via the Dr. Demento and Howard Stern radio shows. Called Deteriorata and voiced by Norman Rose, the parody declared to listeners that "you are a fluke of the universe. You have no right to be here. And whether you can hear it or not, the universe is laughing behind your back." Melissa Manchester, then a little-known session singer, performed the gospel-tinged background vocals.
When asked about the recording during an interview by the Los Angeles Times in 1987, Crane replied, "I can't listen to it now without gagging." He admitted to being much fonder of the National Lampoon version.
In the 1980s, Crane transitioned to the software industry and became chairman of The Software Toolworks, creators of the three-dimensional color chess series, Chessmaster, and the best-selling educational series, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Toolworks was also responsible for such classics as The Original Adventure and the PC version of Pong. The Software Tooworks was sold and renamed Mindscape in the early 1990s.
Today, Crane is retired and lives with his present wife, Ginger (not to be confused with Tina Louise).
