Les Crane
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Les Crane (born December 3, 1935) was a radio announcer and television talk show host, a pioneer in interactive broadcasting who also scored an unexpected spoken word hit with his recording of the poem Desiderata, winning a "Best Spoken Word" Grammy for his efforts.
In the early 1960s Crane became a popular and controversial host for the radio powerhouse KGO (AM) in San Francisco. With KGO's strong evening signal reaching as far north as Seattle, Washington he attracted a regional audience far outside the San Francisco area. A pioneer in the development of the radio talk show, Crane delighted and irritated callers and listeners with his forthright style and unwillingness to suffer fools quietly, often hanging up on callers in contravention of the polite ethos of the times.
A late night program airing weekdays from 11 PM to 2 AM, "Crane at the hungry i" (1962-1964) found Crane interacting with owner and impressario Enrico Banducci and interviewing aspiring newcomers like Barbra Streisand and Professor Irwin Corey. Crane's style was rapid fire and contentious, arguing with Banducci or Corey about politics or how the club was run. The call in number, EXbrook 7-2860 was frequently repeated on air along with the fact that Crane was only 27 years old.
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. The pair divorced in 1975. 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".
In late 1971, the 45 RPM recording of Les Crane's reading of Desiderata reached #8 on the Billboard charts . It had great influence on mainstream society 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 during 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.
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 Toolworks was sold and renamed Mindscape in the early 1990s.
Today, Crane is retired and lives with his present wife, Ginger.
