Firesign is on the air!

Just received this press release:

LEGENDARY RADIO COMEDY SHOWS RETURN TO THE AIR AFTER FORTYYEARS WITH "THE FIRESIGN THEATRE RADIO HOUR" ON WFMU LOS ANGELES -- Perennial and venerated surrealist comedygroup The Firesign Theatre, together since 1966 and stilltouring, are about to have some of their most beloved radiohistory recycled by freeform broadcaster WFMU (www.wfmu.org) The New Jersey-based FM station and web-streamer, a havenfor music lovers and champions of the eccentric, eclectic,and ephemeral, will be rebroadcasting sixteen hours of theFiresign Theatre's radio work from 1970-1972, the years whenthe group were performing their notorious Los Angeles radioseries The Firesign Theatre Radio Hour Hour, Dear Friends,and Let's Eat. WFMU will broadcast and stream "The Firesign Theatre Radio Hour"Tuesday nights from 7pm-8pm, beginning June 15 and continuingthrough the end of September. The Firesign Theatre -- Philip Austin, Peter Bergman, DavidOssman, and Philip Proctor -- first hosted their own radioseries after the last run of the groundbreaking show RadioFree Oz, hosted by Peter Bergman and various members ofFiresign between 1966 and 1969 on KFPK, KRLA, and KMET inLos Angeles. The Firesign's first self-hosted radio series was The FiresignTheatre Radio Hour Hour, a two-hour weekly show that airedSunday nights on KPPC-FM, Pasadena, from January to July 1970.Between September 1970 and February 1971, Firesign hosted theweekly series Dear Friends on KPFK-FM, Los Angeles. Their lastself-hosted radio series on terrestrial FM was Let's Eat, broadcastweekly on KPFK between November 1971 and February 1972, plus the90-minute series finale Martian Space Party in March 1972. Firesign's riff-based radio work was almost completely improvised,and incorporated found texts, short scripts, and random music andsound effects flown into the mix by their engineer The Live Earl Jive. Firesign syndicated twelve episodes of Dear Friends and ten programsof Let's Eat to underground stations across the U.S. in the 1970son LPs and open reels, which are today the rarest and mostcollectible artifacts in Firesign's discography. The material set for broadcast on WFMU, which all dates from 1970-1972, has been extensively restored and remastered from the bestavailable sources. Short clips from Firesign's Dear Friends radio series ended upon a double-LP of the same name released by Columbia Records in1972, and gave the language such indelible phrases as "Like wormsout of a hot cheese log", "I was a cockteaser at Roosterama", and"Deputy Dan has no friends". Select episodes of Radio Hour Hour and Dear Friends are currentlyavailable for download from iTunes. More vintage programs will beadded on an ongoing basis. A comprehensive reissue package of the complete broadcast historyof Firesign Theatre 1970-1972 is currently in production, with aprojected late Summer 2010 release. This year, Peter Bergman resuscitated Radio Free Oz as a four-day-a-week webcast, streamable from www.radiofreeoz.com. The show isco-hosted by David Ossman and features regular contributions fromPhil Austin and Phil Proctor. The Firesign Theatre will be performing a series of live shows inPortland, Eugene, Ashland, and Redding later this month, withadditional dates planned for Santa Barbara, Monterey, Marin Countyand Hollywood's Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in late October. For further details, visit the Firesign Theatre website atwww.firesigntheatre.com, or connect with the group at "It's JustThis Little Chromium Switch Here" on Facebook. Be there or be square!