Frazer Smith, also known as Frazier Smith (born January 17, 1955), nicknamed "The Fraze", is an American radio personality, actor
[ and stand-up comedian.][Radioinfo.com]
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Early life
Smith was born in Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
, Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
.
Career
Smith worked in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
at KROQ-FM from 1976 through 1979, KLOS Klos or KLOS may refer to:
* Klos (surname)
* Klos, Dibër, a town in eastern Albania
** Harketari Klos KF, a defunct football club based in Klos, Dibër
* Klos, Elbasan, a village in central Albania
* Klos, Mallakastër, a village in south-central ...
from 1979 through 1984, KMET 1984 through 1986, KLSX 1986 through 1997, KLOS in 1997, and KRTH
KRTH (101.1 FM, "K-Earth 101") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Los Angeles, California, United States and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. and broadcasts a classic hits format. KRTH's st ...
in 2002. He has played small roles in filmsNight Tracks
''Night Tracks'' is an American television series which ran from 1983 to 1992 on Super Station WTBS (later known as TBS Super Station) on late night weekends. It premiered on Friday, June 3, 1983, and the first music video it aired was "Family ...
from 1986 to 1988 and 1989 to 1991.
The debut of his manic show on KROQ-FM coincided with that station's rise playing what was then-new new wave music
New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. La ...
. His extended improvisational comedy based on a mythical lothario/detective was also heard on the sporadically-produced ''Hollywood Nightshift'', which featured Phil Austin of The Firesign Theatre
The Firesign Theatre (also known as the Firesigns) was an American surreal comedy troupe who first appeared on November 17, 1966, in a live performance on the Los Angeles radio program ''Radio Free Oz'' on station KPFK FM. They continued ap ...
, as well as movie, TV actor and radio DJ, Michael C. Gwynne, who also ran the board and spun the records. There was never a script, contrary to popular reviews of the time. A 'topic' appeared spontaneously as the theme ran and announcer Laura Quinn got set to introduce 'the boys.'
For several years Smith, along with Peter "Crabman" Crabbe, made an annual tradition of offering an alternate audio commentary to television coverage of the famous Tournament of Roses Parade
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
. Listeners would be told to tune in to Los Angeles television station KTLA, which was hosted by Stephanie Edwards and Bob Eubanks
Robert Leland Eubanks (born January 8, 1938) is an American disc jockey, television personality and game show host, best known for hosting the game show ''The Newlywed Game'' on and off since 1966. He also hosted the successful revamp version o ...
. Smith would tell viewers to turn down the television volume and turn up the radio to hear the comedy parody, which included discussing news themes from the past year and applying them to the floats. For example, the year of the O. J. Simpson slow-speed car chase, one of the floats was described as a reenactment of the event. Smith and Crabbe would also describe the passing bands while playing continuous looped marching band music.
Smith is noted for his KROQ-FM simulcasts of the 1978 World Series
The 1978 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1978 season. The 75th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees and the Natio ...
. He coined the phrase "Too hip, gotta go!" while at KLOS.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
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Examples of Smith's Power News items
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Frazer
American radio personalities
American stand-up comedians
American male television actors
American male film actors
1955 births
Living people