Radio Unnameable

Filmmaker Jessica Wolfson's nostalgic documentary profiles NYC-area broadcast personality Bob Fass, who is credited with practically inventing the late-night call-in show and establishing it as a social force (cult hero Long John Nebel is briefly mentioned, but his penchant for paranormal material gets him discounted). Hailing from a theatrical background, Fass brought some musical guests in-studio on his WBAI Radio Unnameable program (Jerry Jeff Walker's song “Mr. Bojangles” broke big thanks to the show), but he became better known in the 1960s and '70s for giving an after-dark voice to the counterculture, through guests such as Abbie Hoffman, Robert Downey Sr., and Bob Dylan, while also using the airwaves to coordinate hippie-esque “happenings.” Long before the term “flash mob” appeared, Fass herded listeners towards impromptu occupations of LaGuardia Airport and Grand Central Station, and also aired live anti-Vietnam protests. He also once kept a would-be suicide caller on the line all night while the call was traced and the man was rescued. But Fass was swept up in a 1977 protest/occupation of the station (now Pacifica) by radicals that wound up getting him fired. Nonetheless, he continues Radio Unnameable as a volunteer, and he stores thousands of reel-to-reel taped shows at his home—priceless and historic audio that might otherwise have been bulk-erased by management. An engaging profile of a broadcast living legend, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)