Caught by the River

Radio Unnameable

21st June 2013

fass on the frontline

“It can make you wish – or, if you’re lucky, remember – that you were a sleepless New Yorker in 1967, kept from loneliness by a gentle, soulful voice on the radio.”
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

In The Dark present the first London screening of Radio Unnameable, the feature-length documentary about Bob Fass; freeform radio pioneer and legendary late night DJ. In 1963, one man radically transformed the FM dial, for 50 years Fass has been heard on the listener-supported New York City station WBAI, utilising the airwaves for in-the-moment journalism, artistic performance, audio experiments, learned philosophising and righteous mobilisation, long before today’s innovations in social media. From the beginning, major cultural figures have dropped by the studio to perform, take calls and engage in the program’s spontaneity. The list of notables who’ve appeared is astounding: Bob Dylan, Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg, Joni Mitchell, Yoko Ono, Muddy Waters, Timothy Leary amongst many more.

Radio Unnameable is a visual and aural collage that pulls from Fass’ immense archive of audio, film, photographs, and video that has been sitting dormant until now. It is not only about Bob and his remarkable journey, but also radio’s evolving landscape and the necessity for free expression on the airwaves. After the screening we will be joined by the Full House team from NTS radio, spinning records from the other side of the dial.

Sunday 23rd June, 7pm, Hackney Attic (upstairs at the Hackney Picturehouse)

Tickets available here

Trailer – here