Frazer Smith, also known as Frazier Smith (born January 17, 1955), nicknamed "The Fraze", is an American radio personality, actor and

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

. Smith was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Career

Smith worked in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The sta ...

from 1976 through 1979,

KLOS KLOS (95.5 FM broadcasting, FM, "95-5 KLOS") is a commercial radio station City of license, licensed to Los Angeles, California, and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Meruelo Group, Meruelo Media. KLOS airs a mainst ...

from 1979 through 1984, KMET 1984 through 1986, KLSX 1986 through 1997, KLOS in 1997, and

KRTH KRTH (101.1 FM broadcasting, 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 ...

in 2002. He has played small roles in films and television shows and was one of the announcers on the TBS music video show ''

Night Tracks ''Night Tracks'' is an American music video television program that aired on TBS in late night on Fridays and Saturdays from June 3, 1983 to May 30, 1992. Created and produced by Thomas W. Lynch and Gary Biller through Night Tracks, Inc. (a pro ...

'' 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 music genre that encompasses pop music, pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of Punk subculture, punk culture". It was originally used as a catch-all fo ...

. 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 app ...

, 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, widely 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 Orenthal James Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024), also known by his nickname "the Juice", was an American professional American football, football player, actor, and media personality who played in the National Football League (NFL) ...

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 Nat ...

. He coined the phrase "Too hip, gotta go!" while at KLOS. Smith also hosted the late night television show called '' Rock 'N' America'', in 1984.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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Radio Static by Greg Raven
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Frazer American radio personalities American stand-up comedians American male television actors American male film actors 1955 births Living people