Dear Friends was a live radio program performed by the Firesign Theatre on KPFK radio in Los Angeles. Twenty-one episodes aired between September 16, 1970 and February 17, 1971. These programs were recorded and later edited into one-hour shows distributed on 12" LPs for national syndication. In January 1972, the group released a Dear Friends double album, a compilation of what they considered to be the best segments from the radio program. The original broadcasts were released in 2010 on the group's Duke of Madness Motors DVD compilation. Another album distilled from the Duke of Madness Motors set, Dope Humor of the Seventies, which also collected material from the Dear Friends radio shows, was released in 2020.

Episodes

Episode #1 – Live At The Ash Grove

Originally aired live on KPFK on November 15, 1970

Tracks – side one

Intros

Tracks – side two

Episode #2 – Power Is Trouble and Trouble's Not Funny

Originally aired live on KPFK on November 1, 1970

Tracks – side one

Tracks – side two

Episode #3 – I Could Always Shoot Him With The Camera

Originally aired live on KPFK on October 4, 1970

Tracks – side one

Tracks – side two

Episode #4 – Somebody Put A Mickey In The Ground Zero

Originally aired live on KPFK on October 11, 1970

Tracks – side one

Tracks – side two

Episode #5 – All We Have To Fear Is Me

Originally aired live on KPFK on December 9, 1970

Tracks – side one

Tracks – side two

Episode #6 – Deputy Dan Will Find Us No Matter Where We Go

Originally aired live on KPFK on November 8, 1970

Tracks – side one

Tracks – side two

Episode #7 – Was There A Cow On The Moon?

Originally aired live on KPFK on November 29, 1970

Tracks – side one

Tracks – side two

Episode #8 – Being On Radio Is More Fun Than Watching TV

side one originally aired live on KPFK on October 18, 1970 side two originally aired live on KPFK on December 6, 1970

Tracks – side one

Tracks – side two

Episode #9 – Dr. Memory's Laff-A-While News

Originally aired live on KPFK on January 10, 1971

Tracks – side one

Tracks – side two

Episode #10 – All Nite Images

Originally aired live on KPFK on January 17, 1971

Tracks – side one

Tracks – side two

Episode #11 – Welcome To Microorganism State Park

Originally aired live on KPFK on January 24, 1971

Tracks – side one

Tracks – side two

Episode #12 – Is This The Machine That Answers No "N" Yes?

Side one originally aired live on KPFK on February 3, 1971 and October 18, 1970. Side two originally aired live on KPFK on February 17, 1971.

Tracks – side one

Tracks – side two

Issues and reissues

These shows were distributed to radio stations on 12 inch, white label LPs. Selected parts of these shows were released by the group on the Columbia Records label as the double album Dear Friends in 1972. Other parts were released — without mention of their origin — as parts of the group's Just Folks... A Firesign Chat album on Butterfly Records in 1977. Between June 15 and September 28, 2010, New York radio station WFMU (with the cooperation of the Firesign Theatre) aired a 16-week series of archival shows which included all but episodes 1, 8, 10, and 12 of the syndicated Dear Friends in chronological order along with an unsyndicated Dear Friends episode broadcast on September 16, 1970 ("Big Brother Is Washing") and episodes of their other KPFK series, The Firesign Theatre Radio Hour Hour and Let's Eat. As of October 2010, the individual programs from this run are available for streaming via the WFMU website, and a selection of the shows rebroadcast by the station are also available via iTunes.