Arnold Frolows, long time triple j music director, dies at 74

After shaping Triple J's musical identity and guiding its musical direction for decades, key figure Arnold Frolows has passed away at the age of 74. Frolows died on Sunday morning at the Mona Vale hospice in Sydney, with his partner Christine King by his side. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer less than a month prior.

In the mid-1970s, while working as a flower delivery driver in Sydney, Frolows secured an interview to work at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) newly established youth radio station. Marius Webb and Ron Moss, tasked with setting up the station, hired Frolows before the station’s launch, on the recommendation of Webb's secretary at the time.

Long-time colleague Stuart Matchett said at Frolows' 2014 retirement party, "Arnold joined before Double J even went to air, in fact, he was one of the very first employees." He also stated, "He collected most of the vinyl records that made up the original music library. He programmed the music for many of Double J’s programs." Webb said in a 2005 interview with industry website RadioInfo that Frolows' early involvement was key to establishing the station's early sound.

Webb stated, “Getting Arnold and Margot (the music librarian) on board early was one of the key factors in the station’s early success as a genuine ‘music’ station, which was exactly what Ron and I had convinced ABC management it had to be.” Frolows began working at the ABC in November 1974 as a research assistant in the Contemporary Broadcasting department, before becoming a presenter and producer at the new station 2JJ from July 1975.

His initial tenure at the ABC was short, as he moved overseas in 1977 to pursue other music industry roles. By 1981, Frolows had returned to Australia and to the station, now known as Triple J. He worked as a presenter and producer on various programs, including the Sunday night show, Ambience, which became a hit for introducing audiences to understated, often hypnotic music that was rarely heard on other stations.

He officially became Music Director in 1993, but this did not stop him from being hands-on. He produced Helen Razer and Mikey Robins’ Triple J breakfast show in the 1990s and championed new music on Triple J in the early 2000s. Matchett said in 2014, “As Music Director, Arnold had a huge influence on Triple J’s musical identity, and therefore, on broadcasting across Australia.”

“Arnold structured Triple J’s playlist, balancing old and new music, a range of styles, male and female voices, Australian content, tempo, pitch, lyrical content. He monitored how it worked on the air and discussed with presenters their choices and how they related to the music when they played it.” Frolows left Triple J in May 2003. There were many comments about his suitability for the role due to his age before he left. However, he chose to leave himself and never considered his age an impediment to doing his job effectively.

He said in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald before he left, “I would say that it doesn’t matter how old you are if you’re still interested in music and your ears are still excited.” He also mentioned, “Triple J always ebbs and flows with fashions and trends. Questions like ‘Are we playing too much metal and not enough dance music and Australian hip-hop?’”

After leaving Triple J, he remained at the ABC for another 11 years, initially working on a project digging into the Triple J live music catalog for gems, before becoming a key figure in the ABC’s digital radio expansion, serving as Music Director of ABC digital radio for many years. He and Matchett established Dig Radio, which launched in July 2009, and was then rebranded as Double J in 2014.

The pair were also responsible for setting up ABC Jazz and ABC Country at the same time, expanding the ABC’s support for genres that were not often widely covered by other radio stations. Webb said at Frolows’ retirement ceremony, “Arnold set an example for the rest of us of what’s possible at work, that it is possible to do very interesting things even in a public service environment.”

Frolows’ death is particularly poignant: it comes just three days before his 75th birthday, and this Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the original 2JJ first going to air.