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(September 14, 2002) -WHAT'S CAUSING THESE FUNNY SPOTS ON MY.... RADIO?! Great radio doesn’t only consist of brilliant On-Air personalities and smart, well paced programming: Oddly enough, some of the most delightfully memorable moments on Radio are the commercials. Growing up in Southern California, perhaps the most memorable long running radio campaign joyously proclaimed: “Every Day’s a Special Day at Thriftimart!” in its sprightly jingle - which I now know was written by a clever ad-agency man named Mervyn Oakner... Who turns out to be the father of my good friend Anne. Also a skilled veteran in the advertising world, Anne’s brother Larry Oakner has written a very fine book (and to my knowledge, the first of its kind) on the subject of Radio Commercials; specifically those outstanding ads which amuse and entertain, as well as effectively promote the client’s product. (December 11, 2001) -GOODNESS! 100 YEARS WORTH... Thanks to the wonderful people of DSA in Florida, and DCV in Burbank for making the “100 Years of Magic” press event the best ever! The super-human efforts of our hosts, present & past, have been remarkable - and special thanks are in order for, first of all, our lovely new tour guide Lisa Berg, for enduring all manner of pranks & practical jokes while tirelessly working outrageous hours and keeping everything perfectly arranged and on-track. And Trent Baker, too exhausted from his Herculean tasks to enjoy all but the briefest time to share a chuckle or two. It was also thrilling to see past tour guides Kelly Livingston, Toni Carnevale and Mark Carter; and share time with dear long-time teammates Frank, Robin and Anthony - We love you all forever and eagerly await our next opportunities to share more laughs together. Then there were the surprisingly superb radio hosts from all over, especially “Morning Guys” Matt & Jay, the delightfully professional and warm-hearted team from WABB-FM in Mobile, Alabama (of all places!). And of course, Beth and Jim from DCV here at home... absolutely amazing what you all did for us, and the hilarious good humor throughout the rigorous and productive schedule. Thanks to One and All: You embody my favorite closing phrase... “All the Best” (November 15, 2001) -AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY In one day, I had recording sessions in San Francisco and Singapore - without ever leaving my Southern California home! I suppose that’s not so remarkable any more, but I’m still amazed at the ability we now have to send high fidelity sound all over the world via ISDN telephone lines. By simply dialing a couple of phone numbers, the Telos Zephyr I have at home can connect to another "Audio Codec" anywhere on Earth, and sound virtually the same as if I was standing right there in their studio. In this way, I got up one day, set up my favorite old RCA microphone, clicked-on the Zephyr, and recorded TV, Radio and In-Store voice-overs for Old Navy in San Francisco; then later that day, narration on 2 full hour documentaries for Live Art Entertainment in Singapore called “Ancient Chinese Inventions” (airing on one of the Discovery Channel networks in 2002). If you catch this program, see if you can tell that I never left home that day. I should also mention that many voice-overs are sent via mp3 files over the Internet these days, but it’s not the same "virtually in the studio" experience one gets by using these ISDN line systems. Amazing! (September 4, 2001) -MAGIC RIBBON GETS A NEW TWIST Part of the magic of the great voices of yesteryear was due to the remarkable Ribbon Microphones which were used for nearly all dialogue recording the world over up until the 1970’s. The old-fashioned Ribbons were, unfortunately, fragile and heavy, generally large, and needed to be built and maintained by skilled hands, much like any fine musical instrument. With improvements in Dynamic and Condenser Mics, the old Ribbons fell out of fashion, unable to compete with these more rugged and reliable mass-produced products. Over the years, a few companies continued to design and produce new ribbon-element mics, but had been unable to overcome some of the basic problems (such as low output levels), without severely compromising the overall magical sound produced by the old classics. Well, lo and behold - Along comes Royer Labs: a dedicated group of musically ingenious technicians and artisans, who have come up with the first great innovation in Ribbon Microphone design in 50 years. I am thrilled to be among the first to review Royer’s new “Active” ribbon models : tough and reliable devices with that classic sonic texture I’ve always loved, combined with the portability and powerful output level of a modern ‘Shotgun’ Condenser Mic! What does this mean to the non-technical listener? Maybe not much; except that you might notice character voices that are fuller and richer in ‘character’, as well as musical recordings and sound effects with greater ‘musicality’ and presence, as these mics come into common usage in recording studios everywhere. To me, it’s like the difference between vine-ripened home-grown tomatoes vs. your standard store-bought ones - one taste, and you’ll know what you’ve been missing. BRAVO! ...ENCORE! (August 3, 2001) -NAME DROPPING Yeah, I know it’s obnoxious and ‘showbizz-y’ to name-drop, but I can’t help but be amazed at the group of fantastic actors I recorded with this week for WB’s new JUSTICE LEAGUE animated series. The cast for this double-episode story includes: Jeffrey Jones, Michael McKean, Stephen Root, William Katt, David Naughton, Carl Lumley, George Newbern, Ted McGinley, Phil Lamarr, Neil Patrick Harris, and Jennifer Hale. If not for my long experience in this business, I think I might have been paralyzed being surrounded by so many people who I’ve long admired as a true Fan. I want to express a Great Big THANK YOU to voice-director Andrea Romano for a great and memorable session! (I played the part of DR. BLIZZARD, a Mayor, and an Ice Cream Truck Driver. ...watch for it next season) JAMES & THE GIANT TALENT I hope some day that you’ll all be able to enjoy the truly outstanding voice-work of James Arnold Taylor in the role of Milo Thatch from Disney’s ATLANTIS (Michael J. Fox is the original voice in the movie). We had been working together on a TV Series entitled TEAM ATLANTIS, along with most of the original cast from the film - but unfortunately, production has been suspended. I hear that a Home Video may be produced incorporating some of the excellent scripts we’ve recorded, but that’s all I know at this time. James is not merely astonishing in his ability to sound like Michael; his portrayal of Milo (the character) is perfectly complete in itself -- Superb! Here’s hoping...
REQUEST LINE I’ve received a few requests for online interviews via e-mail, which I must respectfully decline for a number of reasons. ...I am able to do some interviews by phone, however - so be sure to include numbers and times to call back, and details concerning the specific nature and destination of the interview. (Please don't post your personal information on the Message Board; use direct e-mail for these requests) Thanks for your interest. SUPPORT THE ART! Digitally Programmed Character Animation can be used to create a wonderful movie, as we’ve seen several times this summer, but the more traditional art of painstaking hand-crafted character "magic" is still a wonder to behold. If you haven't yet seen ATLANTIS, please do so before it leaves the theaters: Don’t let the Motion Picture Industry think that we don’t care if this magnificent but costly art form becomes extinct. "Electronic Puppetry" just can’t compare. (By the way, even PIXAR’s digital characters are still animated by hand, employing brilliant artists to achieve lifelike movement and expression, one frame at a time -- as opposed to using a type of ‘Stunt Actor’ with dots on their faces and bodies, in order to ‘plot’ the machine-like movements of the purely digital characters featured in many of these recent films) So go appreciate the Art of Animation “at a theatre near you"! You’ll like it! (June 26, 2001) ZOIKS! Fans of “Elmo Aardvark: Outer Space Detective” might want to catch “Captain Sturdy”, in which I play the title role. Renegade Animation, the same folks who bring you Elmo Aardvark on the web (at renegadecartoons.com) produced this pilot episode for the Cartoon Network, where it is scheduled to air sometime in August. Apparently, it premiered last week with incomplete credits, and I wasn’t able to catch it myself - but I’m sure it’s good if Renegade made it. (June 26, 2001) THE COWS ARE RE-DIALING Chick-fil-A has re-enlisted me as a stodgy announcer for another very funny radio commercial... only this time, instead of dialing telephones, the Cows are riding push scooters. Listen for it wherever Chick-fil-A spots are heard. (June 25, 2001) PRINCESS KIDA SINGS You probably already know that Cree Summer is our very own Princess Kida in “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” ... But you may not know that, besides being among the most popular and talented voices in animation, she’s also a terrific singer and song writer. Find out more about Cree and her CD at -you guessed it- creesummer.com. (June 19, 2001) TV ANIMATION FANS! For the best book ever written about TV Animation, as well as the COMPLETE history of Jay Ward Productions, be sure to read “The Moose That Roared” by my good friend & fellow voice-man Keith Scott. You can find out all about Keith and his terrific book at keithscott.com, and I’m sure you can order the book from Amazon if you don’t find it elsewhere. (June 18, 2001) TALK RADIO If you’re in Southern California during weekends, give a listen to my voice-friend April Winchell. Always hilarious, brilliant and talented (daughter of the likewise hilarious, brilliant and talented Paul Winchell who I was honored to work with on Gummi Bears), April’s radio show lets you hang out with a truly clever and amusing on-air chum. Who knows... you might even hear me drop in on the show some time. |
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