Reprinted with permission from… Myself.  

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Just a few days ago, I was talking with someone about the imaging direction of their radio station. Oddly, the discussion became more interesting as this person, the APD, Music Director, continued to tell me that their current voice person would not be retained, that the Program Director was searching for the next new thing.

The NEXT NEW THING. That echoed in my head for hours. It’s a newly appointed PD, taking over a well-established station with solid roots in the [big] city. I admit, that after hearing the imaging, I immediately understood the reason for change. However, change to improve things makes all the sense in the world. The next new thing? Or, did he mean the next new style? Maybe, a fresh, different voice, okay, I get that. But the next new THING?

It sent me thinking of what new things I had heard. The human voice, as I have always understood it to be, and there is science to back it up..is capable of many things. The voice must get in to the listeners head through the cold hard mic, the processing, over music or not, and all the other environments through which the voice is transmitted.

After doing this voice over thing nearly as long as any other thing I’ve done in Radio, as a programmer, yes, searching for new approaches to get into the listener’s head was always at the top of the list. At Most every station I’ve ever worked, even before “voices for hire” came along, I had become the promo voice, and the occasional sweeper. Really sort of an ID at the top of the hour and the bottom, back when it was an F.C.C. requirement to do ID’s at both top and bottom. Sweepers, per se, were not really used much until the 80’s. However, I’d be remiss not to mention Frankie Crocker’s famous spoken, and silky smooth, sexy, Crocker style…W…B…L…S…heavily echoed ( swimming in smooth reverb, with no special effects) would just ooze out of the speakers. I would use that style myself a few years later. (WBLS billed itself as the “World’s Best Lookin’ Sound”), yeah, that was hot. So was ‘WBLS”!

By the mid 80’s it was probably Scott Shannon who really put it all to use at Z100 with the voice of Joe Kelly and Ernie Anderson among others. I even I got in the mix on various promos. Looking back, I do remember that WABC had used Dan Ingram for years with a few announcements, like” The Most Music”, then the jingle shot through with a quick W-A-B-C set and sung to the theme of “I’ll Take Manhattan”. I don’t remember if WABC was using the Anita Kerr singers, but a lot of the ABC jingles were. WLS was if I’m not mistaken. Bill Drake had used the Johnny Mann Singers on those big sound RKO jingles that blanketed the nation. Between RKO, ABC, that was a lot of cume hearing those jingles. I mention it because the theme used in Jingles wasn’t unusual. Ever the famous “20-20” news at KLIF in Dallas, (a moog shot), by musical tones, spelled N-E-W-S… for you that can do dum-dum sounds, …dum-dum-biddl-le-dummm… It wouldn’t become extinct either. Because then with all the authority that an intro for Jay Paul Huddleston, Bill Drake’s KHJ news sounder appeared. It was the same theme. Cool. This was the fully orchestrated version that changed only a bit over many years. I hope this as much fun for you as it is for me to tell you. This is quite a peek into the growth of “imaging”…Although; we never called it that for quite some time. (Like the early to mid 1990’s).

In the early 1970’s at WOR-FM and I believe at KHJ, Joey Reynolds (now at WOR-AM), sold the custom jingle idea to the Drake think tank. And suddenly our air was graced by imitations of artists like The Jackson Five, or LOBO..whatever…that was sung as a jingle to match the hit song that was to play next. Hmmm, cute. It went away about as fast as it appeared.

I’m reminded of a saying Buzz Bennett had on the subject [the play of] jingles at a Bill Gavin Convention many years ago … “Jingles, nah..I never have gotten a request for one”. That was a good comment and, it was true. Neither had I. Mr. Bennett was quite famous (and proud) of his famous KCBQ (San Diego) “Shotgun Jingle”. A jingle with full throttle, full orchestration and a roaring 4-octave accepella sing of K-C-B-Q..that took less than one second! (Okay, maybe a bit longer, but only a hair). I never heard a station that Buzz was involved with play a jingle ever again.

So, a quick glimpse at the history of Next New Thing. Wow, what imagination and cleverness. Obviously the “voice of God style came on strong. And still exists today. Keith Eubank became an overnight superstar success with his detached attitude, hip-ish MTV- ish, heavily produced with lasers and every other noise imaginable in an on and gone technique that probably impressed Phil Spector who was the creator of the famed “wall of sound”. That was probably the biggest change in delivery I noticed in many years. It would be around for a long time, and with many people with the same sort vocal style and voice range. It would be unfair to leave out the old pro, Paul Armbruster in Atlanta who, as I understand it, was the first with that approach. Keith was working elbow to elbow with Paul, and perfected it, sold it, and was a huge hit. I know. It clobbered my business.

In a while things settled down, luckily, so some of the other people could still work, as that approach was great for many stations, but not all, not every format. It did introduce a “new sound”, as the way the voice was to be used. It related, and continues to relate well
with certain listeners. The “Big “voice of God” style would not disappear, but it would take its proper place. It would also remain expensive and still dominates the big budget ad campaigns, networks, and lots of movie trailers. Not just anyone can do that. Enter the dragon! Don La Fontaine…the “Six Million Dollar Man” as he was known in Hollywood for a long time. Probably because it was his income every year. He was HUGE, to quote Rick Dee’s. In fact, years after Rick had dubbed me “Mr. Voice” at KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, about ten years later..Dee’s called Don “Mr. Voice”. My feelings were hurt, but I recovered, and since Don didn’t jump on it. I saved the nickname. That’s another story. But it leads me to another point on how a station can use the station voice as part of the family. Why not? When the listeners are hearing that “Voice” all over the station, with the listener’s imagination, if you still view listeners as people with imaginations, probably wonder WHO is that guy?! (No gender bashing, just an example).

In fact, many times, I have been the only voice (and still am) for many stations. (Before voice tracking) …Ahh, voice tracking, there’s a subject we need to talk about. Anyway, creative producers like Ben LuMay (Green Bay), Jeff Berlin, Boston, Brandon (just Brandon), MEGA 100/92.3, Los Angeles, and Ron Shapiro who replaced me at KIIS when I lefty for Philly again. Ron was great. We’d record a bunch of promos (some years later) when KIIS moved to Burbank, I’d fall asleep during the mix down, he’d quietly flip off the light, leave and let me wake up from my nap later. I had to throw that in. Then, Sean Caldwell, Philadelphia (before his vault into the actual voice world), and how could I forget my favorite of all, who I saved for last …David J (Jay) who absolutely could motivate me in my sleep or any other condition I was in. We created things in the true and pure spirit of Theatre of The Mind like nobody else. Even Howard Stern called us once to tell us how much he loved some of our off the wall stuff at Q102 (WIOQ-Philadelphia). David J and I also did a lot of stuff at The Big Ape (WAPE-FM) in Jacksonville, wow! It wasn’t that WE were that exceptional –it was the chemistry. That was magic. There were others, Ben LuMay of the Midwest Communications Radio group was also very “chemistry matched” and Ben can pull things from “out takes” (at least mine..) as good as anyone. Domino and Rick Stacy, with encouragement of the late Bill Phippen at Power 99 in Atlanta were unbelievably good too. I used to go to Atlanta to do “Mr. Voice” live on the morning show. It was a blast. (The problem was, nobody ever knew when I’d start hitting on every chick that called in. Leslie Framn was there then, I though she was going to choke me. Well, we banged out stuff for about five years there. Then Tony Novia at “STAR”, WSTR (Formerly WQXI-FM), also in Atlanta somehow got interested and we zipped along for several more years doing a Hot AC version of what we did at Power 99. It was just great. The GM’s name was Clark Brown. He was great too.

Here I inset a great name. Kent Burkhart. He believed in me like no one else. He let me do things that absolutely were the most important building blocks in developing my career, There were others who let me get away with stuff in programming and being a DJ…but Kent has a special way of discipline and a very skilled manner with GM’s to keep me out of too much hot water. Thanks “KB”!

I mention many personalities, of the super programmers and managers because of the inspiration and passion they had. They glowed in the dark! It didn’t stop there. Steve Rivers, Cadillac Jack (who is the second person who needs to thank me for a great air name, the other being Human Numan, now on Sirius. Ha, they both will kill me now. ) Scott Shannon was incredible. He always knew the right angle to take. I wasn’t shy. Or stupid. I learned as much from working with those guys in their camps, that I just kept adding everything to my arsenal. With all the extra input from those guys and more…wow, Gordon McClendon, Todd Storz, Bill Stewart, Don Keys, Jack McCoy, Howard Hoffman (who says that I unwittingly inspired his very famous concept format “9”.. while I was on the air at WWDJ (97DJ) New York.

I could go on and on, but for now, I hope I’ve stirred some imagination and I will return to this subject again. Finally, to the Program Director looking for the “NEXT NEW THING”, it has to be magic and real and believable and relatable…all at the same time. That should be ingrained in every single Programmer first off. After all. It’s the personality of any great Programmer that becomes the radio station. The Next New Sound, you will create. The Next New Thing will be along the lines of an iPod or something. Just check in with any 14-15 year old (or younger). Next, I want to chat about gadgets, like the iPod. My feet hurt from standing in Circuit City today for hours trying to figure what I would do to accessorize. Stand by~