Tag: Rick Allison

I Got A What?

If you carry your phone in your pocket are you dialing 10 digits to make a call? I didn’t think so.

That’s what makes what’s on this voicemail so special.

google-voice-screenHow many phone numbers do you have squirreled away in your brain nowadays?

I know Helaine’s number and Stef’s–both still 203. I remember my sister and brother-in-law’s house phone. I usually call them on their cells nowadays. I can’t tell you my parents’ number or the number of any friend, save Rick Allison whose number spells out two words.

I push a button. Most times I see their photo. Their voice magically appears.

Most of us are like that now. If you carry your phone in your pocket are you dialing 10 digits to make a call? I didn’t think so.

That’s what makes what’s on this voicemail so special. It’s a wrong number. Remember those?

She was polite. Points for that.

When was the last time you got a wrong number? I can’t remember. Years. Many years.

Do people even leave voicemail much anymore?

Hal Douglas: You’ll Know The Voice

hal douglasI got an email from Rick Allison this morning. It was an email forward from his voiceover agent, forwarding an email from Sarah Douglas.

Dear friends and family,

I want to share with you that Hal moved on from this life last night.
He died just as he lived- with grace, courage, and tranquility. My mother and I were by his side.

If you are so moved, join us in thought and prayer as we surround his soul with love and peace for the next stage of his journey.

Onward Hal!

With warmth and gratitude,
Sarah

The name Hal Douglas probably doesn’t mean anything to you, but you know his voice. You’ve heard it a thousand times. He voiced everything!

How was it possible to have a voice so rough and simultaneously so clear? That was Hal’s gift. There’s really nothing more you could do than marvel at it. Certainly no one could compete with it!

The New York Times wrote about Hal five years ago.

Mr. Douglas says he can’t keep track of what trailers he recorded yesterday, much less over the almost 60 years he’s been behind a mike. He did “Philadelphia” and “Forrest Gump,” “Men in Black” and “Coneheads,” “Stranger Than Fiction” and “Marley and Me.” He recorded a voice-over for the Broadway play “Equus,” narrated programs on the History Channel (in the days before “Ice Road Truckers”), and served as the voice of the WB network.

“The fact is, my voice has been out there,” he said. “And it hangs out there. You sit down in the theater and sometimes in three out of four trailers I’d be on them.” – NYTimes.com

Hal’s name came up often in my conversations with Rick. We’re grownups. We discussed Hal like we’d discussed Mantle or Mays as kids. He was larger than life. A certain part of both of us wanted to grow up and be Hal, if only in front of a microphone.

There are other deep throated, beautifully phrased v/o guys. There was only one Hal. He will be missed.

It’s a Man Cave–It’s A Studio

She’s never been because… well, you know… it’s a man cave.

Though I didn’t know who he was when I was growing up I still wanted to be Hal Douglas (the voice guy in the trailer for Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedian”). As it turned out I was not blessed with “the voice.” I didn’t get to be Hal.

Darn!

I went into radio after college and was fine on the air, just not as useful when it came time to record commercials. I was the un-Hal. No pipes!

Flash forward to the present.

I saw a commercial agent yesterday. She said an audio ‘reel’¹ might get me some work so I asked my friend Rick if he could help.

Rick is a professional v/o artist. He voices commercials. No, he voices commercials beautifully. He does much of that work from a studio in his basement.

“He’s got a man cave,” Helaine said after seeing photos of his studio.

She’s never been because… well, you know… it’s a man cave.

I went into an announce booth and threw on a pair of headphones while Rick sat in the main studio wrangling Pro Tools–the standard in audio recording software.

With his help I read a half dozen real commercials. Tonight he’ll add some music and other sweetening.

I am neither Hal Douglas nor Rick. My voice is lighter. I tried for a read that is best described as friendly, crisp and precise.

I’m curious to see if my voice technique is better received today than it was when I was in radio. No matter the result it was cool to be back in the studio standing in front of a mic. It was a trip back to my roots.

¹ – Reel? Sorry. Tape is gone. All audio is kept digitally. Old habits die hard. We still ‘dial’ the phone too!

Harry Kalas

His voice was deep and multi-tonal with the syrup of a southern accent, though he was from Naperville, Illinois. He did not have the precise pronunciation classically associated with the big v/o talent. He had excitement. His call was always in-the-game.

Harry_kalas_with_whitey_1980.JPGI am obsessed with voices. It’s an insecurity thing. When I was in radio the tone of my voice was often called into question. My station in Philadelphia considered electronically lowering the pitch when I moved to mornings so I’d sound like an adult.

I follow voices. I listen to commercials and promos and know who I am listening to. Oh–Randy Thomas, or Will Lyman, or Hal Douglas, or Rick Allison. I recognize their work.

We lost one of those voices yesterday when Harry Kalas collapsed in the Washington National’s press box and later died. Kalas was the voice of Notre Dame football, NFL Films, Campbell’s Chunky Soup and most importantly, the Phillies. He’d been called the games nearly 40 years.

His voice was deep and multi-tonal with the syrup of a southern accent, though he was from Naperville, Illinois. He did not have the precise pronunciation classically associated with the big v/o talent. He had excitement. His call was always in-the-game.

Baseball play-by-play must be a great job. Those who do it often do it long past the point others have retired. Kalas was 73.

I used to enjoy listening to the Phillies games as Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn would chat-it-up. Often the Phil’s had less than a stellar team, but the conversations (sometimes only peripherally attached to baseball) that surounded the balls-and-strikes made it interesting and kept me involved.

Every baseball broadcaster seems to have a signature call. For Kalas it was, “Swing…and a long drive, watch this baby, outta here! Home run .” I wish I could have written those words as spoken. When Kalas said them they were a brightly lit, oversize exclamation point.

Harry Kalas will be missed. I don’t like change.

My Friend Rick On The Daily Show

Last night on The Daily Show it was Rick who voiced the entire second block.

Four years ago this week I wrote about my friend, Rick Allison. I have written about him since, but this is the full bio workup.

Last night on The Daily Show it was Rick who voiced the entire second block.

Only The Coolest Friends

His agent called last week with a voiceover gig. Would Rick go to Comedy Central’s Daily Show to record a “VOG” (voice of God) narration track for a ‘mocumentary’ set to run next week?

daily_show_studio.jpgI got a text message today. Under the attached photo of The Daily Show’s studio were the words, “Scaling the depths of basic cable.” It was from my friend Rick Allison–he of the basso profundo pipes. I have only the coolest friends

His agent called last week with a voiceover gig. Would Rick go to Comedy Central’s Daily Show to record a “VOG” (voice of God) narration track for a ‘mocumentary’ set to run next week? “Hell yeah,” is my assuredly correct guess at Rick’s response.

The Daily Show will never sound better.

I’ll give you a heads up when I get the air date.

Making A Movie

I don’t know how the bug bit me… but it did. Ever since I first read about ‘instant’ movie fests, I needed to try one.

I scouted the Internet and finally latched on Cinemasports, out of San Fransisco. They sponsor competitions&#185 from various locations. The filmaker gets a list of ingredients – a name, a character, a place, some dialog, and then fashions a short movie in a very short time span – usually no more than 9 or 10 hours!

In that time the script has to be written, or rewritten to include the ingredients, then shot and edited and uploaded. I’m breaking out in a sweat already.

The finished movie is no longer than three or four minutes. Still, it must be a real structured movie… well, it doesn’t have to be anything, but you’d like it to be a real structured movie because people are going to watch it that night in a club in San Fransisco.

When I started calling friends, asking if they’d like to be involved, I was surprised, because everyone said yes! In the end, not everyone could fit it into their schedule but we’ve still got a good turnout.

Our Director of Photography is Ray Flynn. He used to work with me at the TV station. Now, he runs a production company. He’s a good guy, plus he has the equipment.

The Director is Hugh Mackay. This is a great leap of faith because I’ve never met Hugh! He comes recommended by our writer, so why not?

Chris Arnott is the principal writer. I say principal because it’s a good guess there will be improvisation and suggestions from the rest of us. Chris writes for the New Haven Advocate, so he can push out words against deadline.

He and I had dinner this evening. It was Hollywood on I-95. I was ‘taking’ a dinner with the writer.

He has ideas, but it’s going to be tough to pin anything specific down because we need to work in the ingredients. More specifically, we want it to look like they belong, not that they were squeezed in.

Rick Allison, professional voice guy, poker fiend, bon vivant, will be there. I’m not exactly sure what Rick will do, but Chris said he wants to take advantage of Rick’s pipes. He has an incredible and distinctive voice. Trust me, you’ve heard his voice.

We’ll all be acting. That’s for sure. We’ll also all be holding boom mikes or reflectors or logging shots. There’s plenty to do in the field.

My friends Steve and Harvey (as opposed to Steve Harvey) are also in on the action. The funny things is, they’re the most educated – both being physicians. They have the least amount of discernible skill in this endeavor. They’ll probably have the most fun. If nothing else, Harvey is going to learn to edit using Final Cut Pro on his laptop, which he’s bringing.

I am the producer. I really don’t know exactly what a producer does. I picked up the check for dinner tonight. That’s a first step.

I’ll try and draw everyone together to get this to be a team effort.

Actually, the team might not be done. Depending on what he writes, Chris will recruit a few more actors and (this is so over-the-top it’s beyond me) someone to score the film!

Yes – a four minute movie with an original score. How cool is that?

So, there you have it. Our production opens and closes Saturday. Barring unforeseen grief, I expect to post the film right here for anyone to see.

Wish us luck.

&#185 – Competition is probably a bad word, but the best I can come up with at the moment.

Why I’m Envious of Rick Allison

When I was a kid, growing up in the heart of the 50s, I knew the name and voice of every booth announcer on TV. There were men like Wayne Howell, Gene Hamilton, Don Pardo, Bill Wendel, Ed Herlihy, Fred Foy, Don Robertson, Bill Baldwin, Carl Caruso – you get the idea.

Back then, even when the show wasn’t live, the announcer was. There was someone sitting in a darkened announce booth at each station every hour of the broadcast day. It was all part of the agreement the New York stations, and networks, had with AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists – I’m a member).

So, when you heard someone say, “This is NBC,” or “That’s tomorrow at 8, 7 Central time,” it was one of these guys, live. I knew them all. Secretly, I wanted to be one of them. I wanted to say, as Mel Brandt did, “The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC.”

It was not to be. In order to be a booth announcer you needed something I never had, and even at age 54 still don’t have – pipes.

When I was a disk jockey, doing mornings in Philadelphia, Julian Breen (who was in charge of programming at the station I worked for, WPEN) thought it might be a good idea to use a “Harmonizer” on my voice. That’s a device which would allow them to change my pitch – make me sound more grown-up.

When I worked at WIP in Philadelphia, at that time the premiere adult station in town, they gave me a pass on doing voice over production. With Tom Moran, Dick Clayton and Bill St. James on staff, there was no reason to use me.

It’s been a disappointment, but I understand. I just don’t have the most important natural tool for the job. My voice is unique, just not in the right way.

Today, I got an email from Rick Allison. He’s a friend who lives here in Connecticut. He is an announcer.

I’m not sure if that’s the job description he would use, but that’s what he does. From a studio in his basement, as well maintained and acoustically perfect as any, Rick reads other people’s words into a microphone and cashes checks. With high speed data lines carrying his voice, it’s usually not necessary to leave the house.

He is the voice of MSNBC and Bob’s Stores. He’s on ESPN, HBO and USA and a load of radio stations. You have heard him on a thousand commercials, a deep voice with a touch of gravel. It is friendly and assuring.

In person, he resembles everyone I knew in the 60s and 70s. That is one of his most charming features. He is at once commanding and disarming with long hair on his head and more on his face.

Rick does a show on Sirius satellite radio. My guess is, he does the show for the same reason other men raise tomatoes. It takes time and money to raise tomatoes. It’s not like you can’t buy them at the store – maybe for less than you can grow them. Still there’s an immense satisfaction in creating something of value.

Rick’s in radio for the satisfaction of growing something. I can’t believe he’s in it for the money.

Anyway, hearing from Rick today just reminded me of this childhood fantasy that would never be. It’s what got me into radio – and probably what finally got me out and into television.

I am envious of Rick, not because of the work he does, but because of the talent he has. It’s a talent I always wanted – a gift I never received.