TOPS:
Danny Stiles:
(Radio Talent)
Once while on a Master Control shift I got a call from Danny about a problem he was having
in the studio. When I finally arrived in the studio I found him engaged in a bit of a
dance with a "lady friend" (I really mean dancing.... like a Jitter-bug kind of
step). She was in her glory and absolutely a Danny Stiles groupie. I realized that this
was no different than a Led Zep groupie in my day. On another occasion I was in a
restaurant on Restaurant row in NYC when Danny walked in. The entire staff greeted
him with "Good Evening Mister Stiles...". He was dressed with class and the way
he carried himself was even classier. In our biz we use the word "talent" all
the time. The impression Danny left on me has everything to do with understanding what a
high end, classy "talent" (ala Johnny Carson) is supposed to be like. He is
truly a star!
Jim Hickey:
(Newsman)
OK, so there are those obvious things he has like a great radio voice, sounding well
informed, integrity, etc. But then you get next to this guy and can just feel the
confidence, trust, and humbleness that only the "great's" have. It's like a
Cronkite thing, I swear. If Jim was selling you a car, you'd have a garage filled
with the same car in the same color. But not because of "BS" ... it's his
delivery, and his approach that leaves you knowing that "this guy really knows what
he's doing" and that "this guy has been around". All I can say is WOW!
Steve Post:
(Radio Talent)
At first, I had no idea what the hell Steve was talking about when he was on the air in
the morning. It all sounded like this stuffy, high brow talk for the rich uptown
listeners. But then I got to know him ...... it was then that I realized that he wasn't
TALKING to them, he was GOOFING on them but in their own "language". It was pure
genius ... and I get the feeling that those high brow folks never really got it. It was my
first taste of how "jiving" on people doesn't necessarily have to be vulgar or
street. Steve was replacing 4-letter "your-mama" goofs with 7-syllable
"your-banker" jokes. Pure genius. A PS on this: I would watch in amazement when
Steve Post, Marty Goldensohn, and Larry Josephson got together for a corridor chat. They
had the timing of The Rat-Pack, with the rhythm of Abbot & Costello's Who's on First.
Hysterical!
Skip Pizzi
(Educator, Broadcast Engineer)
The first time I met Skip was when he came to WNYC in New York to teach a bit of radio
production. To be honest, I had my issues with him and the rest of those NPR folks with
names like Skip, Fawn, and yep - Cokie. Boy was I mistaken. Starting from the early days
of ISDN CODECS and AES, I was AMAZED by the knowledge Skip had. I read everything he
wrote, and went to every NAB paper that he was involved in. His enthusiasm and curiosity
about all of it inspired me forever thereafter.
Steve Church:
(Innovator, Telos founder, Engineer)
Somehow I became the "telco guy" at my facility. Jeeze .... this room filled
with 66 blocks and cross connect wire was all mine (thanks allot ..... what a mess!!),
Then someone handed me this copy of a copy of a copy of the Steve Church guide to key
phone systems. What a God send. This was in he days when you called Telos and it was
pretty much Steve answering the phone. Anyway, I started to follow Steve around NAB and
year after year he presented stuff that was at least 2 years down the road. Totally
impressed with this guy, I keep him in mind all the time to remind me of how important
looking ahead really is.
Forrest Mims III: (Electronics
guru)
Those Radio Shack circuit books....(work in progress -
more to come).
Ed Koch: (Former Mayor of NYC)
I don't pay attention to politics, and know nothing about them either, so this is
not politically motivated. But I think that Ed Koch is the most fair guy I ever knew.
Doing sound for him for many years was always a pleasure because you never knew what he
was going to say next. There's a good chance that more than one Ed Koch tale will appear
in the TALES section below, but one that I will share here is kind of
melancholy. More than a few years after he was out of office (Mayor of NYC) he arrived at
City Hall really early one morning before he was supposed to appear at some sort of
ceremony, or something. He sat down at the top of City Hall steps with his back against
the East most pillar of the steps. There were very few, if any, people around as he just
sat there in a gaze. As I was setting up for something or other at City Hall, I asked him
how he was doing, and he gave me a shrug and sort of an "eh" sound as if to say
"just ok" in this kind of "old Jewish guy" manner. Anyway, the point
of this is there sat one of the most famous, powerful men in NYC, now just a regular
citizen, probably thinking of days gone by. I'll always have that vision of him in my
head. "You're a great guy your Honor. Thanks for making me laugh and smile".
Al Tropea (Broadcast &
Sound Engineer)
Al, who grew up in the Bronx is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. He spent his
entire career in broadcasting helping to make virtually EVERY big event in New York City a
"sound" success. He joined WNYC in 1965 as a trainee, went to the army for a
while, and returned to WNYC in 1968. Al provided sound systems and press feeds for every
NYC ticker tape parade from John Glenn to the New York Yankees championships (19 in all).
He worked with every NYC Mayor from Wagner to Giuliani (6 Mayors). If you ever watched the
news (local, national, or international) and was able to hear audio from Nelson Mandella
to the press conferences of 9/11, it was Al, the kid from Columbus High School, who was
most likely at the controls. Al was the first real radio guy who I had a chance to work
under. He taught me so many of the basics, from the difference between line and mic level,
to the distribution of audio to a press platform filled with Network and International
press. Al got my feet wet when I was a young tech. When Al retired in 1994, Mayor Giuliani
made a special proclamation for him that outlined his amazing career. Every jaw in the
room dropped at least 3-inches at the end of the long list of events that Al covered over
his nearly 40 year career. He is a role model for anyone of us whose heads get a little
too big when we think of what we've done in our own careers, because he is truly one of
the meek who will (and did) inherit the earth. Thanks Al.
TALES:
Charlton Heston:
(Actor)
Moses in the corridor.........(work in progress - more to come).
Scotty from Star Trek:
(Actor)
Signing an engineering support request form.........(work in
progress - more to come).
Data from Star Trek:
(Actor)
Telling him about the Master Control equipment............(work
in progress - more to come).
Gore Vidal:
(Writer, Political commentator)
So impressed with your jeans............(work in progress - more
to come).
Judd Hirsch:
(Actor)
Took my last cigarette...........(work in progress - more to
come).
Daniel Shore - Dan or
Don?: (Journalist)
I don't know who you are. Do you know who I am............(work
in progress - more to come).
TV Master Control Porn: (WNYC
TV)
Hey I can't see ... put it on the big monitor........(work
in progress - more to come).
Mayor Lindsay - Yea
Mikey Baby: (Former Mayor of NYC)
This is not Mikey baby........(work in progress - more
to come).
Prince Rainier and
the shrimp: (um ... Prince)
Are these delicious or what...........(work in progress
- more to come).
Jews praying, call
the cops: (At City Hall NYC)
Officer, there's a bunch of people looking at the wall in there.........(work in progress - more to come).
Network TV guys
feed me back: (At NYC Press Conference)
Hey guys, can you turn down your monitors........(work
in progress - more to come).
The Rockettes warm-up:
(At City Hall NYC)
No problem .. they're not in my way..........(work in
progress - more to come).
Thumbs up to Stevie
Wonder: (At City Hall NYC)
Stevie ... great job (thumbs up)..........(work in
progress - more to come).
|
