July 2004 RAP
July 2004 Highlights
Feature: The Worst Radio Commercials You've Ever Heard
By Don Elliot
Don Barrett, one of Gordon McLendon's famed "Magnificent Seven"
personally trained General Managers, now runs a Los Angeles-based website
called LARP, or "LA Radio.com." One fine morning recently, he proposed a
question about the worst commercial you ever heard, and I guess he hit one
of my hot buttons.
Interview: Mike Lee, Brown Bag Productions, Englewood,
Colorado
By Jerry Vigil
An era in radio production has come to an end. Mike and Bob Lee, founders
of Brown Bag Productions, have said goodbye after 20 years of creating some
of the best imaging production libraries ever produced. 15 libraries with
over 40,000 cuts have penetrated the airwaves on radio stations worldwide,
on formats across the spectrum; and since 1990, Brown Bag has created sounds
and music for such television hits as ER, NYPD Blue, Law & Order, The
Simpsons, Dateline, American Idol, The CBS Evening News, 24, Oz, Alias and
King of the Hill. Awards on the shelf include Seven Telly awards, the Silver
Screen Award, and the Billboard Radio Award. If you received Mike and Bobs
farewell letter, you also know they created sounds for the U2 Zoo Tour, the
on-stage drum sounds for Genesis, and the audio logo for the Chinese
government. Brown Bag has created music for the broadcasts of more than half
the teams in the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and the NHL; and their
music has appeared on some 500 NFL Films productions.
This months RAP Interview visits with half of this remarkable duo as Mike
Lee shares the Brown Bag philosophy and sheds some light on the path of one
of the most successful collections of production libraries ever. And we
extend our thanks to Mike and Bob for two decades of making us sound good.
Any user of a Brown Bag library knows those pats on the back for a great
promo or ID would have been fewer and further between without that perfect
bed, logo or sound. Thanks, guys!
Radio Hed: The ANA - Audience Needs Analysis Revisited
By Jeffrey Hedquist
Okay, you wanted more specific details on what should be in the Audience
Needs Analysis. Here they are.
Test Drive: Cheap Mics!
By Steve Cunningham
If you want to start a heated conversation among audio professionals, try
asking the following question: "What's the best voiceover mic for less than
$300?" Actually, you can just use the form "What's the best [blank] mic for
less than [blank]?" Either way, you'll hear lots of opinions (and perhaps a
little verbal abuse).
Production 212: Toolbox Check
By Dave Foxx
As a producer of organized noise, you have a big toolbox, filled with
tools like copy, voice, music, sound effects, humor and drama, prose,
poetry, volume, mass and innuendo. (Innuendo is not an Italian suppository.)
This month, an email suggests we double-check music and while were at it, I
want to check comedy. (I think I'm a quart low.)
Q It Up: The RAP Network Speaks - What's the most
important lesson you've learned?
Q It Up: What's one of the most important lessons, or
one of the biggest things youve learned about your job?
...And Make It Real Creative:
By Trent Rentsch
So a script isn't approved, no big deal. I've been in this business long
enough to know that you could have Dick Orkin ghostwrite for you and still
strike out on occasion. But I was mad, and confused. How could this guy turn
on me like that? Years of working together, probably hundreds of spots, no
problems, zero. Plus, I had come to count him as a fairly good friend. The
longer I thought, the less sense it made, and the madder I got. In fact, I
was just reaching for the phone, ready to feed it right back to him, when it
rang.
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