Sunday, May 27, 2007

Infamous Huts Whoa

What an intro - I feel like I'm broadcasting again, this time from my fingertips. Thanks for stopping by to read and waste time with me. Oh, if you're trying to figure out what the heck is "infamous huts", you'll never get a clue unless I try and explain the meaning of such a rebellious off-axis, title.

As a refashooned writer of sorts, I've been looking for a proper, distilled, but out-of-the-box outlet to express a long list of personal issues that I've carried over a formidable career in and around broadcasting, advertising, marketing, higher education, commercial production and public service. Yep, I'm looking to "brand" a better voice for saying some things that a lot of conservative and liberal yokels are saying and getting big money to honk their own horns!

Lucky for me, I found out that humor was a more appealing and dynamic way to do that. Believe me when I was in broadcasting, I was too focused and maybe even aggressive about how I approached the business. Both as a producer and later as a leader of men and women. I never really wanted to do that, but leadership is sometimes thrust upon you. In my case, I had big shoulders and carried the ball... a couple of times down the field, so to speak. As it became more of a "pain in the crotch," I sincerely longed for going back to the creative theater. That occurred in New York when I got out of that big-nonsense industry pressure cooker known as commerical radio and jump with pleasure into a hotter flame called advertising.

My natural proclivity to laugh and make others laugh as a form of communication emerged. Here I was selling "dancing hams" for the Polish, casting the Nestle's bunny in Hollwood, running over to Rockefeller Plaza twice a week with several new NBC-TV promos I produced, on the road with Pabst Brewing, and in between trips from the big agency, picking up a CLIO for producing NY Times campaign (that is with me and Don Thomas, of course). While there are a ton of radio and TV commercials I've written and produced, the one thing I learned was that I can talk to people -- and they listen! For that I thank my uber-mentor, the late R. Billy Davis.

Thanks to this remarkable man, I learned about branding before it became a chic marketing metaphor. Billy plucked the heartstrings of America's emotions with Coca Cola's "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" campaign, had the incredible voices singing "Miller Beer", and the likes of Patti Austin, Luther Vandross, Ashford & Simpson and tons of other stars I can't think of right now, rotating through the studios to sing America's favorite products. It was his technique that sparked decades of singing, dancing and just feeling good - about commercials in :60 seconds. I know, I'm one of his disciples. There's a whole lot more to know about this guy, but that's not what the first blog is about. Nah!

"Infamous Huts" refers to a couple of new characters of mine who will be performing in another medium - hopefully in cyberspace, too - and will have a lot to say from both sides of the consiousness table. Their setting is probably going to be the coolist, and I guarantee once you learn a little about these guys, you'll want to learn a lot with every conversation they have. I've waited a few years to hone this thing, primarily so it won't get stolen and also because I believe with their voices in our back-biting, sometimes rude society, they can make you T-H-I-N-K. Something our kids are a little short on. Maybe take some of the cloudiness out of right and wrong. And do a better job of pointing the finger at the problem. Oooohh! sends a chill, don't it!

Don't want to reveal too much more right now. I've got to start building the corral (that's another metaphor) to put 'em in and make them palatible to the public. Get ready in a couple of months for the role out.

Thas muh plan, gov'nor!

Blog one is done.

Warhorse reporting.

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