"Tiny Tim on MY country radio station? Oh, hell NO!"

 So I was broadcasting my midday, country radio show from a remote studio at the Burt Reynolds Ranch in Jupiter, Florida when our station photographer Sam called to tell me of a celebrity he had in his van. They were coming down the Florida turnpike not far from my studio. He asked me if I wanted to put Tiny Tim of "Tip Toe Through the Tulips" fame on the air with me. He said Tim was in South Florida to cut a new record with a country music flavor. I told him, with some reservation, "OK. Bring him by."

They showed up, and I must say, Tiny Tim was just like he looked on the Tonight Show when he married Miss Vicki with Johnny Carson overseeing the proceedings.  Make up on, he was looking like a stretch from being masculine and a very quiet man. We chatted on air for a while and at the end, I told him we needed to hear a bit of "Tip Toe," his novelty hit song with his ever present ukulele and high falsetto. He gladly agreed, and then left after taking a picture with me. 

The negative phone calls I received afterwards from listeners was off the charts. I took heat. How could I put this feminine man on their macho country radio station?!

I shook it off. He was a well known celebrity at the time and a super nice guy. Too bad the good ol' boys had an issue. It saddened me to hear he died of a heart attack while performing on stage in Minneapolis in 1996. 

My broadcast studio is right behind me in the pic below. Those boxes over Tim's shoulder in the storage room have all manner of western wear in them...cowboy boots, belts, jeans, shirts/blouses, etc.

When she was married to Burt, Lonnie Anderson came in one day with her daughter to buy some boots while I was on the air. I about fell off my chair in the studio. Prettier in person (if that's possible) but highly demanding of the staff that worked in this store. Boots were flying everywhere as she tried on the various styles and the staff tried to accommodate her. Between you and me, I think the ladies who worked in the store were happy to see her go! OK, I'll be quiet now.

                                                                         

"Take a Walk on the Wild Side"

 If you're a busy voice over talent, you may have those days that can be overwhelming with client expectations about your turnaround time/tight deadlines and everything seemingly coming at you all at once. I record a good amount of learning content. Some of it is very technical. Aviation scripts comes to mind. I think it's super important to force yourself to take a break and reboot. Do something that centers you again. In my case, I like to go out and walk a bit through my neighborhood. Lately, here in the Bay Area, we've had some outstanding weather; mid 70's and a slightly cool breeze. The streets are such that I can take a short walk, or much longer one, depending upon how much time I have. I say hello from afar to a big, bad, barking dog that's fenced in and looks very intimidating. I absolutely love walking as you notice things you would never see while driving. Sometimes you find a few coins in the dirt. And unfortunately, sometimes you see litter. Time to bring back that 60's TV campaign, "Don't be a Litterbug." There's a mom and pop convenience store just across the way I can get to in about 8 minutes from my front door. I'll go over there and grab a snack and buy a few lottery tickets. They have those "pickle in a pouch" things which I like a lot. (Van Holten's). I've enjoyed those since I was a kid. I'm also addicted to homemade pickles... but that's another story. There's a hofbrau in San Francisco called Tommy's Joynt with a big barrel of all you can eat pickles! I'm dying to try that out. (I know! I know! It's the little things in life). Anyway, I head back to my home studio, enjoy the snacks, and get back to recording or editing the audio. It's not an overly long break, but just enough to reset. When I walk, I always try to take some deep breaths along the way and move briskly. Of course, if walking's not your thing, there are so many other options. Some like to close their eyes and meditate or listen to music with headphones on. Hey, whatever works for you. 

Over the years, I've gotten many compliments about my fast turnaround of the voice overs. That's totally cool. But you really should take those much needed breaks. Resetting is, in my opinion, a very wise thing to do. And you might even save yourself an aspirin or two at the end of the day!