April 2015

Monthly Archive

Internet Auditions

25 Apr 2015 | : blog

The aspiring actor
(or internet auditions)

Scenerio:
An actor is pounding the streets of a large city looking for a theater, talent agency or sound studio or radio or television station where he can audition for a much needed job.
All personal funds are gone and the expenses of living are high.
Then walks into a theater boasting a sign for a casting call today.
The room is filled with people and a desk where a studious person is processing each applicant.
After a short wait our actor approaches the table and introduces himself while asking if the auditions are still open.
“Yes.   Fill out these forms,” comes the reply.
When done he approaches the desk again and hands the forms to the attendant.
“These look fine.  That will $39.95 please.  Then you can get in line for your audition.  The spots are filling up fast.”
“But I’m looking for work that pays me. Since when must I pay to apply for a job?”
“I’m sorry but we require the fee.  There are costs for us to do this.  Do you want to apply or not?”
“Will I get hired if I pay the fee?”
“I can’t guarantee anything.  The fee is the cost to audition.  Do you want to audition or not?”
“I guess not, I don’t have any money.”
He leaves and further down the street sees a help wanted sign.
He enters and is greeted by a similar sight as was seen in the theater.
And here too after filling out an application is informed that a fee is required in order for the secretary to submit the forms and setup an interview.
The applicant leaves and wanders down the street finding this the case at every establishment he enters.
Tired, hungry, and depressed, he must look for a place to sleep and maybe a dumpster to scrounge some food from.
Sound strange? Familiar?
This is the way of the new internet acting scene.
Pay and you can audition with no promise of a job.

A great voice now singing with the angels

19 Apr 2015 | : blog

A great voice now singing with the angels…..
A friend of mine from the Karaoke site SingSnap,  Susan McGill,  said she was blue as a singsnap singings friend had died,  I asked her who had died.
Her reply is as follows:
http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/cba123728 (You Don’t Know Me is a duet she and he did.)

This man is Frederick……he was a funny person and did silly videos as well as regular songs….He hadn’t sang in over two years now, and I was missing him and was hoping everything was ok with him. So I did a little work on finding someone who knew about him…..He had been in hospital for long time. He did email me and told me more about what was going on. And now joined God. He was so kind to everyone and giving type person. I know we all have to go sometime but It just struck me hard when I heard of his death….

It is weird when I did my last song I recorded he died about the same time I was recording it. I never had heard this song in my life and wanted to try it. That is why I feel it is multi dimensional to me. My background is a stairway up to heaven.

Hope your doing well Jay…Have a good day. Susan”

-He had a great voice and used it very well and had a wonderful sense of humor.

She continued:

http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/b6a3a4365
“I Believe In Happy Endings”

“This was around the last time I heard from him….I did a horrible sing on it with him but he was so gracious with me. And said it made him cry and he appreciated all us folks here at SS……”-Susan

 

Well he’s now heaven bound and will be lending his fine voice to those heavenly choirs.
I knew him and he was an encouragement to me too.
Wordsworth the poet put it this way:
“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting.
The soul that rises with us, our life’s star, has had elsewhere it’s setting and cometh from afar. Not in entire forgetfulness and not in utter nakedness, but trailing clouds of glory do we come from God who is our home.”
One can get to know people very well  at Sing Snap.
As I have come to know and treasure friends like Susan and our mutual departed friend Frederic W.

He listened to some of my songs and I some of his.
He really encouraged me as I don’t seem to have much success in the Voice Industry.
But that is a story for another time.

Now here are some of the things he said about some of my recordings that I intro and sometimes outtro just like when I spun the discs at KDXU in the late 1960s.

He said this about the June 30, 2012 recording of

“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”:
http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/b48f24518

Comment by fredericw on June 30, 2012
Hello

WOW WOW WOW WOW

OH HOLY WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Listening

fredericw
Comment by fredericwGOLD on June 30, 2012
Your voice when you speak sounds as if you could have been in broadcast radio.

AMAZING

Then I hear you sing and you truly have a wonderfully rich vocal tone.

This is the first time that I have had the privilege of listening to you sing.
You must have been told this upon numerous occassions but I AM also FLAGGING YOU AS A FAVORITE!

I love that you also took the melody into a new creative musical vision that was original and MUSICALLY BRILLIANT!

BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO

FredErick

He said this about “Any Dream Will Do“:
http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/b79d7ec00

Near where I live is an out door theater named Tuacahn.
Many notable people have performed there such as Victor Borge and Michael Martin Murphy.
I went there to a performance of the play with Nathan Osmond playing Joseph.
I wasn’t too impressed with the song then though the singing was good.
But today when I heard our own Sing Snapper “fredericw” sing it, I was impressed and so much so that I thought I’d like to try it. So here goes.
From “The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” Any Dream Will Do.

fredericw
Comment by fredericw on July 1, 2012
Hello Mister J

OMG I just read your comment…….. *Im blushing bright red, thank God it is Canada day because half of my face is now the official color of our National Flag”!

Listening

fredericw
Comment by fredericw on July 1, 2012
Q: Is Nathan Osmond one of the Osmonds children????
fredericw
Comment by fredericw on July 1, 2012
This is a fairly upbeat Andrew Lloyd Webber tune – somewhat different from his Jesus-Christ Superstar or his Phatom.

I still find it hard to comprehend how it ended up at the top of the UK pop charts…. LOL

Mister Kasem (lol)
Your SS STATION IS NOT ONLY INFORMATIVE but it is also FUN while being musically UPBEAT!

FredErick

PS:
Seriously, I am still blushing due to your comment … boy that Osmond kid must have been really bad if you thought that my vocal rendition of this melody was any good.
Maybe Andrew Lloyd Webber should have gave it the title of “ANY VOICE WILL DO”???
LOL

-He meant that if Mr. Osmond’s rendition didn’t impress me, it must have been bad if I thought his was good.    His rendition was really good inspite of what he thought it.

About “Love Me with All Your Heart”:
http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/b8875c470

Comment by fredericw on July 1, 2012
Hey Mister Kasem, LOL

I am familiar with this melody.
Its cool to know the history behind the melody that you are interpretating.

Listening ~
fredericw
Comment by fredericw on July 1, 2012
I must be getting older because I am a sucker when it comes to these mushy ballads….

I can hear myself saying out loud “They don’t write them like that anymore”.

In an era when anyone can record a melody with the aid of Autotune and tons of reverb; it is great to hear a melody that truly request that a vocalist has to sing.

YOU ARE WAY COOL Mister J!

FredErick

About The Night Has a Thousand Eyes recording done June 30, 2012:
(this recording is no longer  publicly available)

Comment by fredericw on July 1, 2012
Hello Mister J

I remember first officially hearing this melody being performed was upon The Carpenters 1973 LP “Now & Then”.

This was on the BILLBOARD RB Chart???

I can appreciate aspect of the melody but in my opinion this is about as much a SOUL inspired melody as the Osmonds would be the perfect fit to substitute for the PIPS!
LOL

FredErick

About “Footprints in the Sand” of June 30, 2012:
http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/bd97b98d8

Comment by fredericw on July 1, 2012
Hello Mister J

Listening ~
:o)
fredericw
Comment by fredericw on July 1, 2012
This melody contains in my opinion, one of the most beautiful lyrics for any recently released pop hit.

Great song selection!

FredErick

 

About “For All We Know” of July 1, 2012:
http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/b491f72f0

Hello Mister J

Listening

I know I keep repeating myself but YOUR STATION IS SOOOOOOOO COOL!

Listening

I love this melody.
Even when it was not very cool to purchase the Carpenters recordings back in the 76-78 era of the 70s, I was a die hard fan of their musical style.

In my opinon, she had such a rich pop contralto that has yet to be matched.

You are like the Casey Kasem of SingSnap!

THIS IS sooooo cool!

FredErick

Kemal Amen “Casey” Kasem was an American disc jockey, music historian, radio celebrity, voice actor, and actor, known for being the host of several music radio countdown programs, most notably
American Top 40, from 1970 until his retirement in 2009, and for providing the voice of “Shaggy” Rogers in the Scooby-Doo franchise from 1969 to 1997, and again from 2002 until 2009… Wikipedia
Born: April 27, 1932, Detroit, MI
Died: June 15, 2014, Gig Harbor, WA”
“Kasem co-founded the American Top 40 franchise in 1970, hosting it from its inception to 1988, and again from 1998 to 2004. Between January 1989 and early 1998, he was the host of Casey’s Top 40, Casey’s Hot 20, and Casey’s Countdown. From 1998 to 2009, Kasem also hosted two adult contemporary spin-offs of American Top 40: American Top 20 and American Top 10.

In addition to his radio shows, Kasem provided the voice of many commercials, performed many voices for Sesame Street, provided the character voice of Peter Cottontail in the Rankin/Bass production of Here Comes Peter Cottontail, was “the voice of NBC”, and helped out with the annual Jerry Lewis telethon. He provided the cartoon voices of Robin in Super Friends, Mark on Battle of the Planets, and a number of characters for the Transformers cartoon series of the 1980s. In 2008, he was the voice of Out of Sight Retro Night which aired on WGN America, but was replaced by rival Rick Dees. After 40 years, Kasem retired from his role of voicing Shaggy in 2009, although he did voice Shaggy’s father in the 2010 TV series, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.”-Wikipedia
“Kemal Amen Kasem was born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 27, 1932, to Lebanese Druze immigrant parents, who had settled in Michigan, where they worked as grocers. Kasem was named after Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a man Kasem said his father respected.

In the 1940s, “Make Believe Ballroom” reportedly inspired Kasem to follow a career in radio and later host a national radio hits countdown show. Kasem received his first experience in radio covering sports at Northwestern High School in Detroit. He then went to Wayne State University for college. While at Wayne State, he voiced children on radio programs such as The Lone Ranger and Challenge of the Yukon. In 1952, Kasem was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Korea. There, he worked as a DJ/announcer on the Armed Forces Radio Korea Network.

After the war, Kasem began his professional broadcasting career in Flint, Michigan. From there, he spent time in Detroit (doing such shows as The Lone Ranger and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon); Buffalo, New York; and Cleveland before moving to California. At KYA in San Francisco, the general manager first suggested he tone down his ‘platter patter’ and talk about the records instead. Kasem demurred at first, because it was not what was normally expected in the industry. At KEWB in Oakland, California, Kasem was both the music director and on-air personality. He created a show which mixed in biographical tidbits about the artists’ records he played, and attracted the attention of Bill Gavin who tried to recruit him as a partner. After Kasem joined KRLA in Los Angeles in 1963, his career really started to blossom and he championed the R&B music of East L.A.

Kasem earned roles in a number of low budget movies, and acted on radio dramas. While hosting “dance hops” on local television, he attracted the attention of Dick Clark who as a producer hired him to co-host a daily teenage music show called Shebang starting in 1964. Kasem appeared in network TV series including Hawaii Five-O and Ironside. In 1967, Kasem appeared on The Dating Game, and played the role of “Mouth” in the motorcycle gang film The Glory Stompers. In 1969, he played the role of “Knife” in the “surfers vs. bikers” film Wild Wheels, and had a small role in another biker movie, The Cycle Savages, starring Bruce Dern and Melody Patterson.

Kasem’s voice was, however, always the key to his career. At the end of the 1960s, he began working as a voice actor. In 1969, he started one of his most famous roles, the voice of Shaggy on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. He also voiced the drummer Groove from The Cattanooga Cats that year. In 1964, Kasem had a minor hit single called “Letter From Elaina”. A spoken-word recording, it told the story of a girl who met George Harrison after a San Francisco concert.”-Wikipedia

About Georgy Girl of July 1 2012:
http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/bebc1e2b0

WOW

I am now officially HOOKED TO YOUR SS STATION.

I feel as if I were listening to a great radio show from the late 60s early 70s.

YOU HAVE AN INCREDIBLE RADIO ANNOUNCER’s BROADCAST VOICE… WOW WOW WOW

and this song reminds me of my childhood.

I loved listening to it… I am officially hooked upon your SS station!

FredErick
Comment by fredericw on July 1, 2012
I love the information that you provide within your SS songs.

Its as if we were listening to BILLBOARD ONLINE…LIVE!

As a fan of Cashbox & Billboard since my childhood……… IM HOOKED ON THIS STATION!

FredErick
I’d written this in the song recording discription box:
“Singing and whistling with Athol Guy on double bass and vocals; Keith Potger on twelve-string guitar, banjo and vocals; and Bruce Woodley on guitar, mandolin, banjo and vocals.(The tambourine in the group was done by Judith Durham.)
“Georgy Girl”, written by Tom Springfield (music) and Jim Dale (lyrics), is the title song performed by The Seekers for the film of the same name. Across late 1966 and early 1967, the song became a No.1 Australian hit and a No.3 British hit. In the United States, it proved to be the Seekers’ highest charting single, reaching No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100, prompting the Seekers’ British album Come the Day to be retitled Georgy Girl for its American release.”

About the July 8th, 2012 recording:
Ein Stern (der deinen Namen trägt)
Auf Deutsch
http://www.singsnap.com/karaoke/r/ad6730504

Hello Mister J

Listening
Comment by fredericw on July 12, 2012
This one sort of sounds as if it were a song competing on Eurovision.

The instrumental hook on this melody reminds me of another song but I can’t place my finger on it.

Cool hearing you sing in another language.

FredErick

Thanks FredErick, I’ll also miss you.

Money Making Opp or Scam?

13 Apr 2015 | : blog

#Money making Opp or #scam?

Apr 13, 2015

This am I received this email:

Paul J.
To beachamj82@yahoo.com Today at 8:44 AM 4/13/2015
If you really need to make some extra money in your spare time,
then go below to download a brand new system that’s making
regular folks $5000 and up every month..

>> Get paid $5000 a month with no investment

There is no better time in history for regular
folks to make it big online..

The time is right!

>> No investment needed to bank $5000 every month!

You can stay home, work PART time and make
a FULL time earnings…

Enjoy,
Paul

P.S. Grab Your Freebie Gift HERE

-After I follow the link and get to the videomercial, I’m informed that I am the 68th of 70 people who will be allowed to get into this great once in a lifetime opportunity.

A guy starts speaking. Good voice. Sounds like a voice actor like me.

The video is streaming so there are many interruptions, but when the white board presented parts are on, the video flows smoothly.

After most of the hype about how rich this guy and his students are and how I should order now, the price is finally shown below the video.

The cost has been reduced and is only $49.00 one time.                                                 It has a 30 day warranty guaranteed.

In the letter I read “with no investment” and “No investment needed”.

Free?  I don’t have even $49.00 available credit in either of my active credit card accounts. I have 13 cents in my wallet. Free? No investment? What is the $49.00 cost?

I wrote back:

I’f this isn’t a no response letter, then I have a suggestion.
Why not let me have this service for free for those 30 days, then if I make money then I pay the $49.
Thanks,
Jay Beacham”

If this guy truly believes in his wares and truly wants to help the poor to a better life style, then this would be the thing to do. Let them really try it for free and if it works then they pay him for it.

He gets money for each transaction his students make with the program and with 70 students, he stands to make a huge fortune too.

In my time on the net since 1997, I’ve seen this same, with minor differences, program offer at least 300 times.  It’s always the same.  Big bank figures, luxury houses, cars, vacations, etc. to entice the struggling internet success wannabe.  Always the limited number of persons who can get in.  The extreme value, but just for now only  and at the ridiculous price of $49.00 or whatever.

I get tired of seeing these things.  Do You?

A money opp or a scam?

What do you think?

 

 

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