Here's to Hilton Kaderli
“If you apply yourself…and lose a little bit of weight…you have a great future in broadcasting. Your voice has a special tonal quality that draws listeners.” That’s what Dr. Ansel Ressler told me in the Fall of 1965 during the National Collegiate Radio and Television Conference, immediately after I took first place in two competitive categories: Announcing and Copy Writing. I was quite flattered. I was not a Speech major. I was not a Radio-TV Journalist. I was certainly not a Drama major. I had no focus whatsoever, had no idea what I thought life should have in store for me from a professional standpoint. I was just a guy with “a voice” that did not know he had “a voice.” A friend and professional radio-TV journalist and local weatherman, Hilton Kaderli had urged me to enter the competition in those two categories, saying the others would require some prior training. He, too, thought my voice a gift that should be applied in serious communication.
I had met a radio journalist – a DJ - when I was twelve. I was supposed to give a short speech at school and was at a loss for nerve. He lived across the street and gave me some advice to help. Among those gems was “Never go back. It’s too late to fix it. They heard it. Just keep goin’.” He was referring to mistakes of a pronunciation type. To this day, I credit that man with my success the day of this collegiate competition. One phase of the competition required that you write an ad and announce that ad as you would on radio. The judges give you the topic of your ad. I had written my ad and timed it. It fit in the time and I liked it and hoped the judges would as well. It was a 30 second ad for the Golden Cue, a family recreation center on Campus Corner with a nice snack bar that was known all over Norman for their burgers. It was a family-owned operation and one of the daughters regularly worked that snack bar. She was very cute with big dark eyes and bushy dark hair and big….well, you know. I can’t tell you if she had good legs or not. Like most guys, I stopped at the….well, you knows. None the less, part of the 30 second ad read, “…..and be sure to visit the well-stocked snack bar of the Golden Cue, featuring our special burgers and home cut fries.”
The contest was on. I was last of 8 competitors. I was the only first-timer. I was a bit intimidated, but I had watched and analyzed the judges, as well as the competitors….at least to best of my ability. We service brats have an advantage in that regard. The emcee called me to the stage. He told them my name and stepped away. I watched the big green light flash, so I started announcing. Man, I was smoooooth. It was flooooowing. Timing and pace were excellent. It’s only 30 seconds. Remember what the DJ told me when I was 12? Now, I’m almost to the end. I see a judge nodding to another up in the judge’s box as this came from my brain and into the world: “…..and don’t forget to visit the well-stacked snack bar of the Golden Cue….” I saw the judges start laughing. I could hear laughter from my competition. I heard the mistake. I knew. But, I did not stop. I continued to the end of the ad... ‘til it was over. I nodded in the direction of the judges box and walked off the stage.
A few minutes later, my victory in both categories was announced. What a surprise. My laughing competitor laughed no more. The judge who made the announcement was still finding great humor in my mistake. “You handled it like a pro.” he said. “And you were right. I ate lunch there.” He shook my hand, as did each of the other judges. All the five judges had eaten lunch there. Even the two lady judges had noticed her…..well, you knows. It was then that Dr. Ressler approached me with his compliment. Hilton Kaderli was standing right by, smiling his big, goofy grin.
I tried to take it seriously. I changed my major to Radio-TV Journalism and had a radio show on KUVY, Red Carpet Radio. It was a student channel. The university’s wiring was our antenna. My show was “Sugar & Spice”, a show of primarily romantic instrumentals from a myriad of artists including Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, Jackie Gleason, Dave Warren, Percy Faith and Billy Vaughn and many others. Then, I got an internship offer from KOMA in the late Spring of ’66. Sold some ad time, wrote a little copy, substituted for missing DJs. One late night, I received a long distance call from Guam. He was making a request for the guys in his squadron. At first, I did not believe him; but he told me the last four songs I had played…in order. I dedicated several songs to those guys that night. Hard to believe they could hear me that far away; but it was due to an ionospheric “skip” that broadens the bounce of the radio signal off the atmosphere. Anyway, as my shift was just about over, I was to run a 15 second ad for Carlings Black Label beer. Their ads always ended with, “Hey, Mable. Black Label....Carlings Black Label Beer.” What the Hell? It was the last advertisement. It was the wee hours of the morning. So, I piped up my part at the end of the advertisement. “Get off the table, Mable. Da quarter’s for da beer” with a thick northeastern accent. My uncle Neil, a Schlitz plant manager in St. Louis, would always do that when he heard Carlings advertisements. The next day, I received a very serious reprimand for that. Almost lost my 3rd Class license. Who knew anyone would be listening at that hour….especially anyone who would complain?
After I received an induction notice from the Army, I knew I was doomed. My grades were just a tad short of 2.0. I was enjoying a summer of late night air time and emceeing out-of-town KOMA sock hops before my departure. The next time I got in trouble was the last time. No, I did not lose my 3rd Class license, but… It was a Brylcreme ad that I changed and recorded myself. It went:
“Brylcreme…a little dab’ll do ya. Brylcreme…all the girls will wanna do ya. Run their fingers through your hair; whisper “Please, touch me there.” Yes, you can live the dream, if you will use Brylcreme.”
Well, that did not go over well. I knew it wouldn’t. It was just a means to an end, I guess.
Did another stint as a part-time deejay for KKUA, the only rock station in Honolulu in ’68 – ‘69. Got to see lots of great concerts for free, the best of which was a Jimi Hendrix concert; but radio was changing. Songs were getting longer. The old standard of "under 2 minutes" was no more. There were songs that took up to seven minutes. There was a push for more minutes of music and less “on air” personality. Instead of queuing up records WE had selected, the program manager told you what to play and when AND it was mostly on tape. Didn’t care for that scenario, so I bailed on radio and television. I was too pudgy for TV anyway.
I endeavored to use “the voice” in auto sales and insurance sales scenarios and was fairly successful, but could not seem to focus on sales as a career. Later in life, after earning my M.B.A. in Corporate Planning and Finance and while working as an ISO 9000/9001/9002 Lead Auditor and quality “guru”, “the voice” came across quite convincing at briefings and meetings. For a time, I was an active Toastmaster; but, after a couple of years, got complacent. Won a couple of contests at area and district level....never district or national. Have done quite a bit of comedy “open mic” and, invariably, I will hear a comment about “the voice”. Even now, once in a while, someone will say something nice about my voice.
I visited with Hilton Kaderli almost 50 years after he told me to enter the collegiate competition. Strangely enough, he had made quite a reputation on area television in Connecticut in that time, but chose to retire in Oklahoma City. I could tell that he barely, if at all, remembered me. He certainly did not remember that competition. He did tell me I had a great resonant voice and he could "connect me" for some voice over announcing. I never followed that up. He also seemed to genuinely appreciate the fact that I remembered his contribution to my life. It was far more than I could relate to him that day or in this little story. I left him with a couple of poems I've penned. Hope he enjoyed them. Have not seen him since, but.....
Here's to Hilton Kaderli!
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