Bill Stock
Still Quietly Proud
The following is an e-mail from Bill Stock to Gerry Wilkinson....A LETTER FROM BILLY! ("QUIETLY PROUD" BILL STOCK LOGS ON) Dear Gerry and Jerry, You guys are amazing! Visiting your site has truly boggled all three working brain cells I have left. To think that the Pfroffner Wine commercial lurks but a few mouse clicks away in cyberspace. And they're worried about kiddie porn! Well, for all you boys and girls who wrote in, Bill Stock is alive and well and living in Manhattan. I'm still the village idiot regarding this e-mail/internet business, so I'm going to ramble on for a several pages and allow you to edit, re-format or delete as you see fit. A BRIEF BIO But soon Uncle Sam called and wanting to avoid some arbitrary draft board assignment, I enlisted in the Army's radio and television program. After basic training, I spent some rather fun months at the Signal Corps School in Fort Monmouth, NJ. They had a humongous educational TV set-up there (thirty channels, two large production studios, racks of early 2-inch VTRs) and I got to produce, direct, switch and run camera for lots of shows, as well as do three on-camera newscasts each weekday. It was really great fun and I got to sneak away to Philly and New York on the weekends. Then the orders came … you guessed it, Vietnam! In January 1968, I was sent halfway up country to Tuy Hoa Airforce Base right beside the South China Sea. For the next 13 months, I worked with four other guys to run one of the eight remote AFVN television stations positioned around the country. What a comedown from Fort Monmouth! The whole station (transmitter, telecine, audio/video control and tiny, tiny studio) were crammed into one not-so-large van. We programmed that puppy 14 hours a day, seven days a week, using film and kinescope shows provided by AFRTS in Los Angeles. No tape … only one live camera … it was really primitive. But we had nothing else to do, so we all got into it and actually made it look fairly professional. Again, I got the on-air newscasting chores, and since we were the only show in town, there's at least several thousand Vietnamese citizens who would probably still recognize me on sight. (Tuy Hoa Star … that's what I are.) Made it back home in January 1969 (Thank God … one buddy didn't) and decided to try to make a go of it in New York. After a few months, I landed a job as a studio/field engineer for the ABC Radio Network. Had some good times there and worked on some fairly important stuff (Apollo launches, election coverage, etc.) but ultimately started to get bored, since it was not much more than glorified button-pushing with very little creativity involved. One of the directors at ABC knew of an opening at the March of Dimes. I was hired 1972 and have been here ever since. (Got the 25-year watch last March.) I've done a lot here over the years … produced scores of film and video documentaries … worked as producer on our national network telethon for four years … and since 1990, I've been the Director of the Audiovisual Division. I work with a super-small, but very talented staff to produce dozens of video documentaries, small vignettes and PSAs each year. Karen Wertheimer (Ron's wife) works here too, and that's how I found out about your web site. YOU WANT TAPES??? I GOT TAPES!!! Five (count 'em FIVE) complete "Studio Schoolhouse" broadcasts!!! A three-part 10/63 "Storyland" production of "Peter Pan" with moi in the dual role of Peter and (wait for it, Mike) NANA! Also with Steve Berger announcing, Dale Zaris, Ethel Goldberg and a cast of thousands. A 12/63 broadcast of "The Littlest Angel" with Dale Zaris as the angel and Herb Smith as announcer, the heavenly gate-keeper and God! Also, a 8/64 "Happy The Healthy" broadcast ("Sleepy King Willie") with Miss Marguerite and a cast from the Dairy Council. ("Be friendly with the healthies … the habits that are gooood.") A 5/66 one-hour segment of "Listen to T-H-I-S" ("Thank heavens it's Saturday") hosted by me with lots of 'RTI recorded promos and live promo copy, including one for "The Crypt" with Mark Itkowitz. ("Looking for the very best in music, madness and monsters?") A Spring '62 excerpt from "Saturday Sounds". (Who is this inexperienced pretentious little boy and what is he doing on our radio station? Oh, they're allowing Bill Stock to fill in the time between the end of a baseball game and the start of real programming.) I think this was probably my first time on FM … it's pretty painful. But the real gem is that I caught the last few minutes of an Owls Baseball remote with Phil Jasner and Merrill Reese. (A typical 'RTI telephonic baseball remote with the ol' OP-6 desperately trying to push some kind of signal through the chicken wire that connected the studios to the ball park.) A 20-minute (odd time) 1965 "WRTI Drama Workshop" production of "The Monster Within" with Herb Smith, Steve Berger, Susan Rosengarten , Bud Bigger and Bill Reed. Lots of squeaking doors, footsteps, scary music and thunderbolts. (Does anyone remember Bud? He had a killer deep voice and did lots of announcing stuff for us. He was also blind and had to transcribe all of his scripts onto braille cards. Nice guy and very funny. He's is the '64 staff photo in Jerry Klein's annex - 2nd row, 6th in from the right.) Three Christmas specials produced & narrated by Chuck Jones and me in 1963. I have these on tape, but also have two of them on a WRTI-FM "Fingernail Cut" ET disc! Various bits and pieces, including Dave McLaughlin's intro and closer for my Saturday "Name Game" contest and the one and only SCIM Mugwump Campaign singing jingle with Tian King belting it out and a fervent voice-over from Scandinavian Nels Hobdel. As far as SCIM goes, I bow reverently in the direction of Mike Biel whom I truly believe has recorded every fart, belch and throat-clearing that ever emanated from Studio A. (HI MIKE … PUT DOWN THAT GLASS!!!) But I did make my own set of tapes and may be able to fill in a gap or two. I've also got a few photos somewhere. That'll take some searching (and your help to scan them in). All the above (and whatever else might turn up) I would be more than happy to make available. Just let me know. MISCELLEANEOUS AND SUNDRY 1.Phil Sabatelli is alive and well. Just got a Christmas card from him a few weeks ago. He still lives in the Philadelphia area and we talk once or twice a year. Haven't told him about the site yet, but will soon and perhaps he'll log in. "THAT ABOUT WRAPS ME UP" (Merrill Reese) Gerry and Jerry, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed touring your site. The amount of work you've put into it is absolutely tremendous. It's obviously a labor of love and that doesn't surprise me one bit. I think we all feel that the time we spent at 'RTI was a very special experience and more than worthy of this kind of living memorial. I'm sorry I missed the chance to get to know you guys, but let me say a special hello to Mike Biel, Mike Muderick, Bob Donze, (Geez, Bob, you don't think Biel has photos of that New Years party in Kulpsville, do you? We're in trouble BIG TIME!) Mike Bove, Ed Sciaky, Nels Hobdel, Jane Lessner (How are you, kiddo?). And where oh where is SB (name removed at the request of SB)? Hope we locate her soon. (We know where she is.) I'm only E-mail equipped here at the office and obviously can't spend too much time cruising the net, but I'll check in from time to time and would love to hear from you all. Please feel free to post my E-mail address. Gerry, be in touch and we'll work out a plan for me to send the audio cassettes to you. So, to all my radio buds, Happy New Year and FRIGATES AWAY!!! All Good wishes, Billy (Still Quietly Proud)
I graduated from Temple in Spring 1966, but had begun to lessen my day-to-day hanging out at 'RTI some months before, as I was able to increase my announcing chores at WIBF-FM to full-time status. I also put in some time at fledgling WIBF-TV as announcer and master control coordinator. (What a peanut-whistle that was! For the first couple of weeks, we only had two commercial clients - Lucky Charms cereal and Preparation H. There's a connection there, but I'm not going to pursue it.)
Don't have a sound card here at the office, but I was stunned to find so much audio available. Well, I've got more if you want it. For example:
2.Anybody remember the WRTI/WIBF simulcast election coverage? Pretty ambitious, even if I do say so myself. I seem to remember Mike Muderick being our engineering whiz for that. Biel must not have been born yet.
3.Why, oh why in all my four years at 'RTI did no one ever fix the shock mount on the swivel stand RCA 44 in Studio A? The rumble and roar through any decent set of speakers is enough to curl your hair! (Not much to curl anymore.)
4.Sorry Mike, but the full name of my Saturday morning show was "Listen to THIS, T-H-I-S, Thank Heavens It's Saturday". Do I hold the record for the longest title?
5.A slightly used cheese steak from Dirty Lou's to anyone who fills in the blanks from Bob & Jerry's theme song. ("I'm peanut butter, I'm the _____, I'm Jackie Gleason, I'm your _____.")
The following is a second e-mail from Bill Stock to Gerry Wilkinson....Many thanks for your warm welcome and kind words. I'm still amazed that my first message actually got there. What a novice I am in cyberland! Emailed Mike last nite to let him know I spoke to Phil Sabatelli on 1/7. I told him that his Pfroffner commercial, "method singing", etc. was out there for all the world to hear. His comment (typical Phil) "Uhhh any residuals in that, Bill?" He has no access to the net, but I'm going to print out a couple of pages and send them to him. I think he'll be So again, many thanks guys. It's been a real treat checking out the site and I'll try to make it a semi-regular part of my office routine. WARNING - Once someone comes up with the answer to that easy trivia question I sent in, I'm gonna sock you all with the lyrics to the "Happy The Healthy" song from Studio Schoolhouse. You could wake me up at three in the morning and I could still sing them all straight through. Betcha Ethel Goldberg and Dale Zaris could do the same. Later dudes, Bill
tickled.
The following is an e-mail from Jane Lessner to Gerry Wilkinson....I was so excited to see that you found Bill Stock. I cannot wait to talk with him--I forgot how much I missed him after he graduated.
(Added 2/3/98) The following is an e-mail from Bill Stock to Gerry Wilkinson....Does anyone watch "Remember WENN" on the American Movie Channel? One of my friends is the on-line editor. The episodes are uneven, but it's done with some affection and wit. The equipment used actually looks reasonably accurate - except that the studio looks like a museum of lost mikes. Carbon button studio mikes in 1940???
This is the WRTI Old Gang Web Site!