Sunday, June 30, 2024

TC & Company Unveils Pharmaline's Generic Roll-Out

We were given the opportunity to unveil Pharmaline's entrance into the generic EU pharmaceutical market with more than just a passing concern...we gave them a Voice! They've been an established pharmaceutical company since 1987. With over 10 license agreements with global giants such as Glaxo Smith Kline, Merck, Abbott and the like, it was time to go international!


Not that we are particularly partial to pharmaceuticals (Gummies maybe), but these guys were ranked among the top 3 in its category by IQVIA. Pharmaline is a member of the Malia Group, giving them a hefty reach amongst their contemps with a multi-verse of companies to boot.         

The agency tendered a mp4 of the roll-out campaign video entitled: "Achievement" . It contained the music track and the video was edited to match the voice-over for timing on the 30 second spot. The assignment was to give the copy some lift with a voice that had heartfelt nuances accenting the role these folks play...essentially, precision workmanship at every step. And from what we've seen so far, Pharmaline is a company with ethics. So, we tried to convey that every day on the job is special for a whole lot of reasons and pride is at the top of the list.
And nobody makes a better impression on those sentiments than, Sir Peter Thomas. There may be a bit of him floatin' about! Click to Play 30 sec. spot.


Given that Pharmaline has so many generic brands in its supply pantry, voicing them all, could turn out to be a full time gig until they discover  Artificial Intelligence...now just you never mind about that. Besides, with the graying of America there should be plenty of work for the both of us... Baby Boomers not withstanding.

It's not that often that I start scoping out a client and or their products and discover...Hey, I use that stuff. I'm reading and speaking about how much care goes into a generic pharmaceutical. But, at Pharmaline, it pretty much comes down to making a noble effort to be as good or better than the real McCoy. Being it's the end of June, which is Men's Health Month, let's make sure we're up-to-par and stock up on some of those Allopurinol gen's (Aluric) and we'll take a side of those Vitamin C gen's (C-Vital). Don't see any Gummies?




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Thursday, May 30, 2024

Candid Camera / Tribute to Terry Anderson


Candid Camera as it reads from IMDb's page is an American hidden camera reality television series, with versions of the show appearing on television from 1948 until 2014. Originally created and produced by Allen Funt, it often featured practical jokes. In its day, it could very well have been the equivalent to today's Smart Phone's video capabilities at capturing candid moments. 

That being said, just over a month ago a fellow by the name of  Terry Anderson passed away. He was 76 years of age. Close to seven of those years were spent while his freedom was denied. Actually, Terry was held hostage by Mid-East militants while working for the Associated Press as their chief Middle-Eastern correspondent. After being in captivity for 6 years and 9 months, Terry's fortunes were about to change. In a way, so was the future of 4 actors who were fortunate enough to be cast on that Candid Camera show back in the day when Terry's captors chose to release him the very same night at the very same time as we few actors, were about to appear on that very same show in front of millions of Americans on CBS, 12/4/91!


Mucho great for Terry, but for us actors, who were about to shine in the light of national television (at least in N.Y.), we instead, fell victims to the dreaded "We Interrupt this Broadcast" announcement...'cause you've been "Preempted". N00ooo!  But wait, all may not be lost. I have a brother living in San Antonio, Texas...that's an hour away in the right direction!

In the meantime, we watched all the hoopla surrounding Terry with all the pomp and circumstance of a hero's welcome. Which brought to mind another hero that was lambasted for being famous because he was captured. There was no mistaking where I heard that before...almost word-for-word and how it related to another hero. No, no, not by that one. We're referring of course to the character in Woody Allen's film Celebrity, John Brennan. Almost word-for-word!

Sure enough, after I called my brother and asked him to tape the show, he got back and said he saw it in its regular time slot, taped it and would mail out the tape the next day. The tape arrived 3 days later in the mail!


This CC episode had the Set Up of me playing a Secret Service agent along with two other actors and a shill actor who played a celebrity autograph seeker. We descended upon the outside benches of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. The agents would treat select bench-marks like a celebrity. The autograph-seeker would come up to the mark asking for an autograph and the agents would look like they were corralling the seeker to keep him at bay from the mark, to further sell the ruse. Just when the mark appeared to have had enough...an agent would do the reveal.

Click below picture to see abbreviated Candid Camera Show Secret Service Agents

On another episode that took place on location in Philadelphia, Pa., we learned a valuable lesson...for whom, I'm not sure. But, I had the occasion to play a reporter interviewing an adventurer type fellow in a rustic cabin way out in the boondocks. He was constantly communicating with an expedition via shortwave radio. Then the unthinkable happened...the actual shortwave prop crapped out! The entire production shut down while the engineers worked on the problem. It was getting close to lunch when I noticed that the inside of the shortwave was kinda hollow.

Hummm, I said very quietly to the engineer, you know there's just enough room to put one of those crappy little Radio Shack Walkie-Talkies in that hollowed chamber. Even though the W/T's are crappy, you only need to be 8 feet away in another room, so they'll sound just fine.

The engineer went for lunch with the grip and came back with 2 Walkies for $9.95 apiece. Long story short, since the actor only needed to have the receiver end operational, it worked like a charm. No one, especially the audience, would be the wiser. Hey nice going Tommy C the director said. We'll continue filming after lunch.

Now get this - Even though I was seen as a shiny penny from the production staff's point of view, I had the lead CC actor take me aside and say; Hey man, you probably just cost us an extra days work. He said he'd been with the production company for a while and in situations like this one, if they didn't resolve the problem by a certain point, they would've fixed us up with hotel rooms, and continued the shoot the next day. Oh...it's Emily Litella time!

We had Post Cards made to send out to prospective casting agents and advertising staff. In their day, these were the preferred way to generate interest. See below.


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Tuesday, April 30, 2024

TC & Co. Throw-back Thursday - Wednesday - Fri...

Sometimes it becomes reasonable to post a Throwback Thursday or as Apollonia made famous; Thursday - Wednesday - Friday - Sunday - Saturday and then...Ka-Boom! That's because, by accident we found a gem from the past and we're a little short on 'New & Improves'.

But that shouldn't stand in the way of presenting cool and creative nostalgia like portraying Frank Lloyd Wright on NPR's Kids America series. 

We did a guest spot call-in from the home studio in Queens at the time. It was at night, it was Christmas and the last show of Mystery History Guest. 

Kids would call in from around the nation and try and guess who the person was they were listening to. With some sound effects and development from the NPR studios we'd transition into the past and begin to introduce our Mystery guest. 

As the guest, I would come up with a character's voice and Foley effects to compliment the guest's environment and time frame. Remember kids...this was from a time when people listened to the radio. I was diggin' the edgy energy from being 'Live', fleshing out the character, laying out characteristic details and stats about the Mystery guest.


Now here's the rub with 'ole Whisker-puss...even though he hasn't any. In real life recordings of Mr. Wright, he comes off a bit of a kvetch and not very approachable, least not for lame and sophomoric banter. This was one of those times, you really wanted to be good. I mean, you wanted to give the kids a good show. Of course, there's always that nagging possibility that you'll come off lookin' like Joey Nickels (what an ass--) from the movie Annie Hall. 

So we came up with a voice that was more happy and peppy and bursting with love. We had a lot of fun playing the guessing game and playing the part. It was also a trip to do all of it 'Live' before your very ears. And it was all analog. That means cassette players queued up with music and SFX,  making sure things are moving along at a good pace, dropping some reference and levity here & there...and being careful not to channel - Joey Nickels. Click > button below to play FLW


Might also be riveting to check on what Chris's been up to all these years. No, that's not Chris on the right, who was on the show with us, but an early photo of Frank Wright. Actually, it was sans the Lloyd epaulet. Although, you might say he's working on it.

Some of the clues dropped were; cantilever, prairie, Taliesin, Fallingwater, Usonian, "Space is the Breath of Art" etc.  

On a more personal note, every so often we go on the prowl to find our own Frank Lloyd Wright golden nugget right here on Long Island. Great Neck, to be well, more precise.

Though, citing rubs, we've not yet been able to locate the Wright phantom house...or set eyes on it. We have the address, but can never seem to find it on our own. 

So, with respect to the current occupants privacy, we'll show just a glimpse of the house...as it can be seen by anyone on the web, or willing to stick it out with a - Google Earth Map.


With respect to that peculiar mental process known as thinking, maybe time to re-think that nostalgia reference up top. Just finished reading an article by Maxine Hong Kingston that hits close to home. Especially, since it relates to the 'this is the business we chose' mantra...which, as a voice-over artist has been on shaky ground lately with the advent of Artificial Intelligence. She says and I quote: "I'm not nostalgic myself. I don't like the feeling of nostalgia. Nostalgia has something to do with regret, the sadness of, oh, this time is over. I don't like it when I have that feeling, but I don't seem to get it very often. I like to go into the new". 

Could this be a sign. You mean, an early clue to a new direction...Sunny Jim!

We're done wit dat one your Honor - this just IN! The Late Show's Stephen Colbert brought in the news last nite, May 8th, with Prez wannabee RFK Jr.'s claim that some of his brain was eaten by a worm...a specific worm of none other than Busytown's Lowly Worm. And just to refresh our memory, who is it that plays Lowly Worm...Tommy 'C' . Thanks Stephen. We emailed TLS's talent coordinator... Imagine That!

 

Click on > below to to play.



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Saturday, March 30, 2024

How to Spot Artificial Intelligence in Your Shorts

To Be...or Not to Be. 

To 'A' or not to A...I, is certainly the question everyone has been asking. It's been at the center of one of the longest strikes in our nations talent union's history ( Sag/Aftra). Because it presents an answer that could potentially end an era in the voice acting industry. (This is where, if we had the budget, we'd see the Fontaine Bleau over here come careening down...pretty much the same way the by-gone Las Vegas hotels did at the end of the movie, Casino.)  

Ah, but before we start talking to the CGI folks over at Skywalker Studio's, let's take a closer look or better yet, listen to some differences between humans and machine. Here's a link to a Utube Short of The Top 10 Largest Hotels in Las Vegas ....Click link and listen if you can spot the difference!

 

Then there are the not-so-obvious examples, like "Crazy Historical Photos You Won't See Anywhere Else" with Tab Hunter and Gwen Verdon. The AI voice-over narrates Gwen's sir name as if it's separated in the middle - Ver' Don ala Pierre Car'don. So, you hear two distinct syllables and in the end, something doesn't quite sound right. The result is that it becomes less recognizable...unless it's Gwen's new way of pronouncing her name.

I also remember that as a generational 'Boomer', it was Jacqueline Bissett who set the stage to alternate celebrity 'sir name' changing. It seemed that every couple of years someone previously-know-as would step forth and make the announcement. Biss'set begot Biss'it, Francis Ford CaPolla became Co-pa-la. And we're still not all that sure about Mr. Scorsese' s preferred dinner call.

 

Or how 'bout this gem from the same folks over at Crazy Historical Photos You Won't See Anywhere Else, where the AI voice pronounces actor George Peppard's name so mangled, that it becomes a WTF moment. George was pepper'ed rather than Pep'pard (ed). And no, he didn't have a stutter. Just bad or no redundancies to detail on the production end. No brainer stuff - you know, "When the light is green the trap is clean". We saw Ghostbuster's four, last Sunday. Second time in less than a month, the theater was way under occupied. What to do...what to do. Somebody's got to start thinkin'.

The Most Challenging Training Ever explores what happens when there's a give-a-way word or phrase that well, sorta let's the AI outta the bag, so-to-speak. In this case it's the word; string'gent. Click on the red title to listen for yourself. This brings to mind when I was a teenager in Holland. My traveling buddy, Hans Niehout touted a story or proverbial  phrase about how a German could not say a certain word in Dutch without giving away his nationality. The word sounded something close to a contrivance like - schlaivningha. 

Thing is - throughout the years I've run into several people who've confirmed & offered other nationality tongue twisters.


“As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, the law must progress as well…. Beyond state laws, there needs to be a push for greater protection of the common person against vocal deepfakes.”

This comes from the pages of IP Watchdog dot com. It's entitled: Voices, Copywriting and Deepfakes. The article dives head first into the murky waters of protecting ones iconic voice. In short, is a voice copyrightable? Here's the law.

 

And if you are in the music industry or the comedy industry...welp, get a load of this sh--! George Carlin's estate had to bring suit against some AI-Generated Comedy Special (George Carlin - I'm glad I'm Dead) over an AI-generated imitation of the late comedian. The creators agreed to remove it from their YouTube channel and podcast feed. SAG-AFTRA has pushed for federal legislation that would make it illegal to create a fake digital replica of someone without their consent.

 

In the music world, some 200 artists, organized by the non-profit Artist Rights Alliance, including Billie Eilish, Kacey Musgraves, J Balvin, Ja Rule, Jon Bon Jovi, Katy Perry, Miranda Lambert and more, are speaking out against artificial intelligence-related threats in the music industry.

The artists sent an Open Letter to AI developers, technology companies, platforms and digital music services to “cease the use of artificial intelligence to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.”

The letter highlights AI threats including deepfakes and voice cloning, as well as “irresponsible uses of AI” such as the using AI sound to diminish royalty payments to artists and the use of musical works by AI developers without permission to train and produce AI copycats. The artists’ statement underscores how AI is poised to reshape creative industries and our economy.

 

 

 

And for the Easter holiday's we have Bug's Bunny - wishing all-in-the-land a Happy Facebook Easter! Click to get into the holiday spirit!:



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Thursday, February 29, 2024

Sag Awards Barbra - Life Achievement / Netflix


For the 2nd time ever the SAG Awards were being aired solely online this year...A Leap Year! We weren't sure if we would be able to watch the awards live insomuch as we didn't have access to Netflix and the nearest Local Party to watch was in Town ...but life or the 30th SAG Awards found a way.

Life finds a way...was one of Jeff Goldblum's catch phrases in movie-dom, notably, Jurassic Park. He was presenting last Saturday night for the 'Cast in a Motion Picture' category along with his former better half, Gina Davis. And in true JG sincerity, we also found a way...to watch the Awards Show. (February 24th at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles, California).

 

This year presented a bit more maneuvering, since we couldn't connect to Netflix which was the exclusive Awards carrier. Friends of ours who had Netflix offered to help out and added a bonus to the mix with a movie and dinner beforehand, rather than the other way around. The theater was a Humongous AMC 250 seat-er in Westbury, Long Island.

The movie had just come out, like a week and a half ago and featured Kingsley Ben-Adir as Bob Marley. An eye opener for me. I liked his music very much but really knew just fragments about him. It's called: "One Love" the story of how reggae icon Bob Marley overcame adversity, and the journey behind his revolutionary music. FYI, it was just us four and nine others in the theater.


Back to the awards; We were fading up to some My-T-Fine puddin' as our local party checked out the decked out on the Red Carpet. Our Netflix hosts, Elaine & Tan were doing their thing where they let the actors talk as they say, amongst themselves. Golden Nuggets were dropping all over the place. As with last years awards, there were no commercials, no exit music to signal actors to wrap-up their acceptance speeches and profanity was encouraged.


Nominees for the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® honoring outstanding individual, cast and ensemble performances for the past year were announced by Issa Rae (Barbie, American Fiction, Insecure) and Kumail Nanjiani (Welcome to Chippendales, The Big Sick) via Instagram Live. The nominees for outstanding action performances by film and television stunt ensembles were announced by SAG Awards Committee Members Jason George and Woody Schultz with an introduction by SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher.

It was a special night for Barbra Streisand. Miss Streisand was awarded the 59th Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. She gave a moving speech as she receives the award for her remarkable contributions to both the musical and acting landscapes throughout her career. Plus she married James Brolin. She was a force that wanted to be heard..."Oh Mr. Arnstein, here I am" as the album; My Name is Barbra, might suggest! I remember as a kid, seeing that album on my uncle Nick's dinning table in N.J. As it played, the 'high ball' glasses clinked and grown-up voices echoed.
 
 
 
The Actor to Actor series with Fran Drescher as host, asks Barbra with a Capital 'S' - "What is the single most important acting lesson you’ve learned in your career? What does it take to be a great actor? What performances are inspiring you right now?" These are just some of the questions posed by SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher to 59th SAG Life Achievement honoree. 
 
Listen in this intuitive conversation that was recorded in February of 2023, of the stage, screen, music and television icon, how it delves into Barbra's remarkable career and reflects on a diverse life in show business.
 
This conversation is a must-see for anyone seeking creative wisdom from one of the most brilliant performers of all time. The views expressed by the guests are their own and not that of SAG-AFTRA. Any mention of products or services does not imply SAG-AFTRA’s endorsement.


On the Stefan Nadelman front, we just heard back from an email asking if he had a Horse in the Race this awards season. Those familiar with Stefan's animation work know him as the Go-to-Guy for visual conceptualization in the Movie & Doc world.

 

He wrote back ~

"Not sure if anything I worked on is up for any awards, but Moonage Daydream won an Emmy for best music doc...so, there's that". Stefan and I got our start together collaborating on his Award winning movie Terminal Bar doing voice characterizations.

And seeing that it's (L-E-A-P-Y-E-A-R) and today doesn't legally exist and Easter is a tad early...right on the heels of the last day of March...Here's a quick Easter shout-out as the voice of Bugs Bunny!

Bugs Bunny's Tik-Tok Easter Tribute...Enjoy!




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Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Superbowl / Sag Awards Honor Streisand-Netflix

(SAG Web) The 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, produced by Silent House Productions in partnership with SAG-AFTRA, will stream live globally on Netflix Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall.
As previously announced, the legendary actor, singer, producer, writer, and director Barbra Streisand will be honored with the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievements and humanitarian accomplishments during the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony.


One of awards season’s premier events, the SAG Awards annually celebrates the outstanding motion picture and television performances from the previous calendar year (SAG Awards Eligibility Period: January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023). Of the top industry honors presented to actors, only the SAG Awards are selected entirely by performers’ peers in SAG-AFTRA with 119,515 eligible voters. Final voting opens on Wednesday, Jan. 17 and closes at Noon PT on Friday, Feb. 23. We're still in the throe's of watching, scoring and entering our votes from the digital motion picture movie streamers we obtained, as well as DVD's that are continuing to trickle in. 

So, here we are smack in the middle of awards season and wouldn't you know it, there's this thing called the Superbowl that's sharing the spot-light. That's mostly due to the Superbowl's date being pushed further and further ahead to where it's current play date is pushing double digits on the eleventh of February. That's a far cry from where it came from back in 1967. Well, actually the Superbowl wasn't called the Superbowl until its 3rd time out, Soup III January 12th, 1969. Soup I and II were called an entirely different name entirely...AFL–NFL World Championship Game.

That being said, perhaps it's time to take a look back to a date and time when we had a VoiceOver & On-Camera horse in the game...or dog in the race, as it were. That's right, the year's starting off a bit slow, so time to bring out the Greatest Hits album...well, almost Greatest Hits and it'll probably be featured on a Sound Cloud platform or thumbnail drive.

 

We had a horse-in-the-game in both millennia.

There was the Humongous Gas & Electric TV spot that played on Superbowl XXIV back on January 28th, 1990. It was Super recognizable...once upon a time. I played an 'on camera' character named: Bob Davis. Incidentally, it was the most lopsided game in Superbowl history. San Fran's 55 points were the most ever scored by one team. And their 45 point margin of victory over the Broncos was the largest ever!


Fantastic Plastic's TV spots or end tags, played on Superbowl LIV, February 2nd, 2020. The VoiceOver was for the Damson Auto Dealerships in the lower half of the country. We managed a Winnie-the-Pooh sound-a-like that was in good form. Here's the full Jerry Damson Automotive Grp spot that started its run a few months earlier.



Through a life changing circumstance that happened recently, I found that my mom had married a fellow who also had a horse in the Superbowl game...he bought a saddle, actually. As a matter of record, he created the greatest ad of its era which debuted on: Superbowl XIII: It featured overtones of hard times that needed a bit of bolstering to accent the positive. Of course... it helped if you consumed a bottle of Budweiser. 


 

Check it out at: This Bud's for You

 

 

My step dad was an advertising guru. The real deal of what was to be called a - Mad Man. A creative directors creative director. Ever hear the slogan; Leggo My Eggo, Coke is It or how 'bout my mom's all time Fav - Fly the Friendly Skies of United?

That's the voice of a tinder Gene Hackman, in the day, paying tribute to the inspirational words that instilled a campaign at Leo B. Yep, as someone in advertising for a good deal of their life, I'd say my step dad was metzuyan. Be nice if it runs in the family. BTW, I woulda been happy if mom had married Bob Bigalow (BA)...you know, Deuce Bigalow's father - bathroom attendant.





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Thursday, December 21, 2023

2023 TC & Co. Year End Round-Up

 

Seems like the Roaring 20's of the last century are not holding true for us here in the Millennial age. That damn Covid sure put a damper on the beginning of the decade...and it's still with us. Plus, according to weatherman Al Roker, it was the hottest year on record where we saw the sun look like something out of a end-of-days / kiss-u'r-keister-goodbye movie - due to Wild Fires thousands of miles away. Then Artificial Intelligence (Ai) threatened to take our VO jobs away as mercilessly as the synthesizer did with the musicians union. Top all that off with a WGA-Writers Strike in the middle of the year followed by THE longest theatrical union strike in its existence with Sag/Aftra (118 days) and we're left with an outlook for 2024 of either - Fire & Brimstone...or, it can only go /\ from here!

Keeping in step with the later, we were still able to eke out a few gems over the year amongst the rough Ai terrain that has us all in its insidious grip. Below's highlights are a composite of the last twelve months. Feel free to browse the landscape for a sound or idea that could have merit. 


On July 14, 2023, at 3:00 am officially, the nations actors' union, SAG-AFTRA, went on strike over an ongoing labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. It has coincided with a Writers Guild of America strike as part of broader Hollywood labor disputes. Click union logo for Fran Drescher's speech.


The MetaVerse Immerses into 3-D Healthcare with TC and Company & Boehringer Ingelheim. They wanted a hi-tech-ish voice to introduce their 3D virtual iMetaVerse video packed with holographic virtual environments, a cool electro-techno music track and plush animated graphics. Considering the daily diet of A.I. these days, it's nice to be still working, even if it's moonlighting as the iconic Peter Thomas' younger self!   Click to Play
Tinol Paints does Int'l Color Day with TC & Company. The fine folks over at Tinol Paints came-a-callin again...gratefully, the crickets were talkin' about puttin' the band back together. This time the creative team at Tinol wanted the performance to be inviting, motivating and catchy. You know, a break-thru-the-clutter sound to introduce the world to the International 'Color Day' Competition with the theme of "Tinol Colors Speak in a Thousand Ways".
They were putting a lot of effort to get as much splash as they could muster, mister. It was a fun gig and we just went with the flow. Click to Play
 
Ai that voice-over ~ with Tom CliffordVO.
We were presented with a second unveiling so-to-speak of a voice-over we did this past year. Apparently, it was bandied about that if the sample rate on the VO was adjusted downward to a "Transformer" classification sound-a-like, it would enhance the engagement level and have a cool disembodied feel that's so sought after these days. Check it out

The Mortuary Haunted Mansion welcomes this season's theme Blood  Wedding ... and you're The Mortuary's guest of honor!  Here come the brides...looking for their grooms. Actually, this is a pretty cool concept and a perfect alternative progression to the 'what to do on date-night'.

For the first time ever the SAG awards were being aired solely online this year. We were looking forward to something different and planned to be at a hotel out east on Long Island when we watched it. The awards are being carried by Youtube & Netflix. We weren't sure if signal issues were going to be something to consider for a seamless viewing of  what turned out to be a glitch-less and transformative evening.


And from all of us to all of you and yours...Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. And with Santa bringing us a full moon this Christmas, here's hoping Y'all have a Howling Good Time... from the Wolfman - Baby!


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