Stan was the guy who produced the commercials, but there was much more to him than that.
He was the voice of Emerson, the Maintenance Man, on the Harry West Show. Harry knew it was a good bit, and he rode it like a circus elephant. Harry even used it during his stay at WICK.
Stan could imitate almost everyone on the staff, and do it dead on. Inside baseball: to this day, I can't hear the word "flange" without bursting in to laughter.
He also took my topical news promos to the next level and made them sound great. I would do a weekly thing, highlighting spot news we covered that the competition didn't. More inside baseball: "spot news" is the unplanned stuff, like fires, crashes, crimes, etc.
There is one tale that illustrates the genius of Stan Neishel. You will have to let your imagination run wild on this one, and remember that a big part of radio is theater of the mind.
Stan was working with John Hancock to produce a comedy bit. It involved a company drug test. They needed the sound of someone urinating in to a cup. Of course, we didn't have that sound in our stock sound effects library, so they had to make one. Now, don't get carried away here. All they did was pour water from one coffee can in to another, and had a microphone close by. Simple. Right? No! Simply pouring water from one vessel in to another wasn't good enough. Stan did his magic and then called me in to the production room for my opinion.
He hit the tape, and I heard the stream. The stream stopped for a second. Then, you heard one final drip. I was on the floor laughing. It was perfect, and every male reader can relate. That one last plop took the bit over the top, and it was just what the piece needed. Funny, and real. Above and beyond.
Stan was one of a kind. My sympathy to his family and friends. Thanks for the laughs.
