Tag Archives: Sid Noel

From Recording Dr. Morgus & Dr. John…To Recording REAL Doctors in 2024! WTH?

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E.R.I.C. the talking skull records VoiceOver at Airlift Productions

I first met and recorded Sid Noel in 1986, Mac Rebennack in 1991, and all their personas, fame, makeup & feathers aside – these guys were real, sincere, down-to-earth humans to me.

And after all these rather remarkable recording sessions across decades with these rather remarkable individuals, the rather remarkable fact today is that here in 2024 I record and work with REAL doctors!

Life’s kinda funny like that sometimes, huh?

Does art imitate life, or is it the other way around?

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Dr. John Autograph to Airlift Mike on old Airlift Iberville Street Notepad

My years recording and working with New Orleans’ magical, mythical & mystical Dr. John & Dr. Morgus are now history, and the subject of many posts within my blogs here. May they both rest in Power, as well as Paradise. But podcast recording with the REAL docs from Ochsner Hospital here in 2024 is something else all together.

Mac helped the world sing & dance, Sid had N’awlins in stitches, yet these “cut-ups” take it to a whole other level.

These ladies and gentlemen I record & work alongside today actually save lives! Treat cancer. Cure cancer. Moms, dads, loved ones live to see another day thanks to these folks.

Ochsner Cancer Doctors Podcasting at the Airlift mics (L-R) Johnson, Mizrahi, Burkeen MDs

Me? I’m just the middleman, pressing all the pretty buttons, adjusting mic levels, coaching, editing, uploading … and recording the podcasts.

Might I add, this one is not the job for the queasy, or for the hypochondriac among us!

So far we’ve tackled Melanoma, Lung Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Breast Cancer, Liver Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Leukemia (Cancer of the blood), et al. Yeah, line-up the usual suspects.

Colorectal Cancer Podcast Excerpt, courtesy the Ochsner Cancer Institute

Hosted by Dr. Jon Mizrahi, we call it “All In Against Cancer”, and you’ll find the entire series available for download free by clicking here… https://www.ochsner.org/lp/podcast-cancer

What’s that classic Jack Nicholson movie line? “You can’t handle the truth!?!” Well, when faced with one of these life-changing illnesses, it sure helps to get that heretofore un-face-able truth from the educated, well-informed, up-to-date troops in the frontlines of these ongoing cancer battles.

Airlift Mike Onstage with Sid Noel at NOLA’s Orpheum Theater, Halloween 2019

And through it all, I must confess that there are days here around the Airlift PROductions Campus, while working on these podcasts, when the sun hits the studio’s stained glass just right… I feel the presence & the spirit of those other “doctors”.

There’s New Orleans iconic otherworldly Dr. John & Dr. Morgus peering over my shoulders at the edit bay, and offering words of inspiration and wisdom.

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Dr. John & Airlift Mike, Big Easy Awards Show New Orleans 1995

OK, maybe not exactly wisdom, it’s more like words of encouragement — Sid/Morgus will whisper, “Chopsley-Mike, try that edit again! Make it a marvel of modern science. And now back to those idiots down at the station!”

Meanwhile, as to Mac /Dr. John? Well, he just says, “Chillax, big Mike, without question you are at exactly the right place. At the right time!”

Airlift PROductions, Audio Alchemy & Digital Magic from New Orleans …since 1984

Airlift PROductions Stained Glass Studio Window

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Nathan, while recording at Airlift Productions, on behalf of Macmillan Audio Books, NYC

“Mike is a master of his craft, a true audio artisan. The long days I spent recording my audio book with him were a joy. First and foremost, he is a meticulous professional who wants to make sure that the production achieves the best possible quality. Because of his extensive background as a voice actor, he can coach you in exactly how to make something sound serious, credible, and powerful.

And because he built the whole studio himself, he knows how to get the most out of his equipment and produce exceptional recordings. But more than that, Mike is not just a skilled producer. He’s a great guy, with a tranquil life philosophy that will put you at ease and make you feel comfortable enough to give your best effort. He knows how to make you feel good, from the mood lighting to his calming presence in your headphones. He’s funny, too, and has lots of great stories from his long career in radio.

I truly had a blast working with Mike and will write another book just to do a new audio book with him.” — NATHAN J. ROBINSON, Editor in chief of Current Affairs magazine and author of “Why You Should Be A Socialist”.

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I Never Did Heroin With Dr. John. We Just Did Other Things.

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Dr. John Autograph to Airlift Mike on old Airlift Iberville Street Notepad

Hired by Quincy Jones’ staff and his daughter Jolie to record Mac’s VoiceOver tracks for their Take It Back Foundation, I first met the Nite Tripper in the Airlift Productions Iberville days during New Orleans’ raucous early 1990s.

He walked in without pomp or circumstance, no entourage, no fanfare, no feathers, solo… but just as cool as the other side of the pillow.

Our job wasn’t anything to do with recording music, it was all about VoiceOver – he’d been cast as the Yak in Quincy’s animated PSA to promote recycling efforts and it was destined for use in movie theaters, television & MTV across America that summer.

We phone-patched to Los Angeles and together with Stevie Wonder, Ozzy Osbourne, B.B. King, Natalie Cole, Pat Benatar, Charlie Daniels, Barry White and Bugs Bunny…

With a hip-hop beat straight outta “In Living Color” – Fox’s big hit at the time – it all showed-up in movie theaters like this

Dr. John’s 1st visit to Airlift Productions – as “the Yak”

Some recording session, I’ll tell you that.

When Mac, not even asking if he could smoke, pulled out a Cheroot and lit it up, we rushed an ash tray into the booth without giving it a second thought. Sort of.

And when he asked if he could “use the facilities”, I took him up in the elevator to the Iberville Street living quarters, to the bathroom, where he encountered my then-one-year-old son Benjamin.

Imagine, if you can, Dr. John setting his walking stick aside, so he could pick up your child, hold him… and whisper sweet voodoo nothings in his ear!

Our second session, the following year, was all about VoiceOver for an awards presentation, wherein Mac & I were hired to record the introduction to accompany the big show-opening video – all about New Orleans legendary Red Light District!

Dr. John “Special Events Magazine” Awards Show Intro – 1993

Our paths – and stars – would continue to cross through the next couple decades, most notably at New Orleans’ Big Easy Entertainment Awards Shows.

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Dr. John & Airlift Mike, Big Easy Awards Show New Orleans 1995

I was honored to act as ‘Live Announcer’ for the show for ten consecutive years and Mac, being the one and only Dr. John, would be along many years to receive an award, or just to perform.

Just. As if.

My favorite memory was the year his mother flew in from NYC for the show, so Mac tracks me down and tells me that he wants me to meet his mama… and together we made the trek across the Fairmont ballroom so I could give my regards to his Dorothy.

Indeed, while Mac’s bouts with smack/heroin through the years are the stuff of legend, he had successfully navigated those choppy waters and was ‘clean’ the entire time I ever was fortunate enough to talk and record with him.

Through the years – the recording sessions & Big Easy Awards – we talked and laughed of many things… his love for New Orleans, his love of music, the ‘Big Picture’, existential things like living a life with “one foot in this world… and the other… in the other”!

Much in the way that Time Magazine caught his candor here

Dr. John, with some pretty amazing answers… and questions.

The last time we ever spoke to each other?

It was at the funeral for Cosimo Matassa, New Orleans’ legendary, seminal recording engineer and producer.

Along with a Who’s-Who of New Orleans music royalty – Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Quint Davis, Deacon John Moore, Benny Grunch – we’d all gathered to say goodbye to Cos, the big mac-daddy that started it all down on Rampart all those years ago.

Dr. John had flown into NOLA from NYC to say his final farewell to Cosimo down at Lake Lawn.

Then, in 2019… it was his turn.

Yeah, we all may very well be ‘whistling past the graveyard’ but, damn – nobody whistled that tune better than Dr. John!

And just like ‘dat, mellifluous, mesmerizing, mystical Mac moved on… from New Orleans & ‘da World.

Sort of.

I mean, there IS the matter of all that fantastic music he left us.

Deepest thanks for all that hoodoo voodoo that you did so well, bud.

Nighty-night, Nite Tripper.

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Airlift Mike Onstage with the late Sid Noel at NOLA’s Orpheum Theater, Halloween 2019

Dr. Ziants: My dear colleague, it was a true delight to visit and work with you in your digital laboratory. I somewhat envy your remarkable equipment, which far exceeds anything we can afford here in the old city ice house. Your audio production facilities are second to none, and I thank you again for the excellent recordings you produced for the Momus A. Morgus Institute.” — Momus

** A tested-by-time Testimonial from Dr. Morgus (aka – Sid Noel Rideau) direct from the old city ice house to the Airlift digital lab via email.

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Airlift Productions – we’ll leave the mics hot… and the light on for you.

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy & Digital Magic from New Orleans since 1984

Caught Between Dr. Morgus & A “Hard Rock” Place For H’Ween 2019

Hard Rock Hotel collapse, Saturday morning, Oct. 12th, 2019 – Canal Street, New Orleans

While I began talks with NOLA’s iconic Dr. Morgus for his big show early this year, little prepared either of us for the events of early Saturday morning, Oct. 12th, 2019.

You see, New Orleans became the headline in America’s national news that day as the Hard Rock Hotel construction site on our Canal Street unexpectedly and catastrophically collapsed!

The problem? The city of New Orleans was now in a heightened state of emergency – 36 hours from our big showtime at NOLA’s majestic Orpheum Theater, which sits right around the corner but steps from the Hard Rock site.

In true, “The show must go on” style, Uncle Sid & I, together with Orpheum GM Ivy Mouledoux and production ace Lewis D’Aubin, put our heads together, kept our collective cool, and delivered anyway.

Sid Noel in full costume as “MORGUS THE MAGNIFICENT”

To the uninitiated, Dr. Morgus (The Magnificent) is New Orleans’ beloved, legendary & iconic late night horror movie host and alter-ego to my dear pal Sidney Noel. So, to celebrate 60 years of Morgus (the show debuted in 1959), we’d planned our Big Halloween tribute, “An Evening with Sid Noel: The Recollections of a Mad Scientist”.

Social Media, Radio & TV blurbs
Morgus Show Orpheum Packed-House, Oct. 13th, 2019 – the night of the Full Moon
Audio of Airlift Mike’s Intro to Morgus Show Highlight Reel

Social media, Radio & TV blurbs sure helped to get the word out, but a mere 36 hours from the Hard Rock fiasco, the curtain went up at the Orpheum Theater at precisely 7:00 PM Sunday night, Oct. 13th to a “souled-out”, packed “Friends of Science” crowd.

Acting as emcee, I warmed-up the audience, we rolled into a half-hour Morgus Show highlight montage film, and then I introduced “The Master”…. as Sid walked on-stage to a thunderous, standing overture of affection.

(L-R) Airlift’s Micheal Ziants, E.R.I.C., & Sid Noel, Orpheum Theater, Oct. 13th, 2019

With warm, reflective tones and a comedic style belying his 89 years – and without the aid of a teleprompter or notes – Sid nimbly and effortlessly entertained the crowd as he reminisced with story after story about his lifelong relationship with “The Higher Order’s” Doctor Morgus.

As our old pal Dr. JOHN would often sing & say, it was, “Such a Night”!

By the time it was all over, hearts were warmed, smiles were embraced, memories were kindled – and the show raised well over $43,000.00 for Alzheimer’s Louisiana!

(Very personal note) Uncle Sid, I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity to serve – as both emcee & highlight reel voiceover, for this most wonderful priceless memory, and for the inspiration your tireless efforts have given my aging body.

May the Good Lord indeed Bless & Keep You!

As I write these words, the fate of downtown New Orleans and the Hard Rock Hotel site is still very much up in the air… but rest assured that the legacy of Sid Noel’s Morgus The Magnificent has never been on more rock-solid ground.

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Toby Ricketts Instagram-Twitter ‘Selfie” taken in the Airlift Productions booth

“Working on the road can be a pain for voice artists – I was so glad to find Airlift studios on my travels, just outside NOLA’s CBD! What a beautiful, cozy, and quiet space to work in. Michael was an absolute pleasure to work with, being 100% professional and 100% nice guy! If I’m ever in the Big Easy again, I’ll be sure to stop in and see Mike at Airlift Productions.” — Toby Ricketts, Award-Winning, World-Class, New Zealand-based Voice Talent

Morgus + Airlift Mike + Halloween 2019 = 1 Magical NOLA night!

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The Original Airlift Productions – before digital, the internet & mp3s – in the closet of my one-bedroom apartment – 1985

I first met – and recorded – Morgus The Magnificent back in 1986 in the very first version of Airlift Productions – the closet of my one bedroom apartment at Rock Creek just off Clearview Parkway in Metairie, Louisiana.

Of course I’d heard all the stories about this New Orleans icon, the mad scientist, Saturday nights since 1959 with entire families & sleep-over parties huddled around cathode ray tube TVs as Dr. Morgus, wrapped around horror/sci-fi movies, would unveil his latest zany experiment… I’d just never met the man.

Relatively new to NOLA at this point – and acting as Station Voice and Producer with Tribune Broadcasting’s WGNO-TV – I was asked to meet with him and record some tracks for his newly re-launched television show “Morgus Presents”.

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E.R.I.C. the talking skull records VoiceOver at Airlift Productions

Sid Noel showed up that night and we went on to record knee-to-knee (it was a closet, right?) all the E.R.I.C. the talking skull voice tracks to be used in all the upcoming broadcasts.

Fast-forward the tape to 2019 and Uncle Sid and I are still at it!

Through the decades we’ve worked on many a project together, but none more ambitious than what we’ve got cooked-up for New Orleans, all its “Higher Order” devotees … and this Halloween.

Sid turns 90 years old this Christmas day 2019 (where do you think the Noel came from?) but not before we roll-out his One-Night-Only One-Man-Show — An Evening with Sid Noel: Recollections of a Mad Scientist.

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Sidney Noel Records VoiceOvers and More at Airlift Productions New Orleans

On this one night – October 13th, 2019, the night of the full moon – LIVE on-stage at New Orleans’ Orpheum Theater, Sid will address his generations of fans as himself, the genius (my words, not his) behind the mad doctor for the very first – and last – time!

There are a LOT of Morgus videos on YouTube – but none that were recorded last week!

He’ll rip back the curtain (ala the Wizard of Oz) and reveal all the secrets and bizarre stories never before heard by anyone about one of New Orleans most beloved & iconic television stars… directly from the mouth of the man that made it all happen.

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Airlift Productions’ Micheal Ziants appearing with Dr. Morgus in an episode of “Morgus Presents” – circa 1989

Honored I am to tag along on this wondrous night as his 21st century Chopsley, as I will assist “the Master” acting as emcee for the affair, as well as offering my voice over chops for the opening film presentation…

“Morgus History” – Audio to Opening Video for Oct. 13th 2019 show –

This promises to be a night all of New Orleans will never forget!

Which brings me to the REAL point of the evening… not forgetting.

You see, the entire show, all these memories, all these efforts… are to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association and their quest to find a cure for this devastating debilitating disease.

Furthermore, the entire show will be recorded and preserved on DVD, with all proceeds moving forward in perpetuity going directly to the krewe at the Alzheimer’s Association.

For research.

For a cure.

For HOPE.

The queue for tickets to this once-in-a-lifetime magical event forms here… Tickets via TicketMaster – “An Evening with Sid Noel: Recollections of a Mad Scientist”

Perhaps, just perhaps, this mad doctor is not so mad after all?

Join us, won’t you?

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“Michael is without a doubt one of the most versatile audio and production experts in the industry. “ Norman Robinson, Former CBS White House correspondent & WDSU News Anchor, currently Voice Talent, Coach & Mentor

NormanRobinsonRecordsVoiceOverAirliftProductionsNOLA

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Airlift Productions – we’ll leave the mics hot… and the light on for you.

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy & Digital Magic from New Orleans since 1984

Airlift Mike & Morgus: Let’s Get Personal

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Sidney Noel Rideau Records VoiceOvers and More at Airlift Productions New Orleans

As a close personal friend to the New Orleans & Late Night TV Icon Morgus the Magnificent and extremely gifted spirit Sidney Noel Rideau, it is with a heavy heart on this July morning that I pen this one.

Like most guy friendships, we can go months at a time without a chat and then pick right up where we left off, with a lunch or a recording session.  So, in an entirely unrelated matter, I got Sid on the phone just yesterday only to find out that just months ago he had lost the one true love of his life –  Donia.

While we had spoken often of her through the years, I only knew of her through her answering the phone or in the background during our many phone conversations between NOLA and the north shore of the lake.

Sid & Aldona met innocently enough in New York City back in the early ’60s while he was the struggling actor & radio dude and she was an interpreter at the United Nations.  Really.

Their 52-year marriage included two beautiful children and a mutual love for the theater, the arts … and words. Oh, how they loved ‘words’.

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Sidney’s wife of 52 blessed years Donia

It was ‘words’ that carried the lovely Aldona through Poland, England, Pakistan & Switzerland, all before even having met Sidney in New York. Catch up with just a bit of this woman’s spirit in her online obituary here  Aldona Nalecz-Tyminska Rideau.

Sid’s beloved and adored Aldona served all through those turbulent & chaotic Morgus years as not only his silent partner … but as the wind beneath his wings.

Now, all this having been said, Sid would just kick my ass if he even knew that I was writing these words. Of all the people I’ve ever met in show business, radio or the theater – Sidney Noel Rideau would have to be the most personally private of all. Truly. He fiercely defends his privacy.

So, to the reader of these words, a simple request. For prayers. For the spirit of his beloved bride. For healing. And maybe one of thanks – for all the years of enjoyment & fun his on-air exploits have given generations of late night horror movie fanatics around America.  And now, prayers for the woman who helped to inspire it all.

May God indeed bless you, Uncle Sid, and your lovely Donia.

“Don’t stand at my grave and weep. I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am the thousand winds that blow….

I am the diamond glints of the winter snow…

I am the sunlight that ripens grain…

I am the gentle autumn rain.

Don’t stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not die.”

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Airlift Mike On-Camera performing with Sid in “Morgus Presents”, in happier times, 1988, re-broadcast on Fox-8

 

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984