VC Radio
Voice Coaches Radio #454 – It’s not how old you are, it’s how old you sound!
Voice Coaches Radio. Everything voiceover. And welcome to this week's edition of Voice Coaches Radio. I am Josh Heller. Delighted to have you joining me as I am each and every week. Back here at the mothership. Here at White Lake Music and Post in Colonie, New York. Home of Voice Coaches. Back in the studio.
Uh, and so, I had something pop up recently. And uh, you know, it think about, uh, about something that we talk about and have talked about here at voice coaches radio. And, and it's something I think it's, it's important and, and the way it kind of, uh, crystallized for me, I, I think might, uh, it might be nice for people.
So, uh, so essentially one of the things that we, that we talk about, one of the benefits of this industry, one of the best things about voiceover is, and, and, and we say this to people all the time, it, it doesn't matter how old you are, it matters how old you sound. Right? Simply speaking. And that's, you know, kind of straightforward enough.
It doesn't matter how old you are. It matters how old you sound. As a voiceover producer, I don't care how old you are. More often than not, I'm not going to know how old you are. Nor am I going to care. Right? I don't care what you look like. I don't care how tall or how short you are. How skinny or how fat you are.
I don't care about any of that. All I care about is what's coming out of those golden pipes. Right? If you sound young, great. As far as I'm concerned, you're young. If you sound old, great. As far as I'm concerned, you're old. That's all that matters, right? What we can do with that voice. So, again, and we say it a lot, it doesn't matter how old you are, it matters how old you sound.
Well, I had that really kind of, uh, come into focus for me, uh, fairly recently. So, uh, as many of you know, I have a four year old son, a little man, Declan. Precocious four year old, as most four year olds happen to be, and, uh, and he's been spending a lot of time, uh, at home in the house, because there's really not much else to do.
Um, you know, obviously during, during this whole thing, he hasn't been able to, to get together with friends as much, we haven't been able to go out in places, so, you know, we've been spending a lot of time at home, and we do, you know, In general, my wife and I do like to limit his screen time as much as we can, uh, but let's be honest.
That has not, uh, that has not always been the case here, uh, during this, uh, this pandemic. And, um, you know, there are times where we're getting a little stir crazy. And so, yes, we probably watch a little more screen time than we might like. But, one of the things, and I don't even remember how, how he came about finding this, but, uh, frankly he controls the, uh, the remote and knows what he's doing for the most part, and, uh, usually it's things that, you know, I watch, and some are better than others, let's put it that way, some are, some are much better than others, but he came across Scooby Doo.
He came across Scooby Doo, and he LOVED it! And, as far as I'm concerned, that is a parenting win for me. He LOVED watching Scooby Doo, and we have watched a LOT of Scooby Doo, uh, over the past, uh, past couple months. Um, and, uh, let me tell you, there is a lot of Scooby Doo to watch. There is a LOT. I mean, we're talking about the, the original Scooby Doo, Where Are You?,
from back in 1969, all the way until, uh, you know, current, there is still current Scooby Doo being, being put out there. Um, you know, and, and, and we, we are watching that. I think the most recent ones we've seen are, um, uh, Guess Who Scooby Doo, in which it has a, uh, a, a special guest star, which is, is interesting, uh, I, I guess, um, having, you know, guest stars in it.
But whatever, that's not the point, that's not the point. Here's the point. The point is, Scooby Doo has been going on forever, seemingly forever. ever. And, you know, currently, and I know they did just put a movie out, uh, I believe it's called Scoob, we have actually, we haven't seen that yet, um, and I'm not sure who does the voice of Scooby Doo in the movie, uh, or I'm sorry, who does the voice of Shaggy rather in the movie, but in general, recently, it's been Matthew Lillard, uh, he was also Scooby or Shaggy in the, um, In the live action movies, but obviously the classic, uh, shaggy has been Casey Kasem.
Casey Kasem did Shaggy Shaggy Rogers. Technically, by the way, I dunno if you know this, his name is Colton Colton Rogers, a k a Shaggy like sc. I'm not very good at it. I, I, I try. Like, Scoob! That's the best I can do. Uh, it works for my son though, so I, I, I will say that. But, Casey Kasem was the voice of, of Shaggy Rogers.
You know, of, of Scooby Doo's, you know, best bud. And, uh, he did that for a long... Now, for those of you who don't watch Scooby Doo religiously, like I do currently, The, the gang, and I quote, Mystery Incorporated, as they're often known, Uh, the gang featuring Fred, and Velma, and Daphne, Uh, and Scooby, and Shaggy, and sometimes Scrappy, Although I'm not a big Scrappy Doo fan, but that's, that's not, that's not the point, I digress.
Um, uh, they are, Teenagers. They're teenagers. They don't act, or sound, or, or, they're, apparently, according to watching many, many hours of this, they're teenagers. And have been teenagers for quite some time. It's funny how that works in cartoons. But, they are teenagers. Now, the first episode, Of Scooby Doo was in the Scooby Doo Where Are You Show, which started in 1969.
Alright, so it started in 1969. Now, Shaggy, Colton Rogers, Shaggy was voiced by Casey Kasem. Now, uh, I think most people know that he did the voice of Shaggy, but casey case him obviously was, you know, he did American Top 40, that's actually where I first heard him, I used to listen to American Top 40 growing up, cause he did that for forever, but he also did the voice of Shaggy seemingly forever.
So he started out as the first voice of Shaggy Rogers in 1969, he was 37 years old at the time, so he was 37 years old when he first portrayed a quote unquote teenage Shaggy. Shaggy. Okay, like I said, doesn't matter how old you are, matters how old you sound. However, what's amazing is that he then continued to voice Shaggy throughout the decades, culminating with his final appearance as Shaggy in Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated, which was, um, Another iteration of the show.
He was only on for about five episodes or so. He had basically retired at that point, but that came out in 2013. One year prior to his passing. At that point, he was still portraying a teenage Shaggy, and he was 81 years old. He was 81 years old. He does done hundreds, hundreds Of episodes of television shows, like I said, different iterations of those television shows with Scooby Doo involved.
He has done multiple, uh, dozens of movies, uh, where he has portrayed Shaggy. But he last portrayed him when he was 81 years old. Over the course of 44 years, he portrayed... A teenager, starting when he was 37, finishing when he was 81. Like I said, it doesn't matter how old you are. It matters how old you sound.
And Shaggy still sounded like as much of a teenager as he ever did, in 2013 when being voiced by an 81 year old. Casey Kasem as he did back in 1969 when he was voiced by a 37 year old Casey Kasem So it goes to show and and we say it all the time It doesn't matter how old you are matters how old you sound it matters How well you take care of your voice it matters, you know how you're able to be consistent in that voice He was consistently shaggy and I I and and listen i've done research on this mostly because i've watched a ton of it recently but I I I I challenge you to, to listen to him as Shaggy in 2013 and listen to him as Shaggy in 1969 and hear the difference.
There really isn't any. He was that consistent with it for 44 years. So a tip of the cap to Casey Casso, uh, who portrayed Colton Rogers, a k a Shaggy like SC for 44 years, starting when he was 37, finishing when he was 81, portraying. So, for those of you who think, Oh, I don't know, I can only play people who are my age.
No, you can't. People who are thinking, Well, you know, I have a very young sounding voice, I'm only going to be able to do young characters. No, not necessarily. People who are thinking, Oh, you know what, my, um, I'm older, I'm only going to be able to do, you know, older sounds. No, none of that is true. It's not a matter of how old you are.
It's a matter of how old you sound. Take care of your voice. Take care of your instrument. Right? Use it. Develop it. Use it. And you can hold on to that for decades. Again, it's one of the best parts of this business. It's one of the best parts of this business. He found a character in 1969 and ran with that character for 44 years.
Pretty good. Really is. Not how old you are, it's how old you sound. So, uh, again, it's just something that because I've watched so much Scooby Doo, and by the way, I'm not complaining. It's, you know, we've watched much worse things than Scooby Doo. I'm actually fine with it. When he's like, yeah, I'll recommend it.
Like, hey, you wanna watch, uh, you wanna watch Scooby Doo? Otherwise known as Dad Wants to Watch Scooby Doo. Um. So we watch certain things that I'm not as thrilled with, but Scooby Doo, fantastic, love it, except for the episodes with Scrappy, but again, we'll get into that another day. So, uh, hopefully you found that interesting, and I know it's something that kind of jumped out to me, just kind of watching that and seeing his name pop up, and you know, after each of those episodes and movies for such a long period of time, but I think it does, it does do a nice job of kind of crystallizing that idea, that, you know, it's all about the voice, it has nothing to do with what you look like, it has nothing to do with...
With, you know, your age, it's all about your voice. Take care of that voice, and it'll take care of you. Took care of him. So, uh, again, hopefully you found that interesting, and uh, if you do have any topics that you want me to cover, any comments, questions, concerns you have, please let me know. Podcast at voicecoaches.
com is the best way to get in touch with me. Again, that's podcast at voicecoaches. com. Again, the best way is to reach out to me. Again, hopefully everyone is doing well, hopefully everyone is feeling well, hopefully everyone is staying as sane as we possibly can in these times. Certainly we are trying to do just that and hopefully people are taking this time to develop their voice, to work on that.
I know myself personally, I'm working on redoing a little area in my house for a home recording studio setup. We'll talk about that potentially next. That's it for us here from Voice Coaches Radio. Thanks again so much for tuning in. And until next time, so long everyone. Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
Uh, and so, I had something pop up recently. And uh, you know, it think about, uh, about something that we talk about and have talked about here at voice coaches radio. And, and it's something I think it's, it's important and, and the way it kind of, uh, crystallized for me, I, I think might, uh, it might be nice for people.
So, uh, so essentially one of the things that we, that we talk about, one of the benefits of this industry, one of the best things about voiceover is, and, and, and we say this to people all the time, it, it doesn't matter how old you are, it matters how old you sound. Right? Simply speaking. And that's, you know, kind of straightforward enough.
It doesn't matter how old you are. It matters how old you sound. As a voiceover producer, I don't care how old you are. More often than not, I'm not going to know how old you are. Nor am I going to care. Right? I don't care what you look like. I don't care how tall or how short you are. How skinny or how fat you are.
I don't care about any of that. All I care about is what's coming out of those golden pipes. Right? If you sound young, great. As far as I'm concerned, you're young. If you sound old, great. As far as I'm concerned, you're old. That's all that matters, right? What we can do with that voice. So, again, and we say it a lot, it doesn't matter how old you are, it matters how old you sound.
Well, I had that really kind of, uh, come into focus for me, uh, fairly recently. So, uh, as many of you know, I have a four year old son, a little man, Declan. Precocious four year old, as most four year olds happen to be, and, uh, and he's been spending a lot of time, uh, at home in the house, because there's really not much else to do.
Um, you know, obviously during, during this whole thing, he hasn't been able to, to get together with friends as much, we haven't been able to go out in places, so, you know, we've been spending a lot of time at home, and we do, you know, In general, my wife and I do like to limit his screen time as much as we can, uh, but let's be honest.
That has not, uh, that has not always been the case here, uh, during this, uh, this pandemic. And, um, you know, there are times where we're getting a little stir crazy. And so, yes, we probably watch a little more screen time than we might like. But, one of the things, and I don't even remember how, how he came about finding this, but, uh, frankly he controls the, uh, the remote and knows what he's doing for the most part, and, uh, usually it's things that, you know, I watch, and some are better than others, let's put it that way, some are, some are much better than others, but he came across Scooby Doo.
He came across Scooby Doo, and he LOVED it! And, as far as I'm concerned, that is a parenting win for me. He LOVED watching Scooby Doo, and we have watched a LOT of Scooby Doo, uh, over the past, uh, past couple months. Um, and, uh, let me tell you, there is a lot of Scooby Doo to watch. There is a LOT. I mean, we're talking about the, the original Scooby Doo, Where Are You?,
from back in 1969, all the way until, uh, you know, current, there is still current Scooby Doo being, being put out there. Um, you know, and, and, and we, we are watching that. I think the most recent ones we've seen are, um, uh, Guess Who Scooby Doo, in which it has a, uh, a, a special guest star, which is, is interesting, uh, I, I guess, um, having, you know, guest stars in it.
But whatever, that's not the point, that's not the point. Here's the point. The point is, Scooby Doo has been going on forever, seemingly forever. ever. And, you know, currently, and I know they did just put a movie out, uh, I believe it's called Scoob, we have actually, we haven't seen that yet, um, and I'm not sure who does the voice of Scooby Doo in the movie, uh, or I'm sorry, who does the voice of Shaggy rather in the movie, but in general, recently, it's been Matthew Lillard, uh, he was also Scooby or Shaggy in the, um, In the live action movies, but obviously the classic, uh, shaggy has been Casey Kasem.
Casey Kasem did Shaggy Shaggy Rogers. Technically, by the way, I dunno if you know this, his name is Colton Colton Rogers, a k a Shaggy like sc. I'm not very good at it. I, I, I try. Like, Scoob! That's the best I can do. Uh, it works for my son though, so I, I, I will say that. But, Casey Kasem was the voice of, of Shaggy Rogers.
You know, of, of Scooby Doo's, you know, best bud. And, uh, he did that for a long... Now, for those of you who don't watch Scooby Doo religiously, like I do currently, The, the gang, and I quote, Mystery Incorporated, as they're often known, Uh, the gang featuring Fred, and Velma, and Daphne, Uh, and Scooby, and Shaggy, and sometimes Scrappy, Although I'm not a big Scrappy Doo fan, but that's, that's not, that's not the point, I digress.
Um, uh, they are, Teenagers. They're teenagers. They don't act, or sound, or, or, they're, apparently, according to watching many, many hours of this, they're teenagers. And have been teenagers for quite some time. It's funny how that works in cartoons. But, they are teenagers. Now, the first episode, Of Scooby Doo was in the Scooby Doo Where Are You Show, which started in 1969.
Alright, so it started in 1969. Now, Shaggy, Colton Rogers, Shaggy was voiced by Casey Kasem. Now, uh, I think most people know that he did the voice of Shaggy, but casey case him obviously was, you know, he did American Top 40, that's actually where I first heard him, I used to listen to American Top 40 growing up, cause he did that for forever, but he also did the voice of Shaggy seemingly forever.
So he started out as the first voice of Shaggy Rogers in 1969, he was 37 years old at the time, so he was 37 years old when he first portrayed a quote unquote teenage Shaggy. Shaggy. Okay, like I said, doesn't matter how old you are, matters how old you sound. However, what's amazing is that he then continued to voice Shaggy throughout the decades, culminating with his final appearance as Shaggy in Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated, which was, um, Another iteration of the show.
He was only on for about five episodes or so. He had basically retired at that point, but that came out in 2013. One year prior to his passing. At that point, he was still portraying a teenage Shaggy, and he was 81 years old. He was 81 years old. He does done hundreds, hundreds Of episodes of television shows, like I said, different iterations of those television shows with Scooby Doo involved.
He has done multiple, uh, dozens of movies, uh, where he has portrayed Shaggy. But he last portrayed him when he was 81 years old. Over the course of 44 years, he portrayed... A teenager, starting when he was 37, finishing when he was 81. Like I said, it doesn't matter how old you are. It matters how old you sound.
And Shaggy still sounded like as much of a teenager as he ever did, in 2013 when being voiced by an 81 year old. Casey Kasem as he did back in 1969 when he was voiced by a 37 year old Casey Kasem So it goes to show and and we say it all the time It doesn't matter how old you are matters how old you sound it matters How well you take care of your voice it matters, you know how you're able to be consistent in that voice He was consistently shaggy and I I and and listen i've done research on this mostly because i've watched a ton of it recently but I I I I challenge you to, to listen to him as Shaggy in 2013 and listen to him as Shaggy in 1969 and hear the difference.
There really isn't any. He was that consistent with it for 44 years. So a tip of the cap to Casey Casso, uh, who portrayed Colton Rogers, a k a Shaggy like SC for 44 years, starting when he was 37, finishing when he was 81, portraying. So, for those of you who think, Oh, I don't know, I can only play people who are my age.
No, you can't. People who are thinking, Well, you know, I have a very young sounding voice, I'm only going to be able to do young characters. No, not necessarily. People who are thinking, Oh, you know what, my, um, I'm older, I'm only going to be able to do, you know, older sounds. No, none of that is true. It's not a matter of how old you are.
It's a matter of how old you sound. Take care of your voice. Take care of your instrument. Right? Use it. Develop it. Use it. And you can hold on to that for decades. Again, it's one of the best parts of this business. It's one of the best parts of this business. He found a character in 1969 and ran with that character for 44 years.
Pretty good. Really is. Not how old you are, it's how old you sound. So, uh, again, it's just something that because I've watched so much Scooby Doo, and by the way, I'm not complaining. It's, you know, we've watched much worse things than Scooby Doo. I'm actually fine with it. When he's like, yeah, I'll recommend it.
Like, hey, you wanna watch, uh, you wanna watch Scooby Doo? Otherwise known as Dad Wants to Watch Scooby Doo. Um. So we watch certain things that I'm not as thrilled with, but Scooby Doo, fantastic, love it, except for the episodes with Scrappy, but again, we'll get into that another day. So, uh, hopefully you found that interesting, and I know it's something that kind of jumped out to me, just kind of watching that and seeing his name pop up, and you know, after each of those episodes and movies for such a long period of time, but I think it does, it does do a nice job of kind of crystallizing that idea, that, you know, it's all about the voice, it has nothing to do with what you look like, it has nothing to do with...
With, you know, your age, it's all about your voice. Take care of that voice, and it'll take care of you. Took care of him. So, uh, again, hopefully you found that interesting, and uh, if you do have any topics that you want me to cover, any comments, questions, concerns you have, please let me know. Podcast at voicecoaches.
com is the best way to get in touch with me. Again, that's podcast at voicecoaches. com. Again, the best way is to reach out to me. Again, hopefully everyone is doing well, hopefully everyone is feeling well, hopefully everyone is staying as sane as we possibly can in these times. Certainly we are trying to do just that and hopefully people are taking this time to develop their voice, to work on that.
I know myself personally, I'm working on redoing a little area in my house for a home recording studio setup. We'll talk about that potentially next. That's it for us here from Voice Coaches Radio. Thanks again so much for tuning in. And until next time, so long everyone. Visit voicecoaches. com for more voiceover news and information.
Voice Coaches producer Josh discusses a golden rules of voice over work. Casting professionals make decisions based on what they hear versus your actual age.
