Did you ever notice how much Tom Waits sounds like Cookie Monster? (Or vice versa, since Waits was playing in an R&B/soul band called The Systems by 1965, and Cookie Monster wasn't introduced to the world until 1969.) Well, someone did, and here's their mash-up of the two, with Mr. Monster singing Waits's "God's Away on Business." more ›

America, we did it! The homeless man that was interviewed by a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch—Brooklyn Native Ted Williams, the man with the golden voice—now has a slew of job opportunities, and will be in New York later today to make at least one big television appearance. more ›

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, this man (now in Ohio) says when he was 14-years-old he went to meet a famous local NY radio announcer, and after that began to develop his voice so that he too could be on the radio one day. Now Ted Williams has got the perfect radio voice (really!) but after a bad run with drugs and alcohol, he's found himself homeless. Williams is now two years clean, and can be found standing on the side of the road advertising his perfect voice to passerby—he hopes to get a job where he can showcase it. Listen below—let's get this guy back to New York and get him a job! Howard Stern, are you listening? more ›

What happens on late-night, drunken subway rides? One man recently heard voices... like, those typically garbled announcements, yet allegedly crystal clear. Upon wondering about the humans behind the familiar voices, he fell down a rabbit hole online and came out with a pretty thorough article on the subterranean sounds. more ›

Do you have a silky-smooth voice that sounds great filtered through static, feedback, and screeching train brakes? Then this could be your big, um, break: NYC Transit has allocated funds to expand their Dedicated Announcers Program, which broadcasts announcements through individual sections of the subway system containing between four and 22 stations. And the subway's customer communications director, Termaine Garden, actually seems to believe these announcements are intelligible: "We look for professional voices to make professional sounding announcements. Our goal is perfection." A noble pursuit, but how about a little mediocrity first—with all the garbled static, most of these announcements make as much sense as a Sonic Youth feedback jam. Currently 33 announcers cover 15 posts throughout the system, and 14 more are going to be hired soon. After the Daily News reported on the "elite group" yesterday, some readers even showed up at the MTA building to try auditioning. One hopeful, Anthony Paterson, a 55-year-old unemployed chauffeur from Long Island, explained, "I've been told by many people I have great voice." We hope he gets it, and look forward to not hearing a word he's saying. more ›

Judging from Get Smart’s first remarkably unfunny trailer, you might assume this $80 million remake of the late-‘60s sitcom, starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway and Alan Arkin, would be a guaranteed flop, but it’s actually getting some decent reviews. (It’s a mixed bag, of course.) The Village Voice’s avant garde film buff J. Hoberman, of all people, deems it a “pleasant surprise… an all-purpose (and often quite funny) goofball action comedy.” more ›

After last year’s stuffy exile at NYU’s Skirball Center, the Village Voice Obie Awards were back at the raucous, open-bar Webster Hall – or rather the Ritz, as Stew, co-creator of the phenomenal Broadway rock musical Passing Strange recalled. For over fifty years, the Obies have honored the best of Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway theater; coming on the heels of last week's Tony nominee announcement, the awards serve as a pointed reminder that the most exciting theater usually happens far away from the big stages in Times Square. more ›