'Sound' check

Not everyone gets a chance before Simon, Randy and Paula to prove they're a singing sensation.

Some end up auditioning in front of fraudulent marketers eager to squeeze wannabes for their very last buck.

So goes "Great World of Sound," a terrific dramedy which came out on DVD Feb. 5. Pat Healy and Kene Holliday star as two "record producers" with an upstart label which smells fishier than a pyramid-scheme infomercial. They travel to small towns to audition musicians, bringing fake gold records with them to decorate the cheap hotels that double as their interview rooms. All the singers have to do is pay 30 percent of the recording costs, up front, and they're on their way to fame and fortune.

I'm a sucker for salesmen stories -- my father sold cars years ago and the sales pitch concept intrigues me. But "Sound" gives us much more, from the devilishly clever bosses who send the main characters on the road with one-way plane tickets to Holliday himself, who in a just world would have garnered some acting awards for his tremendous work here.

And if Holliday looks familiar, it's because he's been working for decades in Hollywood - I remember him in the 1970s sitcom "Carter Country," but he's also been a "Matlock" regular.

Healy, terminally bland but still effective, is the soul of the film, but it's never quite clear how big his heart really is.

"Great World of Sound" offers up some amusing auditions, but it's never as contrived as those "American Idol" snippets where Simon brings the singers down to size.

Director Craig Zobel once worked in the reality show trenches, so he has a clear understanding for people willing to shove common sense aside for a chance at glory.

(Photo: Kene Holliday and Pat Healy hit the road in "Great World of Sound.")