Viking At 25
Originally posted on my normal blog back in April, here's my look back on Viking's jingles over the last 25 years.
Morning.
Or maybe this would be a better way of putting it.
Yes, 25 years ago on the 17th of April 1984, Viking Radio launched onto the airwaves of East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire as the area's first commercial radio station.
The first record played after that absolutely stunning station theme was "Celebration" by Kool and The Gang and the line up at the launch included Dave Fewster, Les Smith, and Steve King who went onto become one of the senior people at the Metro Radio group who would go on to own the station.
I haven't actually been able to hear what they've been doing up in Hull this morning, but I thought it would be ideal to post a selection of their jingles from over the last quarter of a century (if that's a good way to put it).
The first jingle package was produced by Selby based company Cath Baxter Commercials and featured the familiar voices of Steve Butler and Sheila Gott who had sung on the Alfasound jingle packages, but in terms of musical clarity, these had a more fuller sound as proved by that fantastic opening theme which must have inspired Chris Moyles in some way or other.
1984 Jingles - Cath Baxter Commercials
It's quite lengthy but there are some stunners on there such as the news and sport themes, the latter being a slightly faster version of the main theme. There's also the jingle used for snow reports about 7 minutes in which in spite of being rather repetetive is actually rather comforting to listen to.
And near the end there's a slower version of the theme played at closedown.
With the station's popularity increasing, Carl Kingston decided to expand on the station sound by ordering a set of liners from US voiceover artist John Quincy.
The session can be heard here and it gives an idea to the non-radio people that it can be quite a long wounded job, although John's more or less a pro knowing how to read the lines in different manners.
1986 saw the station move from 102.7 on FM to 96.9 where it has stayed ever since. This meant a new jingle package but Cath Baxter Commercials had folded by this time although her "Christmas Line" jingle could still be heard on
Yorkshire Television well into the 90s.
The station went to Manchester based company LBS for their second jingle package which was more contemporary (for the time) and uptempo if a bit synthy.
Steve Butler was once again helping out on vocals and it wasn't too bad a package.
1986 Jingles - LBS
Notice a few dual cuts for Pennine within the selection as by this time the IBA had started to allow mergers between radio stations in order to gain more money. Viking had started to share overnight programmes with Pennine Radio in Bradford and a year later they acquired Radio Hallam in Sheffield to form the Yorkshire Radio Network.
This lead to another jingle package, this time by Alfasound that was syndicated on all three stations with versions done individually and for shared programmes.
Viking's on air melody logo changed to the same as Pennine's which they'd used since 1979 and this continued for a few years.
In 1988 they brought another jingle package following on from the same theme which had a larger and stronger selection of cuts that can be heard below.
1988 Jingles - Alfasound
Later in the year the station split frequencies with Viking Radio becoming Viking FM on 96.9. This meant a resing of the previous package as well as some new cuts that can be heard around 56 seconds in with some stunning jock IDs at about 1:30.
1988 Jingles-Viking FM - Alfasound
On 1161 (that's 'Double One Six One) AM it became Viking Gold broadcasting continuous oldies and the station brought a selection of classic PAMS jingles previously used on Radio London back in the 1960s, in the line of many local AM stations wanting to recapture the magic of the pirate stations.
1988 Jingles-Viking Gold - PAMS
May 1989 saw Radio Hallam and Pennine Radio split their frequencies and all three stations brought their first JAM package with Alfasound vocals as the Sale based company had just become the UK license for JAM Creative Productions.
The JAM jingles were from a package called "Non Stop Power" as done for WPLJ-Power 95 in New York and along with the JAM jingles were new custom cuts from Alfasound as well as resung versions of the previous package which the other stations had started using.
1989 Jingles - Alfasound/JAM Creative Productions
Listen out for the jock IDs at 0.51 with the first one being Adrian Green now known as Sandy Beech who runs top imaging company Music 4 producing the current jingles for Chris Moyles.
The other's for some fella called Jon Culshaw.
On AM they started sharing programmes with the other stations in the network under the name "Classic Gold" with further resings of PAMS jingles but I'll save them for another post about the Yorkshire stations overall.
In the early 90s the network was abandoned and Viking brought their first fully fledged JAM package which was a resing of the "KIIS 90" package as used by
Aire FM in Leeds.
There's also a couple of cuts from "Xyrock" including the news ID near the end.
1992 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions
Two years later the station returned to JAM in time for their 10th anniversary which was a fresher slightly urban sounding package containing cuts from the impressive "Northwave" package and "The Beat 92". There's also the top of the hour from "Quick Qs" as used on Key 103 in Manchester around the same time.
1994 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions
Two years later they went back again this time for a package consisting of the "Master Mix" and "Uni-Que" packages. The former included a few rather fun soundalikes such as Ace of Base and Whitney Houston.
1996 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions
With regards to "Uni-Que" neighbouring station Lincs FM had cuts from the same package at the same time albeit with UK vocals.
Coincidentally their breakfast presenter Steve Jordan went on to join Viking around this time.
The late 90s into the early 00s saw an absence of sung jingles on Viking's airwaves, save for the ones commisioned by Breakfast presenter Simon Hirst, who being one of the biggest jingle anoraks commisioned a a couple of UK sung jingles from "The Best Show" previously used by Radio 1.
Hirsty's Morning Glory 2001
To be fair I doubt the Dallas singers would be able to give conviction to lyrics about showing your backside in a well known supermarket.
Jingles eventually returned to Viking on a fully fledged basis in 2004 with a custom package by Reelworld, which isn't reccomended for those who dislike jingles with what they percieve to be "screeching solos" and "too much echo".
2004 Jingles - Reelworld Productions
Two years later they went back to Dallas for a more tuneful custom package by TM Century with quite a few nice cuts, especially the breakfast one towards the end.
And it should be pointed out that it's a completely different Sam And Mark who presented breakfast back then as opposed to the failed pop duo/double act of two straight men.
2006 Jingles - TM Century
The jingles are currently being used nearer my neck of the woods on KMFM including that rather dodgy traffic jingle near the end.
My personal opinion is that any jingle of that type with the stations logo played on car horns is tired and tacky, with the possible exception of the one from Radio 1's 1990 custom package.
However when hearing it at 5 years old I didn't realise that it was done to the tune of the Radio 1 musical logo.
Anyway, the station had a few additional cuts in 2007 including a contest bed towards the end where you can tell whoever produced it has spent a night on Garage Band.
And that pretty much brings us up to date where in 2008 the station went to home soils for the next package as produced by Wise Buddah in London.
2008 Jingles - Wise Buddah
That more or less covers the majority of Viking's history through jingles although I'm certain that a lot of residents from the Hull area will have even stronger memories of the station.
Credit to David Hemsley, Dan James, Mark Hodgkinson, David Barras,
Dave Nightingale, and Simon Hirst.
News=Nightmares?
News identification jingles have always been an essential part of a radio station's jingle package.
However when it comes to grabbing the listeners attention, I reckon some of them went a bit too far resulting in rather traumatic consequences on a personal level, mainly because of the sudden transition from a light hearted show to a very serious news bulletin as was the case on many a UK station during the 1980s.
I know it has a place in people's hearts but the worst one for me had to be Radio 1's during the 80s.
There were several variants of course to coincide with changes in the melody logo, but this one from 1982 pretty much sums it up.
I don't actually remember hearing this or any of Radio 1's sung news intros on air at the time, having only started listening when the 1990 package was introduced by a weird coincidence, but having heard audio of it from airchecks, it has resulted in rather bad incidents thinking about at night, and it was what partly resulted in me going rather cranky in August 2007.
The jingle has all the elements of how not to do a news jingle, from the timpani at the beginning, the dodgy synth tune, and having a sung vocal.
I know it did it's job on the station for almost 15 years but for me I have to agree with what Rod McKenzie at Newsbeat would say about it now.
That's not to say commercial radio were any better.
During the early to mid 80s, several stations had their own rather creepy news intros that I would not want to hear when least expected in the middle of the night.
Here's just a few of them
ILR News Intros (Early 80s)
For those unfamiliar with the idents, they're for stations such as Radio Hallam in 1982, Radio 210 in 1980, Wiltshire Radio in 1982, Radio Victory in 1980 with the Pompey Chimes melody, and Mercia Sound in 1986.
The infamous Radio City news intro at the end was actually composed in 1974
by Gerry Marsden with the vocal performed by Madaleine Bell and became a familiar sound to Liverpudlians for 15 years despite several different jingle packages.
The main reason I have a rather nervous disposition with the above examples is because of them proceeding a stern voiced IRN newsreader, adding to the sinister nature.
Unless someone else knows otherwise, only one commercial station actually had "IRN" sung in their news intro which was Capital Radio back in 1984.
The only other station overall was Parkside Hospital Radio in London, back in 1989 with a resing of this classic PAMS jingle.
A couple of news intros from the latter half of the decade fall into the category of "authorative but not too sinister" which were Capital Radio in 1987 and Southern Sound in 1989 both featuring the voice of Michael Jayston AKA "The Valeyard" in Doctor Who.
Capital/Southern News Intros - Late 80s
By the early 90s many commercial stations on FM had turned into American influenced pop formats with Dallas sung jingles and the majority of news intros by this time had turned into more lively but positioning top of hour IDs identifying the station with pride and leading nicely into the bulletin.
Examples from many stations both Local and National can be heard below.
90s And Onwards News Intros
Some of my favourites include the Key 103 intro from 1993 voiced by Brian James , the one for Essex FM at the beginning from 1996 and the Eagle from 1999 which goes to show that there's nothing wrong with a sung news jingle, provided that it doesn't have the word "news" sung in it as I find that innapropriate for some reason.
The instrumental ones work well too such as Invicta FM's from 1993, the Buzz FM top of hour also used on Jazz FM for the second jingle package in 1992 which sounds rather like a demo tune on a Casio, and the current one for Jazz FM on DAB which has to be my favourite news intro currently on a UK station.
It makes a change from the rather bland sweepers and drones that dominate several other stations although when it comes to news jingles overall they need to stand out without making the listener stand out of their skin.
Just my own thoughts...
Thanks to David Barras, Aston McNeil, Dave Nightingale, Sean Saunders, Christian Spooner, Stacey Harris, David Furness, and Sean Martin for various audio and background info.
BBC Local's Best
BBC Local Radio jingles aren't normally the first thing that come to mind when it comes to my perspective on radio jingles but this post will hopefully dispose of that idea with a selection of my favourite jingles used on various stations from both the UK and Dallas.
First of all is a package by Alfasound for BBC Radio Lincolnshire produced in the late 80s and based around the folk song "The Lincolnshire Poacher.
BBC Radio Lincolnshire 1987 Jingles - Alfasound
A really strong set of IDs making good use of the melody from the original song with clever variations.
The stand out cut has to be the one promoting television viewing at 1.58 which makes use of both the YTV and Thames jingles within the intro.
What many radio pros would consider to be a no go area with regards of using radio to promote it's more superior sister medium.
Staying along the same theme and era, a custom package by Alfasound for BBC Radio Sussex consisting of instrumental jingles based on the tune
"Sussex By The Sea".
BBC Radio Sussex 1987 Jingles - Alfasound
The transitional jingles are done really well as are the ones for different musical genres with the standout being the religious one at 4.38 using synth choir voices.
The next one's quite a rarity and comes courtesy of Mark Prosser who originally posted these gems on Jinglemad.
The BBC Radio Merseyside jingles from the early 80s by JAM and William B Tanner probably stood out from the rest at the time and the JAM ones in particular have to be one of the best resings I have heard of the "Special Touch" package.
The cuts were well chosen as well, considering BBC Radio 2 had a few cuts from the same package for the 1982 composite that weren't of course used for Radio Merseyside.
BBC Radio Merseyside 1983 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions/William B Tanner
Another example of a superb US resing has to be the Thames Valley FM package which was a short lived BBC Local station for Berkshire.
The jingles were resung from the TM WBZ custom pacakge and the melody logo was later adapted for BBC Radio Berkshire when the station changed it's name.
BBC Thames Valley FM 1996 Jingles - TM Century
Returning northbound, a short selection of cuts for BBC GMR in Manchester back in 1988 when the station had rebranded from Radio Manchester.
The cuts feature an early sighting of a female vocalist who in less than a year would be taking her voice "all around the world" or so to say.
BBC GMR 1988 Jingles - Alfasound
Moving onwards, the 1990 package for BBC Radio Leeds as produced by JAM consiting mainly of cuts from the "We Talk New York" package but also contains some superb extended cuts from the rare "You'll Like Our Style" package for WABC in 1981, and a few cuts near the end from "Good Time Radio".
BBC Radio Leeds 1990 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions
Len Groat at GEM AM was inspired by the resing of the cut at to do his own version for the station not long after this package first aired.
I've also heard a story that the other cut from the WABC package with the lyrics "A day for just relaxing" was almost banned as people thought it was blasphemous when played out on a Sunday morning.
Finally, if any BBC Local Station had the best jingles, it was Radio Newcastle in the late 80s into the 90s.
The first set from 1989 consists mainly of cuts from "Non Stop Power" but also contains a superb resing of "Omni-Trax" cut 1 at 1.29 and a few resings for "We Talk New York", as heard above for Radio Leeds.
BBC Radio Newcastle 1989 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions
They returned for some additional cuts in 1990 conisting of more cuts from "Omni-Trax" as well as some really nice ones from the "Magic Music 6" package which Radio 2 didn't happen to use at the same time as the other "Magic Music" cuts.
BBC Radio Newcastle 1990 Add Ons - JAM Creative Productions
A year later they went to TM Century for their follow up package which was just as superb although I only have a brief selection that can be heard below.
I especially love the "PLJ 91" top of hour, and the Jonathan Morrell breakfast jingle from the Y98-FM package.
BBC Radio Newcastle 1991 Jingles - TM Century
If anyone has any more, they would be more than welcome.
Overall it more or less goes to show that at one time or other, BBC Local Radio has had plenty of superb packages even if not on a nationwide scale.
Thanks to Dave Nightingale, Neal Bowden, David Hemsley, David Barras, Nicky Schiller, Chris Stevens and Mark Prosser.
Radio Tees/TFM
Still in the North East, I thought it would be more than appropriate to write a Jingle Jaunt on the station for North Yorkshire and the Darlington area.
I'm not too much of an expert on the station itself but this is a jingle site of course so I'll start it off with the station's first jingle package by EMIson, used from it's launch in 1975.
1975 Jingles - EMIson
Personally it's not the most inspiring of packages with all the cuts based around the same theme, the chord structure of which bares quite a resemblance to the tune "Higher And Higher.
The various News and information jingles from the package can be heard here.
A second package from EMIson came in 1977 with a livelier set of cuts but still retaining the lesser polished production values that EMIson were known for.
1977 Jingles - EMIson
The Selby based Cath Baxter Commercials was approached to write the following jingle package way onto the air in the late 70s/early 80s.
I'm not sure if these are from 1979 or 1981 but I'm pretty certain someone from the North East reading this will correct me.
Early 80s Jingles - Cath Baxter
One such fan of the jingles was then Scarborough resident David Hemsley who actually wrote into one of the presenters requesting three of them to be played in the "My Top 3" feature, including the rather picturesque weather jingle based around the song "Bobby Shaftoe".
It can be heard along with the news themes here.
1983 saw another package which was even better with superb orchestration and delightful arrangements and vocals.
1983 Jingles - Cath Baxter
It's also worth posting this clip of the man who now broadcasts to a national audience at "The Best Time Of The Day", that being Alex Lester from 1984.
Following the station's acquistion by Metro Radio in the mid 80s, the jingles took a different more rapid sound courtesy of Alfasound, in comparison to the rather rural orchestral jingles from Cath Baxter.
The package from 1987 couldn't be more different from the above examples including a few cuts making use of the sound of the contestant's buzzer from Catchphrase.
1987 Jingles - Alfasound
In 1988 along with Metro the station split frequencies although Radio Tees decided to relaunch altogether by rebranding as TFM.
The jingles took on an even more pacier sound with some weird ambient effects thrown in.
I never understood why they referred to the frequency as "96-60" although that's possibly how it read on digital car radios in the days before RDS.
TFM 1988 Jingles - Alfasound
A set of Christmas jingles came at the end of the year in a similar style but this time with US vocals.
TFM 1988 Xmas Jingles - Alfasound
Into the 90s and the station brought it's first JAM package which was a resing of the popular package "Breakthrough" also used by Red Rose Rock FM.
TFM 1990 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions
Accompanying the jingles were a set of sweepers voiced by John Wells.
In 1992 there was another package also containing cuts from Breakthrough but with a different melody logo as well as cuts from "Brite And Sunny" and "Power Up".
TFM 1992 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions
A couple of years later TFM brought another JAM package consisting mainly of cuts from the "Energy" package custom produced for NRJ in France.
Again it's pretty rare to get hold of but here's a selection from the studio carts courtesy of David Barras.
TFM 1993/94 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions
In 1995 the station went to MPT, a subsidary of TM Century and Tom Merriman for a resing of their KIIS FM package which sounded pretty slick on air.
The selection below was orginally posted by Neal Bowden on Jinglemad.
TFM 1995 Jingles - MPT
The package made a brief apperance in the demo for the station's current set of jingles by the TM Studios and they continue to broadcast under the name TFM Radio.
The demo itself can be heard here via the TM website.
Thanks of course to David Hemsley, David Barras, Neal Bowden, and Simon Hirst for all the usual stuff.
Metro Radio
This has been one I've been looking forward to for a long time, so let's get straight to it and head back 35 years to the Newcastle station's first jingle package as produced by PAMS in Dallas, which was quite a rarity on commercial radio in those days.
1974 Jingles - PAMS Productions
These were commissioned by presenter Len Groat who was a massive fan of jingles from Dallas and brought some of the finest to Metro Radio. I particularly like the cuts at the beginning, and the shouts for the presenters at around 50 seconds in.
And not forgetting the main theme as taken from the Solid Rock 2 package by PAMS, which Alfasound later reworked for Len at GEM AM, 14 years later.
I'd go as far as saying that these were PAMS jingles at their finest and I definitely prefer them to the ones that were dominant on the pirates in the 1960s.
The Musicians Union on the other hand weren't so impressed and Metro's following package in around 1977 came from British companies EMIson and YAMCO, which once again stood for "Yer Actual Music Company".
The jingles themselves, also used on Beacon Radio were definitely inferior to those in Dallas with some of the cuts being rather dodgy doppelgangers of JAM tracks.
1977 Jingles - EMIson/YAMCO
It's also worth mentioning this cut based around the song "Am I The Same Girl" by either Dusty or Swing Out Sister depending on your generation.
Quite a few jingle fans included that in their CD mixes for Jingle Day 4 in 2005, possibly because the tune had recently been resurfaced by Joss Stone.
We'll fast forward just about a decade later to the mid 80s where Metro had already brought a package from Alfasound which is pretty rare and I don't know of anyone who has a polished copy.
In 1986 the station brought another custom from the clocktower which was vibrant fast paced package with a predominantly male vocal group along the theme of "More Music Metro".
1986 Jingles - Alfasound
A really strong package and there was to be more of the same throughout the rest of the decade.
With the IBA relaxing rules on ownership and sponsorship, Metro was allowed to acquire neighbouring station Radio Tees in Stockton and Darlington, and they comissioned a joint package featuring dual cuts for both stations and individual jingles.
Metro And Tees 1987 Jingles - Alfasound
Further additions came in the same year including presenter cuts for Mark Goodier shortly before he joined Radio 1, and Clive Warren who shortly transferred to television, who's cut can be heard at the end in a more than phonetic manner.
1987 Add Ons - Alfasound
In 1988 the station split frequencies with more cuts introduced on FM based around then current chart soundalikes such as The Pet Shop Boys and Michael Jackson.
There's even a vintage PAMS cut in there from the "Fun Vibrations" series.
1988 Jingles - Alfasound/PAMS
Over on AM, Metro and Tees merged to form a new oldies station by the name of Great North Radio which was also abbreviated as GNR. This resulted in a custom package from Alfasound containing Dallas vocals with some stunning female solos adding to the sugary style.
Some of the beds sound very similar to what you would find on an album by The RAH Band.
GNR 1988 Jingles - Alfasound
The package was later resung for the Yorkshire Radio Network's "Classic Gold" that can be heard on the YRN blog post.
In 1990 the main station had fully become Metro FM and brought it's first fully fledged US sung package after over 15 years when Alfasound brought the rights to JAM jingles for the UK.
This set was rather big containing resings of not just the ever popular "Turbo Z" but also cuts from "Hot KIIS", "Laser Image" and "Warp Factor" including cuts that had been used on Radio 1 earlier in the 80s.
Metro FM 1990 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions
More of the same followed in 1991 when an additional set of jingles containing cuts from "New York Fan", "KIIS 90" and "Z Force" amongst other packages were brought in.
Metro FM 1991 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions
GNR also brought a new set of JAM jingles containing cuts from the also heavily resung "2 Kool" package and a cut from the otherwise underused "Rock Connection" package as well as a few Christmas cuts from the KVIL "A Touch Of Christmas" set.
GNR 1992 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions
1994 saw Metro FM go even further when they brought their own custom JAM package in time for their 20th birthday.
This was a very polished and brilliantly sung package with some superb music tracks giving a very strong and recognisable melody logo.
You could say it gave me a few ideas.
Here it is and it's quite a big one.
Metro FM 1994 Custom "Metroline" - JAM Creative Productions
Some of the stand out cuts include the superb beds for concert promotions and the roadshow but my overall highlight has to be what I'd consider to be the best presenter ID jingles I have heard from a JAM package that can be heard at 3.35.
So how about a few more? Including some shotgun versions.
In 1997 the station decided to take things to the next level by commisioning a custom package by ALFA with vocals recorded in Los Angeles. It wasn't as bold as the previous package but nontheless a sign of continuing progression.
1997 Demo - "LA Connection"
Sadly it was to be one of ALFA's final custom packages before they went into liquidation.
At the turn of the millennium Metro reverted it's name back to Metro Radio but followed in the lines of many stations by resorting to sweepers, although jingles returned around 2003 in the form of a package from Reelworld.
Some of the sweepers were amusing, such as these examples for The Brian Moore Breakfast Show in 2001.
GNR in 1998 relaunched as Magic on 1170 and 1152 AM where the first record was "We Built This City" by Starship. They also had a jingle package consisting of JAM's "Master Mix" and "Evolver" packages.
Magic 1152/1170 1998 Jingles - JAM Creative Productions
The station later went on to using the Steve England custom package for the network in 2003.
Overall with 35 years to it's bow, Metro has definitely had a strong history of radio IDs out of any UK commercial radio station.
Thanks of course to David Barras, Neal Bowden, David Furness, Dave Nightingale, Graham Collins, Aston McNeil, Simon Hirst, and Len Groat for various audio and extra info.
The Stateside Jaunt
A slightly different sort of blog post as this one's simply a selection of my favourite US station packages and resings, as it would be more than appropriate to make a visit to the country where the best jingles were made.
First of all, a package for America's first ever all-80s station WXXY with a wide and unpredictable selection of classic JAM cuts as chosen by the stations then programme director and self confessed jingle freak Jeffrey T Mason.
WXXY-1998-1999 - JAM Creative Productions
I really love the KDWB cuts at 2.25 and unsurprisingly I brought my own version of the first cut as heard here. Not as good as the above I reckon.
According to Jeffrey himself, Jon Wolfert had to re-digitise the KDWB masters as they apparently hadn't been used for well over 10 years, although Star FM in Slough used a couple of cuts for their launch package in 1993.
With many more stations following in the footsteps of WXXY, JAM released a demo CD by the name of "Authentic 80s JAM" which included even rarer packages such as "Future Flow" and "Omni-Trax".
It's also worth mentioning the newer custom cuts including the TOH ID near the end which ended up being demoed for 93-DRQ on the JAM pacakge "Hot Wired".
Moving onto the next selection, and any jingle fan known to grace my drunken presence will know I'm a big fan of JAM's KIIS packages especially "Fresh KIIS".
That and the earlier packages "Outstanding" and "Hot KIIS" can be heard in this composite package for KUUL-Kool FM, where the final two cuts happen to be the ones I had resung back in 2005.
Kool FM Composite Package - JAM Creative Productions
Staying on the theme of KIIS comes this resing of my favourite TM Century custom for the station "Southern California's KIIS" resung for WRZE-The Rose.
Whilst the vocals are superb, the PD made a mistake not going for my favourite cuts from the package such as the slow to fast transition and the Rick Dees cut.
It does contain the top of the hour which composer Bruce Upchurch wrote as a nod to his similar sounding one from Hot KIIS as featured at the end of the
Kool FM package.
WRZE-The Rose - TM Century
The next offering is a rather rare custom package by JAM done back around 1982 for the syndicated station "Super Radio" taken by various stations across the US and featuring established DJs such as Dan Ingram, Ron Lundy, and Dick Purdon amongst others.
This was a superb set of jingles in terms of music arrangement, and featured a female falsetto scatting in a style very similar to the classic PAMS jingles.
It may have even been the same vocalist from the golden era.
If you're wondering why some of the jingles have endings which fade, it was designed for each individual station to add their own ending.
The package itself later went onto be demoed for WGBB as "Good Time Radio" and the cuts that did fade into an orchestral drone were resolved with proper endings.
Super Radio Custom Package - JAM Creative Prodcutions
The following item is quite a rarity, originally posted on Jinglemad from the archives of Jeffrey T. Mason. That being a demo by Otis Connor Productions called "Drake 89" designed for stations broadcasting under an oldies format.
The cuts themselves contain superb orchestration and key changes, especially on the first one and I'd say they're more fuller and uplifting than any of JAM's Oldies, or Soft AC packages which many will agree is a bold statement to make.
Here it is.
Drake 89 - Otis Connor
Last of all is another JAM package from the 80s for KRBE-Power 104 in Houston, resung from the package "Into The Music", written originally for both
WPLJ in New York, and Radio 1.
KRBE-"Into The Music" - JAM Creative Productions
I love how the Power 104 melody logo has been inserted into the cuts and it works really well making them sound stronger than on the original demo for WPLJ.
Although around this time, the New York station had adapted the "Power 95" brand on-air and resung the jingles with the same melody logo as used in the KRBE package so I'm guessing that someone at the station heard the Power 95 version before adpating it for Power 104.
All the same it's a superb package.
I'm certain I'll post a few more US packages on a later post.
In the meantime thanks to Jeffrey T Mason, Ian Arnold, and David Barras for various audio and info, and most importantly sharing the packages from their collection.
And if anyone wants to hear anything from most of the montages on the site
as a single cut, drop me a line in your preferred method.
