As we return after a Christmas break to our Ken R. jingle sampler series, we have something slightly different than the last three. The previous samplers were all material from PAMS; this one takes us on a trip around other jingle production houses – material from Pepper Tanner, Heller, and Sande & Greene to name but three. A shame perhaps that there isn’t more context included, but this is still 55 minutes of awesomeness.

Not PAMS Sampler (85MB ZIP, password: kenr)

As for my favourites, it isn’t entire tracks this time, but just two jingles I want to single out. Firstly, Wonderful Town, Wonderful People from Richard Ullman and Associates – I thought this was a PAMS jingle for years, and I think it gives PAMS’s My Home Town a run for its money:

And secondly, from Heller – well, one of the most bizarre radio jingles I think I’ve ever heard…

Jingle compilation by Ken R. Deutsch.

Welcome to the second of our Ken R jingle sampler series – my mission to get these things listened to by a wider audience. This one is simply called PAMS Sampler 806; the name may be nondescript, but this is one of my favourites:

PAMS Sampler 806 (69MB ZIP, password: kenr)

All the tracks are brilliant, but here are a few of the best. It kicks off with a montage of Series 14-44 – for background, PAMS released numbered demo packages of jingles throughout its life, which stations would listen to and choose which cuts to be resung for their station. This montage is a great trawl through American radio between 1960 and 1973:

[Read more →]

“Radio jingles: they’re those short, catchy songs that tell you the name of the station you’re listening to. Listeners often think that the jingles are made right at the station, or by a local band. But broadcast professionals know that creating effective jingles requires the services of a unique kind of production company. Today, artfully crafted pieces of music which sing the praises of a station’s “call letters” are an accepted part of most radio formats. These jingles are heard throughout the world, but there are only a small number of companies responsible for making them. Most of the work is done in Dallas, Texas, where the radio jingle industry began with a company called PAMS.”

– Jonathan M. Wolfert, History of Jingles and PAMS

Some day, I will write a long and tedious article as to why I love jingles so much. Today is not that day. This is the fun stuff.

[Read more →]