From: R&B on 29 May 2010 01:28 ....in the 1950s and 1960s...and listened to top 40 radio on AM... (And yeah, there's no golf content here. But there's no politics or hateful ranting, either.) Today a friend sent me a montage of old radio jingles from WLS in Chicago, one of the nation's biggest stations, and a legendary top 40 station from the '50s through the first part of the '80s, when musicradio on AM pretty much died in favor of news and talk, as music radio had migrated by then to FM. This jingle montage contained some very early WLS jingles. For those who don't know, from the 1950s until, well, really, now, the vast majority of radio station jingles have been cut in Dallas at one of the big jingle houses -- most likely at either a company called PAMS of Dallas (they shut down operations in the '80s) or TM Productions (now TM/Century) or JAM Productions (which bought the PAMS library several years ago). (There's also a company called Reel Radio out of Seattle that's getting a lot of this work nowadays.) I've never been much of a fan of the Dallas jingle sound. I always thought the Dallas singers had a nasaly twang that made their jingles...well...suck. (And my opinion didn't win me much favor in the 25 years I worked in Dallas radio.) No, I felt that the best radio station jingles in history came from the LA-based Johnny Mann Singers, who performed the legendary Drake jingles of the 1960s on stations like KHJ/Los Angeles, KFRC/San Francisco, WRKO/Boston, WHBQ/Memphis, KGB/San Diego, WOR-FM/New York and KAKC/Tulsa. (Do a YouTube search for "Drake Chenault radio jingles" and you'll hear what I mean.) But until I heard these old WLS jingles again today, I had completely forgotten just how good the old Anita Kerr Singers sounded on radio station jingles. Though they were from a decidedly earlier era than the Johnny Manns of the mid-to-late '60s, and were therefore decidedly squarer (and those very early top 40 jingles were just too damn long in the first place), the Anita Kerr Singers' sound was almost as good as the Johnny Mann Singers. Almost. For any kid in the midwest during the early to mid 1960s, it was commonplace to spend the night at somebody's house, stay up later than your parents would like, and listen to a 7-transistor radio through your pillow. And you'd often tune to some faraway radio station. If you were in the midwest, that faraway radio station would often be The Big 89, WLS in Chicago. This short little medly of WLS jingles by the Anita Kerr Singers really brings back some memories for me, and I know they will for anyone who was a kid growing up within the huge footprint of WLS's enormous nighttime signal. They include three jingles from the "personality" jingle package, as well as two of the most memorable "weather" jingles ever. The music bridge in the middle is where the disc jockey would come in and read the weather forecast. I hadn't heard the "Radar Weather Eye" jingle in about 45 years when I found it today. Still gives me goose bumps. For a radio geek like me, this is truly classic stuff. But for anyone who grew up listening to top 40 radio in the midwest during this era and might have tuned in to hear WLS in Chicago during this era, these are sure to bring back some memories. The jingles in this short montage were probably produced in around 1958, give or take. But I remember them still airing as late as the early-to-mid 1960s when I would tune in after dark, as the ground wave skip from Chicago would allow us to pick up WLS as far away as Kansas City at night. I remembered afternoon jock Ron Riley (during the winter when his shift extended past sunset) and nighttime disc jockey Art Roberts playing these. I threw this little video together tonight just to spotlight these few jingles. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLu4UVorDSo Randy
From: Mike Dalecki on 29 May 2010 06:26 R&B wrote: > ...in the 1950s and 1960s...and listened to top 40 radio on AM... > > (And yeah, there's no golf content here. But there's no politics or > hateful ranting, either.) > > Today a friend sent me a montage of old radio jingles from WLS in > Chicago, one of the nation's biggest stations, and a legendary top 40 > station from the '50s through the first part of the '80s, when > musicradio on AM pretty much died in favor of news and talk, as music > radio had migrated by then to FM. > <snip> > > I threw this little video together tonight just to spotlight these few > jingles. Enjoy. > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLu4UVorDSo > > Randy > Three words: John Records Landecker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n0uqWOOqeg&feature=related -- Mike Dalecki GCA Accredited Clubmaker http://clubdoctor.com Occam's Razor: If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.
From: bknight on 29 May 2010 07:52 On Sat, 29 May 2010 01:28:38 -0400, "R&B" <none_of_your_business(a)all.com> wrote: >...in the 1950s and 1960s...and listened to top 40 radio on AM... > >(And yeah, there's no golf content here. But there's no politics or >hateful ranting, either.) What a great trip on memory lane. When in school in Denton I was fortunate enough to start my professional career with PAM. Hoyt Hughes and Tom Merriman. We did the first jingles out of Dallas on a Latino movie theater stage. Then, after a couple of years on the road, to L.A. where I did a ton of dates with Johnny Mann, including the Joey Bishop Show and Johnny's two TV series, Stand up and Cheer. The JM singers were great, and included Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice of Tony the Tiger. Johnny was instrumental in getting a bunch of his group and several studio musicians to join Porter Valley Country Club in the San Fernando Valley, and we had many, many rounds of great golf together. He now lives in South Carolina. Randy, if you would like to get in touch with him drop me an email and I'll give you his number. Thanks for the video. Bobby
From: John B. on 29 May 2010 09:40 On May 29, 7:52 am, bkni...(a)conramp.net wrote: > On Sat, 29 May 2010 01:28:38 -0400, "R&B" > > <none_of_your_busin...(a)all.com> wrote: > >...in the 1950s and 1960s...and listened to top 40 radio on AM... > > >(And yeah, there's no golf content here. But there's no politics or > >hateful ranting, either.) > > What a great trip on memory lane. > > When in school in Denton I was fortunate enough to start my > professional career with PAM. Hoyt Hughes and Tom Merriman. We did > the first jingles out of Dallas on a Latino movie theater stage. > > Then, after a couple of years on the road, to L.A. where I did a ton > of dates with Johnny Mann, including the Joey Bishop Show and Johnny's > two TV series, Stand up and Cheer. > > The JM singers were great, and included Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice > of Tony the Tiger. > > Johnny was instrumental in getting a bunch of his group and several > studio musicians to join Porter Valley Country Club in the San > Fernando Valley, and we had many, many rounds of great golf together. > He now lives in South Carolina. Randy, if you would like to get in > touch with him drop me an email and I'll give you his number. > > Thanks for the video. > > Bobby Bobby, did you know the guys in the Wrecking Crew? There's a new movie about them. I saw the trailer on YouTube but I can't find the movie. I did watch a really cool interview with Carol Kaye, though.
From: Loudon Briggs on 29 May 2010 13:39
"John B." <johnb505(a)gmail.com> wrote: >On May 29, 7:52�am, bkni...(a)conramp.net wrote: >> On Sat, 29 May 2010 01:28:38 -0400, "R&B" >> >> <none_of_your_busin...(a)all.com> wrote: >> >...in the 1950s and 1960s...and listened to top 40 radio on AM... >> >> >(And yeah, there's no golf content here. �But there's no politics or >> >hateful ranting, either.) >> >> What a great trip on memory lane. � >> >> When in school in Denton I was fortunate enough to start my >> professional career with PAM. � Hoyt Hughes and Tom Merriman. �We did >> the first jingles out of Dallas on a Latino movie theater stage. >> >> Then, after a couple of years on the road, to L.A. where I did a ton >> of dates with Johnny Mann, including the Joey Bishop Show and Johnny's >> two TV series, Stand up and Cheer. � >> >> The JM singers were great, and included Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice >> of Tony the Tiger. � >> >> Johnny was instrumental in getting a bunch of his group and several >> studio musicians to join Porter Valley Country Club in the San >> Fernando Valley, and we had many, many rounds of great golf together. >> He now lives in South Carolina. �Randy, if you would like to get in >> touch with him drop me an email and I'll give you his number. >> >> Thanks for the video. >> >> Bobby > >Bobby, did you know the guys in the Wrecking Crew? There's a new movie >about them. I saw the trailer on YouTube but I can't find the movie. I >did watch a really cool interview with Carol Kaye, though. Some names to be reckoned with in that bunch. Members of 'The Wrecking Crew' included: * guitar: Glen Campbell, Barney Kessel, Tommy Tedesco, Al Casey, Carol Kaye, Billy Strange, Don Peake, Howard Roberts, James Burton, Jerry Cole, Bill Aken, Mike Deasy, Ray Pohlman * saxophone: Steve Douglas, Jay Migliori, Jim Horn, Plas Johnson, Nino Tempo, Gene Cipriano * trumpet: Roy Caton (contractor), Tony Terran, Ollie Mitchell * trombone: Lou Blackburn, Richard "Slyde" Hyde, Lew McCreary * keyboards: Leon Russell, Mac Rebennack (aka Dr. John), Mike Melvoin, Don Randi, Larry Knechtel, Al Delory, Mike Rubini * bass: Carol Kaye, Joe Osborn, Max Bennett, Chuck Berghofer, Ray Pohlman, Larry Knechtel, Lyle Ritz, Jimmy Bond (007) * drums: Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer, Jim Gordon * percussion: Julius Wechter, Gary Coleman, Frank Capp * conductor/arranger: Jack Nitzsche * harmonica: Tommy Morgan * The Ron Hicklin Singers often performed backup vocals on many of the same songs on which The Wrecking Crew had played instrumental track -- Loudon R. Briggs larebe(a)bbz.net Phoenix, AZ "How Can You Not Like A Game Where It's Okay To Get Teed Off, Tote A Six-Iron, Shoot Birdies, and If You're Under Par It's A Great Day!" (from "Frank & Ernest" by Bob Thaves -- used with permission) |