From: R&B on
....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
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
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
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
"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)