Radio Station Jingles: 80 Years of Earworms

Summary

Twenty Thousand Hertz: Radio Station Jingles – 80 Years of Earworms

Hosted by Dallas Taylor | Released on January 22, 2025

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Introduction

In this captivating episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz, Dallas Taylor delves into the enchanting world of radio station jingles, tracing their evolution over the past eight decades. Titled "Radio Station Jingles: 80 Years of Earworms," the episode explores how these catchy melodies have become integral to the identity of radio stations worldwide, serving as both marketing tools and cultural time capsules.

The Origins of Radio Station Jingles

The journey begins with the humble beginnings of radio communication. Jonathan Wolfert, a veteran with over fifty years of experience in creating radio IDs, explains that before jingles, radio largely relied on Morse code for communication.

"Radio IDs are essentially sonic signatures for radio stations," [01:38] Wolfert notes, highlighting how these early identifiers were crucial for distinguishing stations amidst the growing number of broadcasts.

Bill Meeks provides historical context, detailing how in 1912, call letters were assigned to different countries, with the United States receiving W's, K's, A's, and N's. As commercial radio surged in the 1920s, this system was adapted for radio stations.

"The Department of Commerce decided that the radio stations to the east of the Mississippi River would be licensed with W call letters," [03:20] Meeks explains, setting the stage for the emergence of memorable jingles.

The Birth of the Jingle Industry

As radio expanded, merely stating station names became insufficient for listener retention. Enter the era of jingles—a solution to make stations more memorable. Wolfert recalls that one of the pioneering stations in adopting jingle IDs was New York’s WJZ in the early 1940s.

"ID jingles have evolved over the decades. Each one is a cultural and historical snapshot of the time and place it was created," [01:49] Taylor remarks, emphasizing the deep-rooted significance of jingles.

Bill Meeks recounts the transition from live performances to pre-recorded jingles, especially during nighttime broadcasts when DJs were off-air.

"The axis is listening," [06:04] Isham shares one of WJZ's haunting nocturnal jingles, reflecting the wartime environment where night shift workers were essential.

Pamm's and the Rise of JAM Creative Productions

The true commercial potential of jingles was unlocked in Dallas, Texas, in 1947 when Gordon McClendon launched station KLIF. Utilizing live performers, KLIF began creating jingles to promote both the station and its sponsors.

"These jingles gave the station a fun and memorable sonic identity," [07:45] Taylor explains, illustrating how jingles became indispensable for programming flexibility.

Bill Meeks, initially a jingle creator at KLIF, founded his own company, Pamm's Productions, in 1951. Recognizing the broader demand for jingles, Pamm's expanded rapidly, becoming the undisputed leader in the industry by the 1960s.

"Most young guys who are interested in recording or music, they want to work in a studio, they want to record bands. And I, on the other hand, wanted to work at this one specific place because what I wanted to make was this one specific thing, these jingles," [15:12] Meeks shares, highlighting his passion that drove the industry's growth.

Technological Innovations and Stylistic Evolutions

As technology advanced, so did the complexity and creativity of jingles. The introduction of the Sonivox in 1939 allowed for unique sound effects, making jingles more dynamic and engaging.

"Pam's really pioneered doing that," [09:50] Meeks states, referring to the innovative use of Sonivox in jingles like those for KFWB in Los Angeles.

In the late 1970s, influenced by the popular Star Wars aesthetic, jingles began incorporating laser sounds and brass elements, resulting in iconic, functional compositions that remain in use today.

"That jingle has been used by radio stations everywhere. There are hundreds of versions of that jingle and it's just because it's so functional," [19:12] Isham remarks, underscoring the lasting impact of these designs.

Nostalgia and Cultural Impact

Jingles not only identify stations but also evoke nostalgia, acting as auditory time capsules. Wolfert expresses a deep fondness for the evolution of jingles, appreciating how they mirror changing musical and cultural landscapes.

"You get to hear how things changed and evolved not just musically but lyrically as well. And it's just kind of fun to relive those eras in these short little songs like that," [11:14] Meeks enthuses, emphasizing the sentimental value embedded in these melodies.

The Global Expansion and Dominance of JAM

As Pamm's expanded, JAM Creative Productions, founded by John Wolfert and Bill Meeks, emerged as a formidable competitor. JAM not only matched Pamm's influence domestically but also extended its reach globally, producing thousands of jingles for stations worldwide.

"At one time, WABC New York was the most listened to radio station in North America. And you would find stations in every city you went to that wanted to sound like WABC," [13:07] Meeks explains, highlighting JAM's pivotal role in standardizing jingle styles across the nation.

In 1990, JAM acquired Pamm's Corporation, consolidating its dominance in the jingle production industry.

"So now we are PAMMS as well, and we're still here all these years later," [20:08] Meeks confirms, signaling the enduring legacy of these pioneering companies.

Modern Jingle Production: Real World Productions

The episode shifts focus to Eric Huber, a modern jingle maestro who, along with his partner Steve Thomas, founded Real World Productions. Faced with the rise of genres like hip-hop and grunge in the 1990s, Huber adapted by creating jingles that resonated with contemporary musical tastes.

"John Wilford is probably the reason I'm in this business," [20:48] Huber acknowledges, paying homage to industry veterans who set high standards in jingle craftsmanship.

Real World Productions emphasizes versatility, producing jingles that cater to various station formats—from country to sports radio—while maintaining relevance across different cultural contexts.

"We're also not necessarily wanting to be too derivative or to be too specific to a particular song or a particular era because I don't want to make a jingle that's going to burn in five minutes," [30:36] Huber explains, illustrating the balance between trendiness and timelessness in jingle creation.

The Enduring Legacy and Future of Jingles

Despite the digital revolution and the rise of streaming services, jingles remain a vital component of radio branding. Bill Meeks and Eric Huber express optimism about the future, believing that as long as radio exists, there will be a place for creatively crafted jingles.

"I think radio station ID jingles are going to continue to be used as long as there's radio stations," [35:36] Meeks affirms, highlighting the persistent relevance of jingles in building station identity.

Eric Huber adds a personal touch, emphasizing the emotional connection jingles foster with listeners.

"Through music, we have the ability to create joy and to create emotional experiences for listeners," [36:15] Huber states, encapsulating the profound impact of jingles beyond mere identification.

Conclusion

"Radio Station Jingles: 80 Years of Earworms" offers a comprehensive exploration of the intricate world of radio jingles. From their inception as simple call letters in Morse code to their evolution into sophisticated sonic identities, jingles have played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of radio broadcasting. Through interviews with industry veterans like Bill Meeks and Eric Huber, Dallas Taylor illuminates the creativity, technological advancements, and cultural significance that define this unique form of auditory branding. As the episode concludes, it becomes evident that while the mediums may evolve, the magic of a well-crafted jingle remains timeless.

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Produced by Gina Isham and Casey Emerling with contributions from Grace East. Special thanks to guests John Wolfert and Eric Huber.

Transcript

[Dallas Taylor]

It's a new year and many of us are committing to exercising and eating healthier. But another crucial part of staying healthy is keeping on top of your doctor appointments. That's where Zocdoc comes in. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to Zocdoc.comHertz to find and instantly book a top rated doctor today. That's zocdoc.comhertz zocdoc.comhertz you're listening to 20,000HZ. I'm Dallas Taylor. I spent a lot of my formative years listening to the radio. And while today's streaming apps are really convenient, I do find myself missing those over the top Super Epic Radio IDs.

[Gina Isham]

POWER 96.1Power POWER POWER 96.1Cool Oldies for your workday. Cool 105 we love our country country 94.5 KFKF Louisiana's number one hit music station 102.7 Kiss FM Chicago's room 9790 FM.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

Radio IDs are essentially Sonic's signatures for radio stations.

[Dallas Taylor]

That's producer and sound strategist Gina Isham, who's also the host of the sound and marketing podcast.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

Just like music itself, ID jingles have evolved over the decades. Each one is a cultural and historical snapshot of the the time and place it was created. And the origin of these little melodies goes all the way back to the early 1900s.

[Bill Meeks]

When radio was first invented. It was basically telegraph signals and it was mostly used for ships at sea to be able to communicate with stations on land.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

That's Jonathan Wolfert, who has over 50 years of experience making radio IDs.

[Bill Meeks]

And when you're using Morse code, you want your message to be as concise as possible. So rather than taking the time to spell out the name of a long ship, they started using abbreviations. So these ships would be assigned call letters. In 1912, it was decided by all the nations that the various letters of the Alphabet should assigned to different countries. The United States ended up with the W's, K's, as and the N's. Canada got some of the C's, Mexico got some of the X's and so forth.

[Dallas Taylor]

Then as commercial radio started taking off, they applied this same system to radio stations.

[Bill Meeks]

The Department of Commerce decided that the radio stations to the east of the Mississippi river would be licensed with W call letters.

[Gina Isham]

We are broadcasting over WAAM and this comes to you direct from the Edison Studios.

[Bill Meeks]

And the stations to the west of the Mississippi would have K call letters.

[Gina Isham]

This is KGEI General Electric station, San Francisco, California.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

But soon enough, they ran into a problem.

[Bill Meeks]

Radio grew very quickly starting in the 1920s, and before long there were hundreds of different stations. And it was hard for people to really know what station they were listening to.

[Dallas Taylor]

These stations realized that simply stating their name just wasn't memorable enough.

[Bill Meeks]

It became advantageous to do some catchy, musical, jingly thing to get the attention of the audience and have something that's a little more identifiable.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

One of the first stations to adopt A jingle ID was New York's WJZ in the early 40s. Now, back then, due to limits in technology, almost everything you heard on the radio was live.

[Bill Meeks]

That was the era where stations had live bands and live performers and live shows.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

But at nighttime, WJZ started playing pre recorded music, which made them ahead of their time. And since the DJs were off the clock, they'd occasionally drop in jingles like this to remind listeners what they were hearing all night long.

[Gina Isham]

We bring you a song a night of melody to rudal hoodoo on WJZ. There's a smile upon your dial at 7:17. WJZ.

[Dallas Taylor]

This was right around the time that the US entered World War II.

[Bill Meeks]

There were a lot of night shift workers because all of the plants and factories were going around the clock. And you can hear that reflected in one of these jingles that WJZ ran in the middle of the night to salute those night shift workers.

[Gina Isham]

24 hours a day are working hours for the USA respectfully, we dedicate this song to you who work the whole night long.

[Bill Meeks]

It's kind of haunting and scary all at the same time.

[Gina Isham]

The axis is listening.

[Bill Meeks]

Shh, don't talk. Certainly very different from what you hear today on the radio in the way of jingles.

[Gina Isham]

Wjz, New York.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

But it wasn't until after the war that these jingles really took off.

[Bill Meeks]

The real history of the radio jingle business began in Dallas in 1947 when a guy named Gordon McClendon put on a radio station with the name K L I F. At some point they decided that they should use the talent that was there doing these live shows to sing a little commercial for the sponsors of the show.

[Gina Isham]

You better get wild to scream while Charlie start using it today. You'll find it. You will have a tough time, Charlie keeping all those cows away. Hi ya. Foley keeps you looking these all day.

[Bill Meeks]

It gave them the idea that, well, maybe they should record a little commercial for the station itself. And so they started making jingles for klif.

[Gina Isham]

This is k, K L K L I K L I F K L I F Kevin 90 on your dial.

[Dallas Taylor]

These jingles gave the station a fun and memorable sonic identity. And they were also useful for programming.

[Bill Meeks]

Even during the live shows. If they had to switch from one studio to another, or if one show ended a little early or something and they needed something to fill up the time, they could always go to one of these pre recorded jingles and buy themselves 30 seconds or a minute.

[Gina Isham]

It's wonderful. Summer radio KLIF in Dallas.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

One of the jingle makers at KLIF was a man named Bill Meeks.

[Bill Meeks]

After a few years, Bill Meeks thought, you know, maybe there's a business here, maybe there are other radio stations around who do not have access to these live performers. And so he left and In August of 1951 he started his company, Pamm's.

[Dallas Taylor]

Pamms stands for production, advertising, merchandising Service. Here's one of their early jingles.

[Gina Isham]

Luftis Jockey's Weather reports. Time and music. The first in sports. Make sure your dial is always set.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

Bill Meeks wasn't the only one who wanted to take advantage of the musical talent in Dallas. Rival companies formed and soon Dallas became the radio jingle capital of the world. In the early years, one trend was to use a device called the Sonivox.

[Bill Meeks]

It's a way to make an instrument or a sound effect of some sort appear to be talking.

[Dallas Taylor]

The Sonivox was invented in 1939. It involves two handheld speakers that you hold up to your throat. Then you form words with your mouth, which shapes the sound into something like speech. In Disney's Dumbo, they used a Sonivox to make the voice of the train whistle.

[Gina Isham]

All aboard. Let's go.

[Bill Meeks]

Pam's really pioneered doing that. And a couple of examples of what that sounds like are some of the first ones that they did for KFWB in Los Angeles.

[Gina Isham]

KFWB Jammaid.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

When crafting these jingles, Pams was also paying attention to what the kids were up to.

[Bill Meeks]

In the 50s, a lot of young couples going out on dates would try to go find some dark secluded place so that they could turn off the car and snuggle, shall we say?

[Dallas Taylor]

And that idea wound up in this hilarious jingle.

[Gina Isham]

Let's park, it's kinda dark and see the view the view I'm watching you hold hands that fits my plans I go for you Move toward me and you're through I'll turn on the radio Come see what we miss who could resist? I simply love WMPS in the moonlight grade 68 WMPS. WMPS grade 68.

[Bill Meeks]

That is so 50s that I love it.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

As you can hear, John has a lot of nostalgia for these old radio jingles.

[Bill Meeks]

You get to hear how things changed and evolved not just musically but lyrically as well. And it's just kind of fun to relive those eras in these short little songs like that.

[Dallas Taylor]

That passion is how John first found his calling.

[Bill Meeks]

I grew up in New York City area during the 1960s. There were two radio stations that I heard most of the time. One of them was wnew which my parents liked to listen to because it played all the standards, all the Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett kind of big band music.

[Gina Isham]

There's only one W, any W.

[Bill Meeks]

I being much younger, wanted to listen to WABC because it was the top 40 rock and roll station.

[Gina Isham]

77 WABC.

[Bill Meeks]

And I noticed these little songs where somebody was singing about the radio stations.

[Gina Isham]

77 Music WABC.

[Bill Meeks]

Even as a 10 year old kid I said well who are those people and where did that come from? And then one fateful day I was listening on the AM radio band to out of town stations from Buffalo and Cleveland and Chicago and other places. Places. And I started to hear the same jingles.

[Gina Isham]

77 WA.

[Bill Meeks]

But with different words, different call letters. But it was clearly the same jingle.

[Gina Isham]

790 wa k min spending the weekend with W a y n channel 91 WPXR.

[Bill Meeks]

This completely flipped my switch and was like well, who's doing this? And can I possibly start collecting these things just to compare them and have them.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

It turns out these variations all came back to the radiojangle juggernaut pans who produced WABC's signature jingles.

[Bill Meeks]

At one time WABC New York was the most listened to radio station in North America. And you would find stations in every city you went to that wanted to sound like wabc.

[Dallas Taylor]

These stations could go to Pam's and commission custom versions of these hit jingles. But with their unique call letters.

[Bill Meeks]

PAMS did that in such a way that stations all over America copied what WABC was doing.

[Gina Isham]

77 w 1360 w in the I 1520 k o m a all American page.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

And it went beyond just America.

[Bill Meeks]

During the 60s, PAMS was unquestionably the top jingle producer in the world. And stations everywhere were using Pam's jingles.

[Gina Isham]

Mexico City, the London sound Super Musica.

[Dallas Taylor]

John wanted to be part of creating that shared experience.

[Bill Meeks]

Most young guys who are interested in recording or music, they want to work in a studio, they want to record bands. And I on the other hand Wanted to work at this one specific place because what I wanted to make was this one specific thing, these jingles.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

Eventually, that dream led him to pams.

[Bill Meeks]

So by perseverance and good fortune, I was actually able to get a job at Pamm's. And I did that for several years. And then one thing led to another, and my wife and I decided to start our own company, which is called Jam Creative Productions. JAM stands for John and Mary Lynn. The two of us actually competed with Pams for several years.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

Jam immediately hit the ground running, and soon enough, they got a call from a familiar station.

[Bill Meeks]

After we had been in business officially less than a year, we got this call from wabc, which is the station I grew up with, that got me interested in all this in the first place. The guy at WABC called up and said, well, we're having trouble finding the kind of jingles that we need. Would you like to do some stuff for wabc? And I'm thinking, yeah, I could probably work them in. You know, this is like the biggest deal ever. The full circle of being the guy who was 10 years old hearing the jingles on that station and becoming the guy making the jingles for that station. So we started doing jingles for WABC in 1975.

[Gina Isham]

Music radio, WABC.

[Bill Meeks]

And we're still doing jingles for WABC. You can still hear our stuff on the air there all these years later.

[Gina Isham]

News Talk Radio 77, WABC, New York City.

[Dallas Taylor]

Working at Pamm's, and then Jam, John was at the forefront of the changing trends in radio.

[Bill Meeks]

Radio got a lot more researched and scientific, and the result of that was that radio stations started using shorter and shorter jingles.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

For example, this is how long it took one radio station to introduce the weather forecast in the late 50s.

[Gina Isham]

Is it gonna be cool? Is it gonna be warm? Is it gonna be clear? More sunny? Mr. Weatherman, take the cue and tell us what the weather's gonna do.

[Bill Meeks]

Here's how they introduced weather 10 years later.

[Gina Isham]

KFRC weather.

[Dallas Taylor]

As the years went on, they cut them down even further.

[Bill Meeks]

They would just have what is known as a shotgun jingle, which is a very fast, frantic drum intro. And then the call letters are sung, and that's it.

[Gina Isham]

W, X, L, O.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

Early on, Jam even made a shotgun jingle that used a classic Sonnevox effect. Listen for the robotic effect on the w.

[Dallas Taylor]

Then in 1977, Jam started getting a particular request.

[Bill Meeks]

At the time, everybody was in a Star wars kind of a frame of mind, and everything needed to have little laser bursts in it. And so we did a very, very short jingle with a little laser effect on the front and some brass and the call letters. And they used it all the time.

[Gina Isham]

Wabc.

[Bill Meeks]

That jingle has been used by radio stations everywhere. There are hundreds of vers of that jingle and it's just because it's so functional.

[Gina Isham]

WPGC Radio 1 boss D Aruba Grandio.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

Jean Pas but while JAM was adapting to these changes, by the mid-70s, Pam's founder Bill Meeks was struggling.

[Bill Meeks]

He decided that the company needed to diversify because he'd kind of lost faith in the jingle business. And it just became a bunch of bad business decisions. That spelled the end of the original PAMMS.

[Dallas Taylor]

PAMMS suspended operations in 1978. Then in 1990, Jam bought the PAMMS Corporation and all of its copyrights.

[Bill Meeks]

So now we are PAMMS as well, and we're still here all these years later.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

Since then, JAM has produced Thousands more radio IDs for stations across the US and around the world. In 2024, they celebrated their 50th anniversary with this playful meta jingle.

[Gina Isham]

It's time for celebration and self congratulation. It's a golden year. 50 years of jam. We've sung station after station all across the nation and around the world. 50 years of J.

[Dallas Taylor]

Over the years, JAM has inspired other jingleheads to get in the game themselves.

[Eric Huber]

John Wilford is probably the reason I'm in this business.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

And wherever popular music goes, radio ID jingles are always close behind.

[Dallas Taylor]

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[Gina Isham]

So don't move that dial. Whatever you do, listen real close and give it a try. Start going steady with WDGY.

[Dallas Taylor]

Radio ID jingles started in the 1940s and really took off when companies like Pamm's and eventually Jam hit the scene. Just like pop songs, these jingles are little time capsules of the era they were made in.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

For instance, you can practically feel the 80s dripping off these radical jam jingles.

[Gina Isham]

Hip Radio 93 England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales the United Kingdom National Radio 1 KKHR Z100 hot gun in the summertime with.

[Dallas Taylor]

Hot hits it's during that decade that we meet our next radio jingle maestro, Eric Huber.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

At the time, Eric was interning at a Seattle radio station working on some.

[Eric Huber]

Jingles for them, and the programmer for that station walked in and handed me a CD with all of Jam's then current Radio ID jingle offerings.

[Gina Isham]

Maximum Music, K H T R and.

[Eric Huber]

It blew my doors off, man. I mean, as far as the craftsmanship, the musicality and just the overall excitement of the presentation, man, it was a work of art. And so my hat is off to John Wolford because I think he set the bar for what radio IDs could be and he's obviously an incredibly talented guy.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

Cut to a few years later, in the early 90s, Eric and his friend Steve Thomas want to produce pop songs, but they're having trouble.

[Eric Huber]

Unfortunately. We weren't really able to get traction on the artist development and songwriting side of things.

[Dallas Taylor]

Meanwhile, the musical landscape is rapidly changing.

[Eric Huber]

This was a really interesting time for pop music because grunge was crossing over to the mainstream and hip hop music was crossing over to the mainstream. I can vividly remember where I was the very first time I heard Nothing but a g thing by Dr. Dre.

[Gina Isham]

It's like this and like that and.

[Dallas Taylor]

Like this and a Drake creeped at a mic like a fence.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

The rise of these new genres meant new radio stations, and since Eric already had some experience with radio jingles, we.

[Eric Huber]

Thought there was an opportunity to do something in this genre in terms of an ID jingle package.

[Dallas Taylor]

So Eric and Steve formed a company called Real World Productions to show off what they could do. They created a package of jingles for wpgc, which was a huge hip hop and R and B station in Washington.

[Eric Huber]

D.C. we actually reached out to some of the artists that we were working with on the R and B hip hop side of things, brought them into the studio and recorded this jingle package on spec.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

On spec is when you produce something before any contracts have been signed. In other words, it's a proof of concept.

[Eric Huber]

We just produced this thing for free and literally called up Jay Stevens who was programming the station and said, hey, we want to do this. Are you willing to to give it a listen?

[Dallas Taylor]

Here are a few of the jingles they sent. As you can hear, they perfectly capture the sound and vibe of 90s hip hop and R B.

[Gina Isham]

After New Year. 95.5. 95.5 FM.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

WPGC liked what they heard and Real World was off to the races. Soon after, they landed a gig with another station called Cube.

[Eric Huber]

And the sound of the station was just a little more poppy and upbeat. So the package shifted more in that direction.

[Gina Isham]

Today's hit music.

[Eric Huber]

More on sort of the techno housey side of things.

[Dallas Taylor]

Sometimes these jingles were directly inspired by a particular artist or song.

[Eric Huber]

Yeah, that's the ace of bass cut.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

For companies like Eric's, It's a fine line to walk.

[Eric Huber]

We're also not necessarily wanting to be too derivative or to be too specific to a particular song or a particular era because I don't want to make a jingle that's going to burn in five minutes. And then it's like, oh, this is the ace of bass kind of sounds so dated, you know, so there's kind of a dance that we're doing there. Trying to predict where the format is heading and what the sound of the format will be in six months or a year.

[Dallas Taylor]

When Real World makes a package of radio jingles, say for a country station, they might start with one that's more rockin.

[Gina Isham]

98.5Kygo.

[Dallas Taylor]

Then they might make a version that's a little more laid back and nostalgic.

[Gina Isham]

9085 Kyle.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

Maybe they know that the station's listeners are fans of the show Hell on Wheels, which has a stomping down and dirty sounding theme song. So they craft a jingle that evokes that same vibe.

[Dallas Taylor]

For a weather alert, they might make something with a bit of a breaking news flair to it.

[Gina Isham]

98.5 K y G o.

[Dallas Taylor]

And for contests and giveaways, they might make something more poppy and celebratory.

[Gina Isham]

Another winner, kygo.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

For every single package they create, Real world makes around 50 to 80 individual pieces of music. And when you broaden it out to different languages and countries, the stylistic variations become even more pronounced.

[Gina Isham]

Feel Sindy Meister Cindy Meister Music.

[Dallas Taylor]

Now, typically, the people singing these jingles are professional studio vocalists. But there are some exceptions, like the package Real World made for a sports station back in 1999.

[Eric Huber]

They wanted a sort of sports chant, something that could be imagined as a crowd at an arena getting hyped up. So I came up with the idea of using my own voice and stacking it up about 50 times.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

And to match the energy of a wild sports fan at a game, I.

[Eric Huber]

Literally had to drink Red Bull and take my shirt off and get pretty jacked up. So it was a lot of work.

[Gina Isham]

Sports Radio Sports Radio 950J J R.

[Eric Huber]

A M KJ R A M Seattle.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

It'S like it's dripping with mouth masculinity.

[Dallas Taylor]

On the more wholesome side of things, Real World also does holiday jingles.

[Eric Huber]

Adult Contemporary stations in particular will typically transition to 100% Christmas music holiday music in November and December. That is often when these stations are doing their highest billing. And so for a station like coast, where the Christmas programming is such a big deal, they really want to sell the idea that coast is your go to for Christmas music.

[Gina Isham]

You're home. Your home for The Holidays Coast 103.5.

[Eric Huber]

The Christmas programming is sort of a special time when you're playing music for the sake of nostalgia that would not show up on the radio station the rest of the year.

[Dallas Taylor]

And capturing that nostalgia can sometimes mean evoking a specific holiday staple. Here's Bobby Helms classic Jingle Bell Rock. As it plays, we'll gradually fade it over to a Coast ID called Jingle Swing.

[Gina Isham]

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock Jingle bells swing and jingle bells rain Snowing and blowing a blue joy Home for the holidays Coast 103.5.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

In any good piece of sonic branding, nostalgia is one of the most powerful ingredients. And radioids are no different. People associate these little tunes with different times in their lives and the different places that they've lived. They stick in our heads for years. And when we hear these melodies again, those memories come flooding back. And that's part of why these jingles are still used by so many stations around the world today.

[Bill Meeks]

I think radio station ID jingles are going to continue to be used as long as there's radio stations, really not by every station, but by some stations that really want to make an impact.

[Dallas Taylor]

And fortunately for those stations, there are still people like John and Eric who live and breathe these jingles.

[Bill Meeks]

I chose to be in the jingle production business because it combines all of my interests, radio, music, electronics, recording. I'm having a good time doing it and that's why I'm still here.

[Eric Huber]

I feel so blessed to be able to apply my craft as a musician, composer, producer in a realm where creativity is valued and where that creativity forges an emotional bond. Through music, we have the ability to create joy and to create emotional experiences for listeners. And I'd like to think that in some small way the world is better off because we're out here in the studio, you know, cranking out I d jingles.

[Dallas Taylor]

20,000 Hz is produced out of the sound design studios of Defacto Sound. Hear [e-mail] this episode was written and.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

Produced by Gina Isham and Casey Emerling with help from Grace East.

[Eric Huber]

It was sound designed and mixed by.

[Jonathan Wolfert]

Justin Hollis and Jade Dicke.

[Dallas Taylor]

Thanks to our guests John Wolfert and Eric Huber. To learn more about their work, just follow the links in the show notes. Finally, Gina hosts her own podcast about all things sonic branding. It's called Sound and Marketing and you can listen and follow right here in your podcast player. I'm Dallas Taylor. Thanks for listening.

[Alex Goldman]

Hi, I'm Alex Goldman, host of the Hyper Fixed podcast. Each week we take listeners problems and try to solve them for them. Problems like I'm 30 and I'm scared to drive in New York or why can't I adjust the volume of my car stereo when I'm in reverse. We also solve non car related problems. If you have a problem, not only will we fix it, we'll expose the hidden systems that caused that problem in the first first place. That's the Hyperfixed podcast from Radiotopia. Find it wherever you find podcasts [e-mail].