[Spoons]

Here’s one for you. Not sure if it’s been answered elsewhere.

What was the first station to get JAM jingles via Alfasound when Alfa became UK & Eire agents?

Was it 2CR? Or Yorkshire Radio Network – or someone else?

Bet Neal or Tracy will know.

[Tracy CarmanMember]

Bet Neal or Tracy will know.

Not me. I’m sure JMW knows, though!

[Spoons]

I’m sure he does! I’m half expecting it to be something obscure that no-one’s expecting. Part of me hopes it is!

[IanF]

Good question! BBC Radio York and Merseyside had JAM in the mid 80’s, unsure of exact years, but direct from Dallas. According to Alfasound’s Radio ID Collection, it states Trent 13, Capitol Radio Ireland, Century Radio Ireland and the beforementioned YRN and 2CR. Beacon Radio was there in 89 too but not on that demo just to muddy the waters! Volume 14 has WLR FM Ireland which was a UK resung JAM package but not sure what the year is?

[Spoons]

I’ve been doing a lot of listening recently to the Alfasound ID Collections 13-15 from that era and it got me thinking.

On Alfasound’s Jinglegram 5, YRN4 is featured. And this is the tape that announces that Alfasound have teamed up with JAM. It also features one solitary cut from 2CR. IIRC, it doesn’t feature any other JAM material – hence why I wonder if YRN and 2CR were the first.

YRN4 went on air in May 1989 when Hallam and Pennine split frequencies (Viking already had). Of course, it was Alfasound vocals on the YRN4 package.

2CR was Dallas-sung. No idea when this went on air though. Century Radio Eire launched in Sept 89 I think – and other Irish stations followed although as you point out, many were sung with British singers. Trent 11 came later – it went on air in 1990.

Surprised we’ve never discussed this before!

[LenGroat]

I’ve followed this with interest but have NO idea as to WHO was first, even though I was ‘there’ at the time!!

I do believe Trent /GEM became one of the most regular UK customers at JAM from 1989 to 1992? That’s a ‘tradition’ Solid Gold GEM AM perpetuates as I now have 19 CDs full of JAM (PAMS) cuts we’ve ordered since 2012!

[IanF]

“I think YRN was the first. 2CR had some audition cuts with JAM ‘On The Coast’ tracks and UK vocals May 1989. Not sure if these went to air”

I think the UK sung audition cuts were used along with the Dallas vocals. I heard it on an aircheck somewhere? Possibly on your website!

[Spoons]

I think YRN was the first. 2CR had some audition cuts with JAM ‘On The Coast’ tracks and UK vocals May 1989. Not sure if these went to air. The 2CR package I do remember features JAM vocals but don’t have an exact date. Capital Radio Ireland (Turbo Z) was July 1989.

Fab. That confirms my suspicions then. A 2CR cut from On The Coast features on Jinglegram 5 – Dallas sung too, so 2CR must have been second.

[JAM / PAMSMember]

What was the first station to get JAM jingles via Alfasound when Alfa became UK & Eire agents?

JAM began working with AlfaSound in the spring of 1989. According to our records the first project we did for them in Dallas was 5 cuts of “On The Coast” which were sung for “210 FM”. Sorry I don’t know exactly what or where that station is (or was), but one of the cuts mentions “102.9” if that helps. It was mixed on April 12, 1989.

[gameswizardMember]

Radio 210 / 210 FM:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_Berkshire

AlfaSound’s own Radio 210 jingles were very decent indeed.

[LenGroat]

So now we know, it was ‘210 FM’ in Reading (launched as Radio 210) that was first to JAM

210FM on 102.9 The moral here is “don’t name your station after a frequency”!

And topically Aircheck Downloads also has this of Andy Miller playing a TON of great JAM cuts on Trent in 1991 – this wasn’t done for effect, he played a lot EVERY day! These cuts were from our second JAM package

http://aircheckdownloads.com/Trent_AndyMiller_10Jun91.mp3

25 years later Andy is STILL on afternoons in the East Midlands but on GEM 106

[RobinBlamires]

Not necessarily. Although demoed by JAM, 210 FM went to Century 21 in May 1989, sticking with David Arnold who became the UK rep taking over from Alfasound.

[Spoons]

According to our records the first project we did for them in Dallas…

Fab info Jon. Thanks! The quote I’ve highlighted is interesting though. YRN4 was sung in Manchester at Alfasound. Jon talks about the first project done in DALLAS.

So with Hallam, Pennine and Viking launching YRN4 at 6am on 1st May 89, had that package already been sung before 210FM’s audition cuts? Hmmm…

I appreciate this is very anoraky! But I’m not the only one interested am I?! Haha.

One for Steve?

[Spoons]

So, seeing as we’re firmly down memory lane, shall we have a montage of some of those early Alfasound/JAM days?

Go on then…

[DuncanNewmarchMember]

Great montage, enjoyed that!

[Spoons]

Alfasound were, rightly so, very proud of their link-up with JAM:

Looking back through their newsletter from the time, this development made the main front page item:

That newsletter confirms that YRN4 was produced before 2CR’s package. YRN4 is included in the main list of new packages produced…

… while 2CR’s package is just a STOP PRESS announcement in the newsletter – along with some interesting news about Capital Radio (Eire), Century Radio (Eire) and Radio South FM (Eire).

[RobinBlamires]

“Sophisticated and powerful” in the Fox FM blurb. A perfect description for jingles of this era.

I believe it was after the recording of the Invicta FM jingles at Century 21, that Jon Wolfert rushed to approach Steve England,
minutes before boarding a plane back to the UK according to what Steve said on his Jingle Day interview two years ago.

[IainJohnston]

Excellent selection Spoons! Thank you :^)

Quick question – the YRN ones at the start – are they actually JAM tracks? or Top Format? or other JAM continental associates?
I know the cuts originally from a tape I got from Lantern FM a long time ago, but I can’t relate them to a specific JAM package or demo (Although my “knowledge” of that era is still full of gaps to this day)
IJ

Edit:- how do I download the pics embedded via t1nyp1c?

[Spoons]

They’re from Nonstop Power: https://www.jingles.com/jam/radioids/demodl-NonstopPower.php

Having listened to the above demo though, I thought the package was just the PLJ cuts – this includes cuts for KHIT that I didn’t realise were part of that package.

Not sure about the download of the pics.

[jonnoMember]

interesting stuff all this.

about the pictures, right click on the images and save as is one way to capture them Iain.
Not sure if they are physically larger on the tinypic website? When I click on the image, it takes me to tinypic but I can’t find the image there… what am I missing?

[IainJohnston]

Thanks Spoons!

I’m realising that the more & more I “hear versions I haven’t heard before”, especially from what were JAM composite packages (something Steve E clearly did a great deal) for UK stations, the more I get a bit lost relating to the original demos, many of which I haven’t played for years – there’s no doubt though that Jon’s “play-by-play” mode now does help :^)

Edit:- Jonno – same happens for me – can’t see any of the images or a link at the t/p site either.
Just junk upload cues. No “sharing mode?”

[mbMember]

Happy to be corrected but YRN4 seems to be a combination of YRN3 Resings and JAM Jingles or they used their YRN3 ALONSIDE yrn4 – Personal note the YRN3 Jingles were much shorter and punchier than a lot of Alfasound jingles less singing about autumn and Winter etc and maybe not as exciting a demo but certainly had pace and worked well with the JAM jingles.

[LenGroat]

Thanks for the audio Spoons…. I don’t recall hearing that collection before, but then again it was a LOT of years ago!

I particularly like the Omni Trax cuts for Century, Trent and Leicester Sound.. they still sound SO fresh….

[Spoons]

Yes mb, you’re right. YRN3 was amalgamated with YRN4.

YRN3 was a package created for Viking FM when they split frequencies in 1988. They used it alongside re-sings of YRN2 so that they still had the same on air production as Radio Hallam and Pennine Radio (important for their network programming in the evening and weekends).

Viking’s split was an experiment to see if Viking Gold would succeed on AM. When it did, YRN adopted the same model for Hallam and Pennine when they split in 1989. The AM service for all three was Classic Gold and the FM services were Hallam FM, Viking FM and Pennine FM.

The YRN3 jingles (which had been just sung for Viking FM in 1988) were resung for Hallam and Pennine as part of YRN4. The JAM cuts were added, and a small number of additional Alfasound custom tracks were produced – plus the utility cuts for news, weather and travel.

It was a HUGE package of jingles. Interestingly, although Viking already had the YRN3 cuts, they had them ALL re-sung again as part of YRN4 with a new strap line of ‘up front, in front’ on some of the cuts.

[Spoons]

Adding to my earlier post… below are the six custom cuts created for YRN3. There was a seventh… the ‘time out’ cut, but I’m convinced that this was not created for Viking. It sounds nothing like the rest of the cuts and I suspect must have been a cut created for another station but rejected:

https://soundcloud.com/christianspooner/yrn3cutsmontage

And here’s how they sounded when re-sung for YRN4. I personally prefer some of the YRN 3 Viking versions as opposed to the YRN4 versions. The ‘Time Out’ cut did not make it to YRN4:

https://soundcloud.com/christianspooner/yrn3foryrn4

These are the custom cuts produced by Alfasound for YRN4:

https://soundcloud.com/christianspooner/yrn4customalfa

And here are the custom utility cuts produced for YRN4 by Alfasound. In this file, you’ll hear how Viking didn’t like the way the travel jingle started, so they mixed in the FX from the start of the YRN2 travel cut. Rather bizarre:

https://soundcloud.com/christianspooner/yrn4utilities

And for completeness, here are the Alfasound-sung JAM cuts for YRN4:

https://soundcloud.com/christianspooner/yrn4jam

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