[GrahamCollins]

New Wise Buddah jingles on Radio 2 earlier this week for their presenter reshuffle. I hear that the travel bed has been remixed too….

Zoe Ball’s breakfast opener sounds like a re-sing of something rather than a custom cut. I cannot hear the usual Radio 2 logo.

[IainJohnston]

Zoe Ball – when she can’t think of enough to say (!!!) over her cut, you can hear
“Zoe! Zoe! Zoe! Zoe!……………, Zoe! over and over in the mix of the pad.

Sorry R2, but Jeffro beat you to that idea!
:^)

[DuncanNewmarchMember]

We’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning but I hear that Chris is taking his R2 jingles (the gospel intros) with him to Virgin.

[GrahamCollins]

Interesting – I wonder if any money changed hands or whether Wise Buddah have taken the view that by default they can claim another client/station airs their product.

[star tetley]

Zoe Ball – when she can’t think of enough to say (!!!) over her cut, you can hear
“Zoe! Zoe! Zoe! Zoe!……………, Zoe! over and over in the mix of the pad.

Sorry R2, but Jeffro beat you to that idea!
:^)

Which year was that?

[IainJohnston]

I would imagine the Evans jingles are “licensed” to his operating company, which “provides” the show to the client
radio station as a turnkey package, regardless of whether it was the BBC or whatever.

So a quick tweak of the paperwork, no more than that.

[DuncanNewmarchMember]

Yes, same jingles with new lyrics to include their sponsor Sky. As Radio Today said “same show, different station”.

[scotronMember]

Missed all the new stuff. Will have to tune in to hear what I have been missing.

[LenGroat]

Iain’s point:

Yes, Evan’s company “licensed” his whole show to Radio 2 as an outside contractor so can take anything he wants with him.

I rarely listen to Radio 2 but it seems they ALWAYS speak all over the start of the ‘travel news jingle’ = it’s a very poor jingle / does not ‘work’ + the BBC suits don’t listen OR don’t tell the presenters/ travel person to stop all the ‘hellos/ goodbyes’ and YAP.

Considering how many jingles the BBC has PAID for from WB they use suprisingly few…. Surely if they were BETTER the ‘presenters’ would use more?

Its a waste of the licence fee…..

Evans on Virgin is in MONO … and I cant sit through his A1 length YAP in the hope of hearing a jingle.

…. ’nuff said ? ! ?

[GrahamCollins]

It takes skill to use a jingle correctly in the context of a radio show.

Most presenters and producers at Radio 2 don’t seem bothered. The imaging is primarily hour opening signposts and very little else. There are no transitions in the current pack. Apart from Mr Wright using his AJ material I’ve not heard anyone use a Wise Buddah jingle between two songs. Even coming out of a promo you will very rarely hear a jingle into music.

My pet hate is Vanessa Feltz who crashes the R2 logo in the news jingle EVERY day at 06:30 hours. She obviously just doesn’t get it.

[GrahamCollins]

Agree with you Len – Evans in stereo is torture enough but mono ? That’s just not cricket.

Oh actually with only half the bandwidth required for mono, does that mean he’s half as annoying ?

[IainJohnston]

“It takes skill to use a jingle correctly in the context of a radio show”

Many years ago, I heard “something” on a BBC radio programme (no idea now what it was), where
someone (journo/interviwer???) was being shown the ropes.

So he played a wrong-tempo jingle (Smart Set???) into record, crashed the vocals, etc etc etc;
probably deliberate on the part of the “instructor” I suspect – or evn “staged”.

So he was shown how to match the tempo of a jingle to that of the music; and how to understand
how what to say if talking over an intro must be even briefly rehearsed off-mike with a note of
the length of the intro.

And so on; basic “wanna be a deee-jayyy” stuff. 1960s hospital radio “training”.

Yet day in day out on Radio 2 I hear vocals crashed, jingle vocals trampled over (not just the
traffic cut), fader w*nk*ing ( a favourite on BBC Scotland TV continuity!), and wall-to-wall
verbal diahorea (sp…) – do we now need to know that EVERY listener is itching to text-in
where they’re going right now, where they’ve just been, who’s in the car with them, their
dog’s name….must be great for potential burlars!

Jingle-wise, I don;t think I’ve EVER heard any UK DJ, BBC or commercial, use a “transition cut”
at all, never mind “properly”!

[mbMember]

I’m approaching this as a good natured discussion in the pub, so happy to end up disagreeing. I’m not a huge fan of some of the shows / presenters but it’s numbers show that it hits home with the greater public quite well.

I do know from discussions I’ve had with people who know the station that I don’t believe some of the above is true or totally fair.
As a “personality” station of course some of the presenters will not have a background in radio and know about such things as transitions etc Some do –
A lot of the producers and presenters provide feedback – Steve Wright has very strong views on jingles and is not a man to hold back on his views on anything.
Ken Bruce likes to have jingles in different keys so he can choose which one to go into a track with. For others they are just intros to thier program. The Chris Evans jingles were made working with the imaging team at Radio 2 – Chris Evans didn’t just go off and have them made – they were made for him. I think it an accolade that when moving to Virgin he wanted to take the jingles with him.

The news jingle is the one that gets played first when presenting a new package to the controller – As its seen as a very important part of the station sound and I know that a lot of though and discussion went into the ramp – around the ability of people to hit their mark as it were, as it was a new initiative when produced. Some are better than others.
BUT Radio 2 tends to break the radio rules as anyone who ever gets a job in production there from commercial radio will know. That’s why they don’t have a slogan – That was a conscious decision whilst everyone else was going down the “More Music” ” Your XXXX Your XXX” “More Music Variety” route the Radio 2 thing was NOT to be limited by a single slogan or line. It’s just not as in your face by repeating its name as commercial radio feels it needs to be. Commercial radio only does it every link because they are terrified someone with a RAJAR diary won’t know the station name. Radio 2 seems to assume people know they are listening to it and don’t need as many recall signpost.

They don’t feel the need to have to play a lot of Jingles, but they have many styles and cuts available for when they do – I don’t hear the short ID’s used much but they have them. Most presenters have cuts designed to fit their show and style. Before some of the cuts you hear there are demo cuts made that sometimes don’t hit the mark. So there is thought put into the style of the show, the presenter etc.

The Travel cut is heard so often that I guess they use it like an identifier it’s like you hear a bit of the news intro on TV and you know it’s the news. There is also an outro but it doesn’t get used much as people prefer to transition from travel to something with less of a bump.

What would be a “better” jingle for Radio 2? – I know for a FACT that when the WB jingles were first introduced the presentation and production staff loved them. Many of them played or sang on them!!! There are a range of styles and vocals. Presenters get cuts (mostly) The 2017/18 top ups are really nice – The Dermot O’leary cut is a great jingle and features and special occasions get cuts updated or special ones produced. We can debate who could make great Radio 2 jingles and there are a lot of candidates but WB are world class producers of Radio ID’s and I think their work on Radio 2 stands up pretty well. Personally speaking I do think presenters could use the jingles more but I like jingles!!! And Jingles are still a very important part of the stations overall sound – I’m sure that the conversation – “do we even need jingles” has been had at times – you don’t think in times of big cuts that the cost of jingles for a network like Radio 2 doesn’t come under the microscope!

[ratnobMember]

Am enjoying the discussion on this thread. Thanks, all. It’s what JM should be for.

[GrahamCollins]

Nice measured response MB – agree with you. There is nothing particularly wrong with the R2 output and the numbers speak for themselves, as you say. The trouble with us is we’re all skewed in opinion because we know how it could, and should sound. It saddens me that sometimes it ought to be better. Radio 2 without sung jingles would be unthinkable, so let’s hope they keep, and use the ones that they’ve got for a long time to come.

[mbMember]

Nice measured response MB – agree with you. There is nothing particularly wrong with the R2 output and the numbers speak for themselves, as you say. The trouble with us is we’re all skewed in opinion because we know how it could, and should sound. It saddens me that sometimes it ought to be better. Radio 2 without sung jingles would be unthinkable, so let’s hope they keep, and use the ones that they’ve got for a long time to come.

Although I really don’t like the fairly recent introduction of more and more dry name checks, feature intros and show names on the station by the female station voice.

[GrahamCollins]

Wise Buddah have now posted a montage of their latest work for Radio 2 on Soundcloud…..

https://soundcloud.com/wise-buddah-jingles/bbc-radio-2-montage-2019

[ratnobMember]

I’m sure many people will like them. Me – I don’t. I find them shrill and synthetic.

[mbMember]

I quite like them some more than others – really like the Trevor Nelson cut and of the three sarah cox cuts I like the second two not keen one the first- the station is dropping most 50s and 60s and 70s music from its playlist so I guess the cuts also reflect being a bit more modern and “new on 2” seems to be the thing ( or playing people I’ve never heard of or are interestd in). I like the Rylan cut but the sing of his name seems odd like Ry-den or is it supposed to be something else? Am I not getting it!!?? The cut is fine but the vocals need redoing to sing the name more clearly. I wouldn’t have let that one on air.

[LenGroat]

There has now been a ‘fanfare’ post about the new ‘jingles’ on Radio Today…..

“Wisebuddah produces branding for new Radio 2 shows”

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2019/02/wisebuddah-produces-branding-for-new-radio-2-shows/

I contributed my thoughts at length (surprise surprise!) after a non jingley person asked what I’d do. To save repeating it see Radio Today + there are other very relevant comments….

It’s sad that what was such a great station in the JAM years is being fragmented programatically because of political correctness – the fact the ‘presenters’ have NO IDEA how to use jingles…. and the ‘cooks’ who create them are tied-down by BBC rules.

What will it sound like when Blackburn and Wright’s material is gone?

[GrahamCollins]

The only cut with merit and made me listen to it more than once is Trevor Nelson’s and he is actually the only one I ever listen to – a radio professional, music lover and record collector.

The other cuts do sound like Wise Buddah have opened ProTools, inserted all their usual loops and stamped out another couple of mixes from something they originally did 15 years ago. Not worthy of the station or it’s place in the market. I presume that there was no budget to get the BBC Big Band/Concert Orchestra in as they did in 2012 for the full station package.

Radio 2 is a hard listen for me now – Zoe and Sara are not talking to me, and the current playlist might as well be termed BBC Heart !

[IanMember]

Purely my personal point of view but here goes.
I am 51, nearly 52. Having moved away from Radio 1 years ago, at the time Radio 2 wasn’t for me. I didn’t, want to listen to songs from the 50’s and 60’s as not being born until 1967 it just wasn’ My era.
I moved from Radio 1 to my then local station Essex radio, later Essex FM. I wasn’t quite ready for BBC local radio. Then around 2010, Essex FM became Heart. So off I went again in search of something to listen too. So I tried radio 2.
I didn’t like Chris Evans but did like Ken Bruce, Jeremy Vine, Steve Wright and Simon Mayo. Pick of the pops and a few others. But I guess it was a little like listening to a slightly different version of the radio 1 that I grew up with so no surprise there.

I don’t agree with having personalities instead of broadcasters. I understand that commercial stations do so as it helps draw advertising revenue but this obviously doesn’t apply to th BBC.
I was told this by a former radio 1 jock who works for global and for me that theory makes sense.
I f ail to see how putting Rylan behind a mic is a better choice than a seasoned broadcaster.

I personally quite like the likes of Zoe Ball and Sara Cox as I like that scatty type approach but understand why some don’t.
And without doubt the jingles are tailored for a more modern younger listener than 75 year old Ethel. The travel bed is more suited to a Radio 1 of today or Kiss than radio 2.

So there are bits I like and bits I don’t. To me it’s a modern day radio 1 of my generation so it suits (mainly). But I guess if I were 10 years older or 10 years younger it probably wouldn’t.
So are we back to the age old point of a station trying to cater for a vast age range but unable to please all the people all the time?
Probably in 10 years time I too will consider it as BBC Heart too.

[IainJohnston]

” I presume that there was no budget to get the BBC Big Band/Concert Orchestra in as they did in 2012″

If BBC Scotland were able to afford Reelworld Europe and use THEIR own in-house orchestra to do the huge-brass-and-strings job at Glasgow’s City Halls, then I’m sure the BBC in London could have got a few of their own in-house
musicians in for an afternoon to beef-up a few addons!

After all, they don’t have to pay out for expensive Evans & Co now so surely there must have been a
few bawbees left in the piggy bank?

[mbMember]

I’m just gonna say that Rylan is pretty accomplished on TV and sounds at ease and good on the radio. as he did during the Summer when he “sat in” for Zoe.
Recently there have been some odd choices – like Matt Lucas who just leaves me cold on the radio – but I think Rylan is a good choice and sounds good.
If you are judging on his XFactor / Big Brother days he’s moved on and developed his style.

[GrahamCollins]

I think Rylan is dreadful – here’s a slightly ‘scoped transcript of him opening his show two weeks ago:

Jingle sings ‘ Rylan on Saturday…..’

‘Hi there, how’re you doing ? It’s Saturday afternoon and it’s Rylan on Saturday…. Here’s Dusty Springfield.

I switched off.

[Author]

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