[LenGroat]

Don't be shocked but yes, it's Len Groat posting about NEW jingles.. AND from Wise Buddah not those PAMS classics or superlative JAM ones!

I'm still in touch with a few of my old 'colleagues', including David Lloyd who I took on as a dj in 1979 when he was just 19. He has not STOPPED since having been a PC/ MD for decades on more radio stations than I can possibly list ~ everything from Galaxy to LBC, and of course now re-launching BRMB, Mercia etc.

A month ago he sent me a few preview cuts of the packages Wise Buddah have made and there is now a selection on this month's 'jingle news'.

Anyway, I turned from 'retired radio person' to 'JingleJournalist' and here is a direct quote from David ~ as you can see he DOES still lean back fondly to those halycon days of Trent.

“we've tried to create CHR jingles which sound a bit exciting than many sets do now. For goodness sake, people turn on the radio to cheer them up.

Full marks to Wise Buddah who did a stunning job – and the teams at the stations love them. Thank goodness I was never at the front end of programming music stations when vocal jingles were supposedly out of fashion!

My favourites: cut 4 BRMB, only 'cause the shout reminds me of the halcyon Trent days; and the two-piece news ident which I reckon has got real presence and creates a moment on the hour.”

I'm sure JingleMadders will be pleased that one of the top people in 'ILR', even now acknowledges the heritage factor in radio.

There are actualy three packages 'with all separate tracks for each network so the stations sound different.' Network One (BRMB) and Network 1.5 (Beacon West Mids and Mercia (both adult CHR); and Network Two Wyvern and Beacon Shrops (softer CHR).'

I hope David's creativity and ideas will help re-launch these Midlands stations well.

Merry Xmas BRMB! (never thought I'd say that!)

Len

[Inferno]

I think Orion Media will bring back what is needed in British radio. It sounds like they understand radio and don't treat listeners like mindless sheep…no offence to sheep. Orion can stick two fingers up at Global Radio and play them at their own game and do it far better and be in budget. Hopefully they can also grow and in time bring back such heritage staions like Invicta, Hereward, Plymouth Sound, etc.

Fingers crossed for the radio revolution which is desperately needed in the UK Alaskan radio soundscape

[Barras]

Thanks for letting us know about this Len…

Inferno wrote:
Fingers crossed for the radio revolution which is desperately needed in the UK Alaskan radio soundscape

Good point Inferno and can I just add, I`m still waiting for the jingle revolution…lets dump these liners & music beds for the true “sung” jingle (I know, I`m being naive but I still day-dream of the jingle revolution in the UK)…for example, as my signature says below “get JAM back on BBC Radio 2”.

[MartinS]

Thanks for sharing this LeN, can't wait to here them on air!

The last Wise Buddah Package on 96.4FM BRMB will certainly take some matching.

[DavidHemsley]

And as Len says . . . you can hear a selection on the December Jingle News Show . . .

[MartinS]

David Hemsley wrote: And as Len says . . . you can hear a selection on the December Jingle News Show . . .

[MartinS]

David Hemsley wrote: And as Len says . . . you can hear a selection on the December Jingle News Show . . .

interestin article on Jinglenews David. Unfortunately I can't play the Flash audio on my device

[IainJohnstonMember]

“Unfortunately I can't play the Flash audio on my device”

My aging PC can still play most Flash – maybe its “old-fashioned” but I'm sure there's many like me that prefer to simply download an audio file quickly and then listen to it “in slow time” in the car or elsewhere, rather than be “tied-in” to having to listen to an item in realtime stuck in front of a PC!

So would still welcome a “Download” version please David! :^)

As for the BRMB/Mercia/Orion cuts – OK, maybe still a slight “Bespoke-style Woah-woah-yeah-yeah” tendency appearing combined with a “Reelworld” slant, but they DO sound really “BIG” and “gutsy” production-wise. Very listenable!
And a nice selection of sample jingles galore from various companies at the end of the Podcast for those who DO listen all the way through!)

(PS – Orion are “unlikely to give Global a run for their money” – watch for the next big “relaxation of ownership rules” by the wimpish OfCOM, and then the phase “warehousing” in company ownership/regulation language will become clear (c.f. GWR, and UBC's “ownership” of Classic Gold AM).

[Paul]

You can download the mp3 from JingleNews – http://www.jinglenews.com/2009/12/07/buddah-bags-orion-media-quintet/

We have just posted the new Wyvern cuts that are due to air in January – http://www.jinglenews.com/2009/12/18/new-package-for-wyvern/

[DavidHemsley]

huh? i dont use any flash player – it is a windows media player that is in use.

And there is also a download link in the main article – just right click and save as . . .

[freq-ky]

Hello from Jurys Inn in Birmingham (which is bang opposite BRMB).Will look forward to Decembers jingle news and many thanks Len for the good news.

[ratnobMember]

Thanks, Len. I'm a bit surprised you like these so much as they don't sound so very different to my ears from what lots of companies have been producing in recent years – ie long contemporary beds leading up to station name. But always good to be reminded that some key players in UK radio – like David Lloyd – value the importance of sung jingles in giving a station an identity that listeners remember.

[Bigdave]

At last – someone with a love of radio running radio again!
I really hope it works for David and Phil Riley and the whole of the Orion network.It's about time we got back to radio the way it should be – local,relevant to it's audience and using good sung jingles.And if it can be run as well as where David got his radio grounding,then I'm sure that it will be very successful.

After all,that's what Trent was all about,eh,Len? It's all about the “Sounds Like You Want To Hear”…

[LenGroat]

Thanks for all the posts – I hoped it would stimulate the forum having an exclusive during 'quiet' December.
Historically, good radio stations launch New jingles in a New Year so it was good to get David to comment personally for the forum.

Geoff – I didn't actually make any 'aesthetic' judgement on the jingles In this case I'm being diplomatic and just being the 'messenger'. As Big Dave commented it is at least 'someone with a love of radio running radio again'.

If you notice my opening comment was, 'AND from Wise Buddah not those PAMS classics or superlative JAM ones!'

Merry Christmas!

Len

[Paul]

All BRMB cuts here – http://www.jinglenews.com/audio/jingles/brmb10.mp3

[mbMember]

I thought the last Wise Buddah package was fantastic – one of the best I've heard in recent years. I'm really starting to warm to the packages from WB and they have excellent vocals that rival some of the US competitors.
I much much pefer the vocals upfront to the sound of over produced IQ Beats vocals.
It's interesting that the sing Birmingham not Birmingham's.
I olny hope the Beacon package returns the Black country moniker to Beacon rather than West Midlands. Remember those great JAM Cuts with both versions. Oh and all the place names in Beacon land

[mattii70]

It's a good package but it's a shame BRMB can't stick to a musical logo instead of forever changing it from package to package.

[mbMember]

Well for a long time its had to fit around a Capital logo – so maybe this time is trying to creat a disctinctive logo around B R M B rather than fit one designed for Generic use across a range of stations as the awful Music 4 one network package or some of the Capital ackages were.

[barrydavidallanbda]

I like it…. but I think the cuts fail when they sing the call sign letters with spaces B…R…M…B….

Some cuts have a better flow when the callsign is just “BRMB”.and the rest of the sing

[IainJohnstonMember]

Spot-on Barry.

For years they've had dull, dreich down-note ones (later to be “lifted” by Real Radio and others.

The original Emison one still surely has to be one of the best UK-written logo melodies – and even better when jingles were'nt “forced” to always have the station-name ONLY at the end of the cut!

http://jinglemad.com/e107_files/public/1261345880_75_FT77257_ij-brmb-261-94point8instereo-emison.mp3 filename:ij-brmb-261-94point8instereo-emison.mp3

[MartinS]

Thanks Dave/Paul for publishing the links to the mp3s on Jinglenews.

The BRMB cuts are great – cut 10 is my favourite, followed by cut 4 then cut 1. Let's hope there's lots of different mixes and extended versions with talk up beds etc so that they can use them flexibly and merge with other production elements, just as they do superbly with the current package.

Can't wait to hear them on air!

Only downside for me (including the Mercia cuts too). I'm not a fan of FM frequencies being sung in jingles unless the frequency forms part of the station name. I always thought the station name was '96.4 FM BRMB' and therfore in my mind this legitimises singing it. Clearly they are now just 'BRMB' given that the '96.4s' are sung at different sides of the 'Birmingham' on different cuts – so just ditch singing '96.4' when it's only appropriate to 1 of 3 groups of listeners.

[barrydavidallanbda]

I like the jingle that has the Shout …”Birmingham”..that works ..But the next cut they sing…birming um and one cut sings birming..HAM

But Lets not pull it to bits.. its better than the BBC local pacckages

[brucie]

Whilst its nice to hear new jingles coming back to the airwaves (and it's a massive improvement on boring liners/sweeps etc as imaging) I now know why new jingles from the new companies don't interest me and make me go wow.

Its simply this – almost every one of the vocals sound like the singers were straining on the loo at the end of the last syllable “B-R-M-B errrrrrrrgghh“.

Almost pub stylee really

[ratnobMember]

Well, Len – you've certainly got people talking!

[LenGroat]

That was the idea Geoff

I also suspect (knowing David Lloyd) that having to produce multiple packages for stations with different musical styles means that once the first packages are on-air, they will have time to create new cuts with imagery added ~ summer, weekend, and of course next Christmas!? We will see….

However, much of the British commercial radio industry appears to be in no state to buy ANY jingles at present, as I'm about to point out in a new topic.

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