[MarcMannetje]

These cuts were written for Dutch public broadcaster NOS by Tom Merriman. It’s in the style of JAM’s BBC Radio 2 Collection: all kinds of musical styles and tempo’s, from Jazz to Classical. The cuts were supposed to work for all 5 national radio networks, but were hardly used.

Merriman came to Holland to conduct Dutch Metropole Orchestra (which played and recorded the jingles) himself in 1991. These cuts were hardly published or demoed anywhere else… Enjoy!

Embedded at home.recnet.com/soundcloud

[IanF]

Thanks for uploading these gems Marc!

Whilst tuning around the radio in the 90s I’d find NOS Radio and heard ‘some’ these great jingles, mostly the shorter ones. I did think they were Top Format….not anymore. It’s really good to hear these clean copies. Who sung on them though?

[MarcMannetje]

Hi Ian, they were produced for Music and Images, in those days representing TM Productions… I cannot find the vocal talents of the package, maybe someone else knows…

[pvankleiMember]

The vocal talents (solo’s) where Joni de Boer and Ruurt Boes. The vocal session was recorded may 1991 in VARA’s studio 8 in Hilversum Holland. B.T.W. not all cuts where composed by Tom Merriman. Some of the short ID’s where composed by Gerald Stockton.

[MarcMannetje]

Thanks for this addition Peter. I didn’t know Gerald Stockton wrote jingles at all.

The compilation is by the way much shorter than the package was. It’s huge!

[LenGroat]

I stayed with Tom (and Jackie) 4 times on my trips (jollies as the other dj’s called them) to do the Trent and GEM jingles and was there in both ’91 and ’92 yet Tom NEVER said he’d been commissioned to do these/ been to Holland – he was SUCH a modest man. And also so very talented with his music and arrangements – these are in many ways unique.

[IainJohnston]

Interesting to hear that audio Marc…all “new to me”. Thank you.

Some cuts very clearly have “Influences” of some specific TM cuts of the late 1980s, yet “different”.

With USA/UK current material being a wee bit thin on the ground for the moment, I think that JMers exploring “Continental” stations and their packages, old and new, and their producers, for a bit would be most interesting.

Especially as such stations are so numerous and the styles of IDs so varied, and there’s far more to hear than just obvious resings of USA-based packages.

I know the “language barrier” has sometimes perhaps prevented this a bit, but many such stations use English partly on their jingles, and most “slogans” or tag-lines aren’t always that difficult to work out – a lot of the “lingo” is phonetically close enough to get a handle on things – “Die Grossen Oldies” or “le Meilleur de la Musique” or “Radio Uno” or “La Legende” – OK Dutch may get a wee bit harder but Marc etc have already given lots of good examples of that !

[MarcMannetje]

Thanks Iain and I agree – our Lingo should be heard and explored more often

NOS Radio (I imagine) you could understand. Other lyrics in this package promote the very populair drive time show of the 90s (Avondspits – ‘Drive time commute’) and other shows.

It’s a classic 6 note logo too btw, that’s why I am suprised I never heard this package demoed for an US station. Maybe Peter knows how copyrights were handled those days?

[Tracy CarmanMember]

Tom Merriman conducted the Dutch Metropole Orchestra, as mentioned above. One story from that session that was told to me: While recording the tracks, some of the musicians were wondering why Tom was on-site to lead the session (and, I was told, a bit arrogant about it). As they were recording one track, it just wasn’t working out musically. Tom went to a some of the musicians and made changes/corrections/fixes to their musical scores on the fly and then continued on with the session. The musicians were so impressed by Tom that they applauded him at the end of the session.

I’m not sure who owns the copyrights on these materials, but do know it was a massive session with many cuts. I’m not surprised that Gerald Stockton wrote some of the cuts as he’s very adept in writing in the same style as Tom Merriman.

[pvankleiMember]

I am not sure if there was arrogance from the musicians when Tom was onsite, but the story about making changes/corrections to their musical scores is true. Sometimes without looking at the sheet music .

The copyrights are with Music & Images (now Musicdirector), Muff Murfin who represented Tom Merriman in Europe when Tom had a non-compete with TM when he sold his company, the NOS (the studio time and musicians from the Metropole orchestra from their yearly budget) and the Metropole orchestra. That’s why the jingles where never syndicated.

[TGPTXSALES]

Great Package!! I cherish the 7 years I had spending time with Tom as he had his offices with me and Tony Griffin at our studios on I 35 E in Carrollton after Regal Studios closed.
After the TM days Tom continued to work with us in Dallas and all over the world.
Its great to know that new stations like Fun Tower Radio appreciate the Tom Merriman sound and are still able to get it in its original form from TGP with the help of Bruce Wermuth and Paul West.

[Tracy CarmanMember]

Thanks for the info on NOS’ jingles. I know where some of the multitracks are, but didn’t know ultimately who owned the rights to the materials.

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