RADIO jingle hells, essential branding

THE MEDIA LANGUAGE OF RADIO

A FAST WORD ON DJ SLOTH
I'm going to add this to the post, but please note: there is 1 bit of swearing just after 11mins, and more in the last few mins; some of the comments on vaping should be considered in the light of new evidence (the video is from 2017) that e-cigs/vaping are causing deaths through cancer. He moved recently from Radio 1xtra to Beats Radio.

WHY post this then?!?

• multiple examples of catchphrases/jingle slogans
• an illustration of the ongoing fame/celebrity status of music radio DJs
• ...so for any coursework you consider claiming a zeitgeisty, youth-friendly online celebrity like Sean Evans of Hot Ones as a guest (speaking about whatever topic you've been set)
• the DJ, Radio 1xtra's hiphop/grime king Charlie Sloth (so, kind of comparable to Beats Radio's Julie Adenuga - he moved to Beats in 2019!) is a stereotype: fat and jolly (he describes himself as morbidly obese) BUT directly urges viewers/listeners to embrace their body shape, celebrate it (as he does through his Insta vids and pics), so is arguably a countertype of the slim hipster? Simply using the word 'big' in a presenter's name brings up an area of representation, whether counter/stereotyped (or a bit of both)
• his accent and use of street slang likewise raise useful representation issues: stereotypically working-class, though also more commonly associated with BAME youth (this was central to the joke/satire of Ali G)
• at the very end when he gives his pitch, note how many platforms or modes of distribution he mentions - and that he explicitly states his show is accessible online to people outside of the UK

And here you can get a great example of the use of wild tracks, and branding a specific regular segment (NB: some limited strong language once the rapping begins), the autoplay vid on his channel when I looked it up (29.9.19):

DRAFT JINGLES

IN THIS POST:

• Satires (Smashie & Nicey; Alan Partridge; Frasier)
• Jingles: examples (Downtown Radio; 'legendary' comp; 80s Radio 1; Tommy Vance incl new UGC/fan-made; Partridge)
• jingles: conventions
• Intros + TV on the radio: learn techniques from Fluff + Vance
• Your suggestions

SMASHING STUFF - NOT 'ALF MUSIC LOVERS
As I note further down, this satire was based on actual DJs and their often bizarre patter, the self-aware, highly ironic Alan 'Fluff' Freeman being a key example...

See more Smashie and Nicey here.

Here's another legendary satire, Alan Partridge.


Great examples of regular feature jingles; love email of the evening (done in a Dalek voice!). Alan's Love Asylum maybe not so much ... Alan's funny stories ... There's a few in there!

The multi-award-winning US sitcom Frasier also centred on a talk radio DJ, psychiatrist Dr Frasier Crane...



JINGLES - EXAMPLES

I've included a wide range of examples, including those clearly for an older audience (so, a guide of what to avoid?!), older examples that still use techniques you should learn from (great slogans like TV on the radio...), but also modern examples from shows on youth stations like Nick Grimshaw and Greg James' Radio 1 shows. I start with a Radio 2 example, the target audience is a broad 35-54+, so it should be a sharp contrast with a youth station like Radio 1...

ZOE BALL ON RADIO 2
I've added a start time to this; consider how the pace of the music + the vocal style might be unsuited in targeting a younger audience.


CHEESY BUT MEMORABLE: OLDER-SKEWING MAINSTREAM STATION
Here's some quite cheesy (and they often are!) jingles from a radio station from back home in Norn Irn, Downtown Radio. When I was growing up I dreaded hearing their keep it country jingle (whilst appreciating the alliteration of course!) but I believe they've spun off the dreaded country'n'western to a new niche channel.


RANGE OF JINGLES
Here's a selection from more widely known stations:


A guide to creating a jingle in Premiere.
Another jingle collection.

STEVE WRIGHT, 1990s RADIO SHOW - NOT YOUTH-FRIENDLY?
Despite being on Radio 1, the youth station, Wright, who would later be shifted to the older-profile Radio 2, was not a comfortable fit for a youth audience (but was hugely successful). Listening to these jingles is arguably a means of being clearer on what to avoid in a youth-friendly jingle.




RADIO 1 2018 BREAKFAST SHOW'S GREG JAMES ON CREATING NEW JINGLES
James discusses the thinking process, just how he wanted music/FX from his new jingle (and actually a 'theme song' for the show!) to relate and appeal to his youthful audience.



Lots of 80s Radio 1 jingles - the video helpfully cuts in visuals of the show/DJ featured. [uploader has now moved this to private]


TV ON THE RADIO... TOMMY VANCE JINGLES
Jingles, if successful, stick in the head - this one brings back fond memories for me, the metal-DJ on Radio 1 (the 1st version is the original, followed by UGC re-edits) Tommy Vance and his Friday Night Rock Show:


Great example of the REGULAR FEATURE JINGLE in this Partridge compilation (embedded above).

There are companies specialising in producing jingles, like WiseBuddah. LFMAudio. MusicRadioCreative.


'GRIMMY' - GREAT EXAMPLE OF YOUTH-FRIENDLY JINGLES
Breakfast show DJ moved to the afternoon 'drivetime' show (thus the 'taking it home' slogan). These are excellent examples to use as models for yours.


JINGLES - CONVENTIONS

These are crucial branding, playing a similar role to film idents (though those are often abstract and generally not directly reflective of any one film), and follow really simple principles:

1. state the station and/or programme and/or recurring feature name
2. keep it short (in the 3-10secs range)
3. strong, clear voice, often in singing style (and multi-tracked voice, sometimes digitally 'stuttery' in style), male or female (or group)
4. includes incidental/instrumental music, often not directly representative of music played by the station - they must stand out from the music tracks
5. may include a slogan or tagline (eg R1: Tommy Vance's Friday Night Rock Show: 'TV on the radio' - genius!)
6. may use common rhetorical devices like alliteration, puns/wordplay/intertextuality
7. its common for stations and shows to have multiple jingles (see the Tommy Vance example below)

INTROS + TV ON THE RADIO: LESSONS FROM VANCE + FLUFF
Tommy Vance, as is very common, had more than one jingle - the one that started the show (which you can hear below), and the one inserted 2 or 3 times a show after tracks (which you can hear above).

Music-led shows will often keep it particularly short, but basically the audience should be informed of what's coming up in THIS show.

You might hear key words/phrases such as:

• coming up
• in the next hour
• as ever
• bringing you
• tracks by
• we'll be hearing from
• as promised last ...
• and much more
• the usual mix of...
• an exclusive from/of 

Music-led shows will often do this with the DJ/s talking over the 1st track (faded up and down) or a longer ident/jingle-style piece of regular music. The two examples below, from music shows, are good examples. Tommy Vance trails the artists he'll play and a new session recording, ie exclusively recorded for/by the station. You can hear the full versions (released as an EP) of 3 instrumental tracks played regularly played over the intros of TV on the Radio* shows here.

*I still think this is as good as radio slogans get!

Dear old Alan 'Fluff' Freeman was one of the inspirations for Smashie and Nicey, but he was a lunatic with a nod and a wink, squeezing in the odd bit of smutty double entendre in his bizarrely old-fashioned style; ingeniously mixing in classical music, AC/DC and some prog rock during his simply bonkers (mate) intros. 

TV and Fluff introduced me to a lot of great sounds back in the day, and if you read YouTube comments on such vids you'll see emotional testaments from many 80s/90s Radio 1 listeners. John Peel inspires similar affection (I've read a book which is simply a recollection of what he said and played on a series of shows. And loved it). Do YOU think you'll look back on any DJs with such fondness/as an inspiration 20+ years from now?!?

YOUR SUGGESTIONS OF USEFUL EXAMPLES
Please pass on links with descriptions/reasons for any YT clips of radio shows that YOU think contain some specific techniques or approaches that could be applied to your radio show.
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