Jingles are part of the world of commercial studio work, and dispensable as they may be, as an art form singing jingles require a high level of vocal expertise, pinpoint intonation, a flexible voice, and a focused tone. They also must have "vocal personality." Michael Roy and Jan were studio singers for years, creating jingles and radio station I.D. breaks for media markets all over the country. MR did all vocal arrangements, and then Jan and a professional lead singer would join him to lay down the jingle.
Budget Optical - I listen to this short jingle not as an intrusive ad, but as a demonstration of near vocal group perfection. Taken as a musical art form, vocal jingles have intrinsic value as a genre of choral music. The lead singer is Connie Zimmet, Jan sings alto vocals, and MR overdubs the tenor and bass. It is jingle singing at it finest, both vocally, and idiomatically. Connie Zimmet has a perfect studio lead voice.
Langenbach - MR says: I had to listen to the announcer's version of this jingle to remember, if I ever knew, which I may never have, what Langenbach is. I thought it was just some kind of beer, but the announcer says it's a German white wine. In any case, the singing is remarkable in this use of a Bachian fugue theme. I did this a cappella arrangement from scratch at the suggestion of the engineer, who had the basic melody ready for me: the voices are the instruments.
Bentley's Luggage Store - It worked like this: the singers would show up to the studio after the background band had been recorded. Sometimes that recording was one that had already been used in another state, and had been rather appropriated for another time around. MR would then take any ideas the engineer had,
or any from an ad agency, and write the vocal jingle from scratch, in about a half hour; sometimes using an existing melody out of the band sounds, and sometimes with an original tune.that fit the prerecorded accompaniment. You will hear pure studio vocals here: they are perfect. The holes in the vocals are for the announcer's slots. The vocals are studio singing at its highest expression.
Friday Night Place - We have here a radio show theme song (comp. and arr. MR). It was written for the late, great Dr. Ted Place, who was the host of a weekly show on WMCU. Connie Baker, Jan and MR sang the vocals, doing a play on words with the proper name and also common noun, "place." MR played some
light guitar and elec. bass on this mostly a cappella tune. Dr. Place used it for many years in Miami as his call-in advice show's theme song. It has some impressive studio singing, displaying the varied and demanding abilities of the professional studio singer.
Gregorian Chant Station I.D. Jingle - For WMCU Christan Radio (now defunct) in Miami, FL, this is so unusual it requires some explanation: It was part of a larger package of station I.D.s the Michael Roy Singers donated to WMCU every year. This particular I.D. was intended as a wry, tongue-in-check blast of humor, and indeed, was only aired one time:during their annul fund raising broadcast. It is a spoof on the
"don't touch that dial" plea yammered by on-air personalities, but,.. it is done in Gregorian chant, giving the illusion of cloistered monks singing in the catacombs of a monastery. MR has overdubbed the cadre of chanting holy men. While the station personnel appreciated the outrageous humor, and there were many hearty laughs around the station that night, the I.D. was (properly) deemed too eclectic for general broadcast use. It had one and one only airing to the general public: the night the package of jingles were introduced on-air.
You're Always On the Right Side of Your Dial - Back in the 70's, Michael Roy overdubbed these two short radio station I.D.s for a Christian station in Ypsilanti, MI. These two jingles are notable for their singing style: pure Beach Boys, who were world famous in the 60's. Arranged and overdubbed by MR, the singing is totally a cappella, and it sounds like the surf's up on Lake Michigan.
From the Rising of the Sun - This station I.D. jingle (comp. & arr. MR) is a mini choral piece in its own right, striking a sacred classics sound with a complex canonic section. It remains choral classic-sounding until the last phrase, where by law, the station must be identified as to call letters and city. At this point, it reverts to
standard jinglese as it satisfies the FCC requirements for a legal radio station I.D. Connie Baker, Jan and MR sing. It is notable (and well remembered by MR) that his payment for this package of jingles was not cash money, but a bass flute! The radio station traded commercial airtime to a local music store to obtain the rare (and expensive) flute, and then gave it to MR for the jingles; you can't make this stuff up!
Quintal I.D. WMCU - Another station I.D. jingle MR overdubbed and recorded in his own studio. It's title refers to the vertical chord established by the successive voice entries in fifths, that is, each voice enters a fifth above the last. Five voice segments are written, encompassing a cumulative two octaves and a third.
This is in the oddball genre of "composer's whim," where the writer deviates from stardard fare just for,the off-the-wall fun of it. The result, however, is a jingle so zany it usually doesn't get much (if any) air time: occupational hazard for arranger-composers.
WMCU, Miami - Short and sweet, this is the classic delineating radio station I.D jingle. The jingle composer may only occasionally indulge his whim: a proper package of I.D. jingles must have purist FCC rules-satisfying jingles like this one: it names the station, identifies the city, and best of all, only lasts 5 seconds. Connie B., Jan and MR sing it like it came out of N.Y. City.
WMCU Station ID jingle: "Walkin' On Down the' Road" - This does what a station ID jingle has to do legally: name the call letters of the station, and the city. Musically, this is overdubbing at almost perfection: MR plays his Martin guitar to this vocal, and he dubs the vocals precisely, singing well above the normal range of a bass-baritone.
Messing Around Below the Bass Clef - MR is a bass-baritone, not a basso profundo. Nevertheless, effective choral basses are expected to achieve notes well below the bass clef, and MR sings some low work on these songs: Ivory Palaces; Turn Your Radio On; God Promised to Take His Children; and Movin' Up To Heaven, among other songs on this site (locate them in the "Where to Find It" index). This short audio file has him vocalizing down to G and F below low C. It's all in fun on a slow day down at the studio.