Ode to a jingle package

Well not exactly an ode, alright, yes in the past I've said that the Gerry Marsden news intro was the best jingle that Radio City had ever used, when I started to clean up and listen to my old tapes, the Standard Sound jingles hit me in the jingle synapse of the brain. They had so many variations including full vocal, instrumental, acapellas and donuts, it was hard to deny them as the best jingle package that Radio City has ever used. So this section of the website is where I come to praise them, not to bury them. Here is the Main Theme - Full version.

The Jingle Story

In 1977 (just when City started to use the EMISON jingle package), Muff (John ) Murfin built the Old Smithy recording studio in the grounds of his property in Kempsey, Worcester. Muff had been working in the fields of recording artists and later commercials. It was at this stage he decided to form radio Wyvern, when he was recording commercials, timing was a very important issue, and so he started to use the (Roger) Linn drum machine, using this drum system would give precise timing, to this end the 1983 "In the air" jingle package for Radio City was City's first full jingle package to use an electronic drum kit.

Now this is where there is a bit of difference of opinion because if you look at the jingle return sheet above it states that the '83 package was composed by Muff Murfin and Daniel Boone but I always believed that this package was written by Ray Davies (not he of the Kinks fame) but of the button down brass fame. I have to say that listening to the arrangement of the jingles (there is a lot of brass in the recordings), I tend to lean towards Ray Davies, he is a trumpeter. The main male vocals were recorded by Daniel Boone, who had chart successes with 'Beautiful Sunday' and 'Daddy don't you walk so fast'.