Mike Russell

The end of the Chris Moyles Radio 1 breakfast show in just five weeks time also signals an end to his trademark sung, sometimes cheesy, jingles as BBC bosses advise producers of the new imaging to “steer clear of sung jingles and variants of breakfast themes and identities past and present.”

The BBC is right to demand a different sound from its new show.

The singing jingles, the play on nostalgia and the utter cheesiness of some of them were the Moyles trademark. Love them or hate them, the words and the tunes got into our heads and stayed there – as they were intended to do. It was sheer genius in terms of promoting Radio 1′s flagship programme. However the new man, Nick Grimshaw, has to do something completely different. His challenge is to build his own identity and in many ways do the complete opposite to his predecessor.

So, does that mean the love ‘em or hate ‘em singing jingle has had its day?

Radio 1 Drop Sung Jingles

Not at all! Sung jingles are in with a vengeance and are still one of the best ways of promoting a brand. When Chris Evans took over the Radio 2 breakfast show, he introduced his own singing jingle to open the show, again to be distinctive from his predecessor Terry Wogan who’d successfully stuck to a simple music and chat format for many years. Each presenter needs to stamp their own identity on his or her show and the best way is to do something new so you’re seen as being different and not constantly compared with the person who occupied the hot seat before you.

Sung jingles are a very clever way to get your message and brand into our heads, if people are singing your slogan you can’t really top that.  The TV ad men have known it for years, and radio stations – which are brands in themselves – are rediscovering the power of the sung jingle to reinforce their station names and slogans. Who HASN’T found ‘you can’t get quicker than a Kwit Fit fitter’ buzzing around in their head at some point, or had an operatic moment in the bath thanking their stars that they went to Go Compare?! Whether it’s the “red car and the blue car had a race”, in which smart old blue “took the Milky Way” or the singing lovelies in the pink convertible urging “girls get onto Sheila’s Wheels”, when the jingle’s in your head, the ad men have done their jobs.

That’s why radio is rediscovering sung jingles as a way to create a memorable brand, essential in today’s crowded radio marketplace. With modern recording techniques sung jingles are becoming more economical to produce making them accessible to the smaller radio stations as well as the big ones. Music Radio Creative makes quality sung jingles designed to be accessible to business owners, internet radio stations, podcasters, DJs, community radio and hospital radio stations.

Have your say on sung jingles in the comments. Do you love them or hate them?