Your own JAM story to tell? Or perhaps you'd like to extend Birthday greetings to JAM. Here's the place to do it.
Drop us an e-mail and we'll get your tribute
here..
Leonard Page, December 2004
Hi, I just wanted to say that I have always been a big fan of JAM (long before all those PAMS/JAM resings).
My all time JAM favorites are the "Hot KIIS" ,"Outstanding"," Fresh KIIS”, and the "Pro-Mod" packages. In my late teens in 1985, I used to listen to a CHR station in my hometown during that time, "KS-103", (now defunct). They ran all of the JAM "KIIS" packages. They seemed to come out with a new jingle package each year for three years. During that time, naturally I used to think that they were locally made in town somewhere. I mostly listened to that station, just to hear the new JAM jingles they ran, almost between each song. Actually the jingles sounded better than some of the music!
After hearing the "JAM Song" (which I thought was excellent), has the narration which rang true during the 80's, that during that time, it seemed as if jingles were running on almost every other station!
Today in my late thirties, I am a bigger jingle fan than ever, so it was like opening up a treasure chest when I discovered the PAMS/JAM websites!
Happy 30th JAM! Hope to hear you in the next 30 years!!
Liz Holland, November 2004
To Jon and Mary Lynn,
Congratulations on a long and successful journey from WNTC.
All the best
Robin Blamires, November 2004
A very
happy birthday to Jon, Mary and Melissa, and all at JAM.
I can always remember back in 1990 hearing JAM's unique jingles for
Radio 1 although I had never heard of the term jingles back then,
and I thought that Johnny Beerling had the singers locked in a
basement at Broadcasting House singing the name of the station! 10
years later I found out more about these companies and thanks to the
internet and the great generosities of other collectors I have heard
the diversity of JAM and the great production and music from the
jingles.
And I never realised 15 years ago that I would have my own versions
of classic JAM jingles thanks to the personal cuts scheme, not just
for myself but for some of my friends as birthday greetings. Happy
Birthday JAM and keep up the brilliant work.
Dave Nightingale, November 2004
I first heard the JAM sound as an impressionable teen listening to Radio One in Sheffield back in the 80's . With music being changable over that period , there was one thing that interested me more than the latest single from Wham or Duran Duran - it was the jingles.... I can still remember getting up at 0530, not to do a paper round or milk round , but to tape the 5 minute JAM medleys that opened the station every morning .
As I became older , It was only right to start asking the questions many jingle fans ask when first getting the bug .
Namely..Who made
them ? Who sung
them ?
I wanted to know more ...so after hearing Simon Bates mention the name of JAM on a 1987 intro he did for the station , I made contact with Alfasound - who by then had just started as agents in the UK for the company . A kind soul called Steve England wrote to me to point me in the right direction - they came from Dallas and the guy behind them was a certain Jon Wolfert.He even went on to tell me that other people were the same as me - they loved to collect them as well....So with this in mind , I started to trade cassettes and recieved my first cassette of JAM demos around 1991 .
They blew my mind -I was hooked- and the rest , as they say , is history.. I have made many good friends around the country and the rest of the world because of one influential jingle company in Dallas , USA . Dave Watts in Jersey, Pete Wilson in Bracknell, Dave Hemsley in Leeds, Roy Martin in Blackburn, Mark Hodgkinson in Doncaster, Simon Hirst in Barnsley, and Neal Bowden in Dubai are all known to me because of our love for the number one choice for jingles.
Congratulations to all involved with this project, especially Sean for thinking of the idea, and for the involvement as well of Graham and Stacey, but mostly to Jon and Mary Lyn for giving the world the best jingles from 1974 to today...
Some people may think 30 years is a long time in jingles - but I leave you with this piece of latin , which you will find at 5454 Parkdale Dr, Dallas TX 75227
" TEMPUS CONSUMIT RES CREARE" - AKA "IT TAKES TIME TO MAKE THINGS"
Mark Hodgkinson, November 2004
Happy Birthday JAM and here's to another 30 years.
I have always had a soft spot for JAM jingles because it was JAM jingles that I grew-up with on my radio and what started me collecting jingles. JAM jingles have always took pride of place in my collection and it was a fantastic day when I received my first JAM Personal Cut; to this day I'm still chuffed to bits every time I hear it! Congratulations!
Geoff Barton, November 2004
Like many
UK collectors, I got into JAM through
hearing the jingles on Radio One and Radio Two. For me, this
happened around 1977. My sister had moved to Philadelphia
and we visited once a year. Listening to the radio there -
especially to WMGK and, a distant crackly WABC New York - I
kept hearing the same tracks that I'd been hearing on the
BBC, and became fascinated. I wrote to Derek
Chinnery, Programme Controller
at Radio One, and got hold of JAM's
address. In 1978 a kindly parcel from Jon
Wolfert brought me my first
collection of JAM tapes - Positron, Pro/Mod,
Dance to the Music and Make it
Mellow (I think). Now this is where it becomes confession
time. Desperate for more tapes, I then used to write letters
pretending to be an American programme director using the
fake name "Bob Dinan". I sent
these letters to my sister in the States who posted them to
JAM (and other ID producers).
I managed to get more demos delivered like this and started
to build a jingle collection. Only once did someone from JAM
phone my sister's home asking to talk to Bob
Dinan about his jingle
requirements. My sister mumbled something about Bob being on
a business trip. That's when I stopped the subterfuge,
learnt that there were other people with a similar
irrational interest in jingles, and started trading with
other jingle fans.
As career and family kicked in, I stopped collecting, but
this summer I found all my jingle tapes in the attic -
hundreds of reels - and have sent them to David Barras, who
is converting them all to MP3 and, with Neal Bowden, helping
me to make up for lost time on the collection front.
So all these years on from sending that
first letter and getting the initial tapes from Jon
Wolfert, I'm still collecting,
and still, without doubt, hooked on
JAM.
Like other collectors, I shrug off the
embarrassed disbelief of family and friends. Days
would seem darker if there weren't some JAM jingles to
listen to - small capsules of audio perfection.
This is a fantastic and well-deserved tribute. Well done to
everyone involved - and thank you from all of us collectors,
including Bob Dinan
