… 06-01-2008 00:00 …
Call Collect for Dennis Meeks [By Uncle Ricky] In his book, The Hits Between The Hits , Don Worsham explains why Dennis Meeks , the son of PAMS founder Bill Meeks , was selling jingles for competitor TM . It involves money and the law, so it is horridly complex. Let me take a chance on a summary: In 1977, PAMS had been sold to a patchwork company that couldn’t fulfill their contract, and by 1979, Dennis was selling jingles for TM. I guess I got this demo about 1979 when I was working at 96.9 in Sacramento (97 FM). It’s a demo for the TM CBS Series Jingles for KCBS-FM in San Francisco, I think it was automated. It was called ” 97K “, and that’s all they sing. And when they give examples of these big-time classy jingles “in use on the air”, something is missing. I think it’s the Disc Jockeys. The point is, these jingles were designed to be the backbone of an intelligent radio station, not just something that emulated a futuristic iPod . I do feel better knowing that some CHR stations in the 80’s used a handful of jingles. But this demo, where almost the ENTIRE package is pretty much available “in the clear” – says a lot for “what happened to radio.” You needed people with these jingles and production stagings. That’s what made radio magic. This series is first-class, but not enough to lift this demo to greatness.