Jingles and Commercials
I write great hooks - less charitable folks call them earworms. The best hooks employ both melody and words. Something about that combination - the way it engages different parts of the listener's brain all at once - gives a hook its stickiness. Jingles and stingers are super-concentrated hooks. I've written a few over the years. Here's a selection:
I developed "What You Got?" for advice columnist Dan Savage's "Savage Lovecast" radio show. It introduces a bi-weekly segment where scientists present new findings in their fields of sexual research. As such, the jingle leads in with a spooky sci-fi theremin, then morphs into a campy, sexy 70s funk sound. It has remained in constant use on the show since 2012 - broadcast to over 250 000 listeners worldwide.
I developed "The Rio!" jingle for the Rio Theatre - a Vancouver movie house that also does live music, burlesque, theatre and cult films after midnight. This B-52s style jingle fits with The Rio's bohemian, retro branding. I wrote it right when they got their liquor license after a monumental fight with City Hall. It was the first such license ever awarded to a Vancouver movie house, and necessary for the venue's survival. Hence the "we serve beer" lyric in the jingle was both newsworthy and celebratory.
I developed "The Rio!" jingle for the Rio Theatre - a Vancouver movie house that also does live music, burlesque, theatre and cult films after midnight. This B-52s style jingle fits with The Rio's bohemian, retro branding. I wrote it right when they got their liquor license after a monumental fight with City Hall. It was the first such license ever awarded to a Vancouver movie house, and necessary for the venue's survival. Hence the "we serve beer" lyric in the jingle was both newsworthy and celebratory.
I developed "...Needs Lube" for an award-winning musical theatre sex-ed show. I wanted a perky 1950s radio jingle sound. The comedy is in the juxtaposition of the ultra-square musical genre with the raciness of the product being sold. This jingle had a second life as part of a theatrical ad campaign for Womyns' Ware - a Vancouver sexuality store.
I didn't write the following songs specifically for commercials, but they wound up being used for them regardless.
George - This song was used in a television commercial for Womyn's Ware.
Wherever You're Going - Also used in a television commercial for Womyn's Ware.
A FEW THOUGHTS ON JINGLE WRITING
As I mentioned in "A Few Thoughts on Writing for SHINE", I find songwriting-as-puzzle-solving the most compelling way to work. When the parameters are narrow and demanding, the task becomes creating something that fits perfectly, organically. There's a sort of "of course" feeling that comes when you've hit upon the right jingle. Like it was always there and you simply discovered it.
My parents are both mathematicians. They describe a similar satisfaction with solving proofs. In math there can only be one answer. Sometimes the same is true for songwriting.