1 of 1- Kilgore
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BUMPER TUNES
Not many years ago one would hear snippets of music on talk shows. Host(s) would often comment on the tune either whether they liked it or something like "I remember this from when . . . " A prime example was "Dave's Corner Garage" on AM-740 (Saturdays at 10:00 a.m.). Hardly hear music anymore; why is it?
Could it have been because every time a snippet was played that royalties were triggered? Or was it too expensive to expect the board operator to co-ordinate pushing another button? If the former, I believe it is counter-productive because comment on a tune should be good publicity for the music's publisher. If the latter, IMHO it added a very listenable dimension to talk shows
Anyone?
- aflem
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Re: BUMPER TUNES
I used to produce a weekly documentary series for a Toronto radio station in the early 80s, back when they still did that kind of thing. Choosing the music to either act as interstitials or intros to whatever the subject was became something of an art form. It became important to get just the right tune. I remember one example, when our reporter did a thing on an alarming increase in teenage pregnancies. The song we decided on using was "Rock and Roll Lullaby" by B.J. Thomas, a tune about a teen mom who sings her son to sleep. Sounds cliched now but it worked perfectly and set the perfect tone for the piece.
Bumper music is a slightly different animal in that it doesn't necessarily have to relate to the topic, just be distinctive enough to separate the spots from the show that's resuming. And yes, royalties play a part in why they are or aren't used, which is why there are so many generic songs that companies either buy or own. (AM640 in Toronto is especially obvious about regularly avoiding anything they have to pay for.)
On a related topic, I also lament the end of theme songs for TV shows, thoroughly understandable in our short attention span age. But I know my life would certainly be lessened if I hadn't been able to sing along with the "Green Acres," "Addams Family," and "Gilligan's Island" intros when I was a kid. (Wow, having just re-read that last sentence, how sad a life has this been????)
Last edited by aflem (April 1, 2015 1:23 PM)
- Kilgore
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Re: BUMPER TUNES
Thank you for the explanation. When it comes to AM-740, being a nostalgia-music station, I wonder if they're being penny-wise & pound-foolish (as we used to say)
Dale Goldhawk's daily talkathon seems "sterile" and it might help hold or even attract listeners if snippets of tunes with which he is familiar and on which he could comment over the course of the three hours, was included
Likewise, the program I mentioned above used to be much more entertaining because the only tunes Redinger could identify were those of CCR or ZZ Top, while his sidekick Alan Gelman who is himself a musician provided balance (sort of a Burns & Allen act, Redinger being Gracie Allen)
If a program included, say, ten 12-second snippets from Brian Peroff's Saturday nite sock-hop play list, would the royalty amount to much? Might be worth it (again, for AM-740, not necessarily for a 570 news etc)
Last edited by Kilgore (April 1, 2015 4:21 PM)
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