Ginny Redington - Open Wide America: The Ginny Redington Jingle Workshop

Synthy '70s and '80s earworms penned, and often performed by one of the best in the jingle business

Includes work with Tom Dawes (Cyrkle)

Fantastic original cover art from Sammy Khanchouche

A jingle powerhouse solo or in tandem with Tom Dawes (Cyrkle) as TwinStar Music, Ginny Redington penned earworms like "Coke Is It!," "We're American Airlines," and a smorgasbord of recognizable gems from the '70s and '80s. Many are collected here, many she sang herself, and many are loaded with synthesizer goodness! Open wide!

Even if Ginny Redington had not met Tom Dawes, you'd still have known her work as a jingle composer. You have to figure there weren't that many women even pursuing a career writing music for commercials in the 1970s.

If that was the rule in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Virginia Redington was the perfect exception. She had always been a singer and a songwriter, performing by night in New York clubs, while writing songs by day. She also occasionally got calls to sing on recording sessions for commercials. Her strong, soulful contralto voice lent itself to multiple styles, which was perfect for jingle sessions, where one often has to be a chameleon, and tailor the performance to the song, rather than asserting one's own individuality.

A friend who knew her music recommended her to a "jingle house" (a commercial music production company), and soon she was invited to join a "cattle call," where McDonald's asked 20 writers to each submit five jingles based on their "You deserve a break today" theme. Ginny came up with "You, you're the one," and won the competition.

She soon noticed, however, that other writers were earning as much as $250,000 a year for writing national spots like that one, but she wasn't making nearly as much writing for someone else's company, so she realized she needed to start her own jingle house.

That worked famously. More jobs followed: "Take Me, I'm Yours" for National Airlines, spots for Hertz, Plymouth, and Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder.

So Open Wide America and let the music of Ginny Redington and Tom Dawes carry you back to the golden age of commercial jingles.

 

 

Side A

1. Open Wide America

2. Perk Up America

3. Get Ready America

4. The Clean In Your Mouth

5. The World’s Best Fit

6. The Amazing Soda

7. Watch Your Weight America

8. Snack Time America

9. Coke Adds Life

Side B

1. I Like The Sprite In You

2. Baby Want A Babycham

3. Plop Plop Fast Food

4. Now We’re Talkin’ Beer

5. A Real Adventure

6. Oh Canada

7. Women In Business

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