By Sharon Oliver
Contributing Writer
REGION – Several things can shape or define a person’s memory of their youth, including television and radio commercials. For example, many New Englanders likely remember the catchy 1-800-54-GIANT tune which accompanied the ad for Giant Glass, the company that rescued motorists stuck on the roadside with a smashed windshield. Boston Magazine once described it as “the most recognizable jingle in the history of New England media.” It was also a recurring theme in Steve King’s psychological horror novel, “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon,” about a child lost in the Maine woods who relies on the jingle for comfort.
Another one is for East West Mortgage Company where 2Good2BeTrue45 recalled on YouTube, “I can never get this jingle out of my head lol” and ExactSpace added, “This song has been stuck in my head for 15 years.”
A prolific songsmith
These are all thanks to prolific songsmith Andy Vallario, who was responsible for these and many other New England ads. There are dozens of jingles sure to bring smiles to faces, memories of a simpler time and a sudden urge to sing or whistle their favorite tune.
Photo/Wikimedia Commons
During the popularity of “1-800 numbers,” Vallario left his job as a teacher to start his own music jingle company, Handy Productions, which he named after blues icon W.C. Handy. Although the first Dial-A-Mattress television commercial premiered in 1979, the name changed to 1-800-Mattress to match Vallario’s new jingle.
Vallario drew inspiration for the Giant Glass jingle from the 1962 song “Land of a Thousand Dances” which was popularized by R&B singer Wilson Pickett. According to Vallario, he would work out the melody on a guitar and Giant Glass owner Dennis Drinkwater would yell out “Call Giant Glass!” However, after the company was acquired by national glass-repair chain Safelite in 2012, the jingle was replaced with “Safelite repair, Safelite replace.”
Vallario’s career in writing jingles began with Greater Boston clients but he also produced music for national and regional advertisers like Burger King, Goodyear, Honda, McDonald’s and Toyota. He now runs Media Results, a music studio/advertising agency located in Wilmington. Vallario once told a radio talk show host, “My jingles pay my bills.” Using a line from Paul McCartney he added, “I tell my wife, I’m going to the studio to write a swimming pool.”
Other famous local jingles
Of course, there are more jingles written by others that can stir up pleasant emotions. Who can forget the legendary Wolfman Jack singing Dave Dinger Ford of Braintree’s praises? Eckmanutube commented on YouTube:
“Years ago, I spoke with Dave Dinger when I called his dealership specifically looking for a copy of the famous jingle. I was hoping I could get a copy on tape or CD. Dave told me that unfortunately he didn’t have a copy, nor did the radio station, but that they were in the process of updating it or creating a new one. Follow up with the radio station yielded no fruit, but I am so thrilled and grateful to you, Wolfman Jack, for posting this here for the many thousands of us who grew up with this!”
Wachusett Mountain’s “Wa, Wa Wachusett” jingle was seemingly inspired after someone drove past a Wachusett billboard just as the 1962 rock ‘n’ roll hit “The Wah-Watusi” aired over the radio. Carolyn Crowley Stimpson is a member of the Crowley family who has run the Wachusett ski resort since 1969 and is the vice president of resort services at the mountain. She initially felt the tune would not work. But after hearing it a third time at a family meeting and feeling they all would need lobotomies afterwards, the family could not get the jingle out of their heads and agreed this was it.
Listen to some of the legendary jingles created by Andy Vallario’s company Media Results:
https://www.mediaresults.com/our-work
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