“A production company run by production people.”
Those words introduced JAM Creative Productions on its very first presentation tape in 1975. Now, the Dallas-based audio production house is receiving the Texas Radio Hall of Fame’s George Baches Award for Broadcast Marketing Excellence, honoring founders Jonathan and Mary Lyn Wolfert.
They will be recognized at the TRHOF Induction Ceremony and Radio Reunion Weekend Sat., Nov. 7, at the Texas Broadcast Museum in Kilgore.
The organization lauds the Wolferts for their service to hundreds of Texas radio stations through the sound of JAM’s jingles and audio imaging.
[Related: “Jon Wolfert on 50 Years of JAM Jingles”]
“At their best, jingles are the glue that connects a station’s music and spoken-word content while earning a place in the listener’s memory,” said Doug Harris, a 2011 TRHOF inductee who serves as the organization’s executive director, in a release.
It’s worth a trip down memory lane to WBAP in Dallas in the video below.
Since 1974, the Wolferts’ work at JAM Creative Productions has touched thousands of radio stations nationwide, the hall of fame explained in a release. Throughout that half-century, the company has remained under the ownership of its original founders.
Jonathan Wolfert first became interested in the jingle business during the 1960s while growing up in the New York area, according to a profile on the JAM Productions website. As he learned more about broadcasting, he discovered that the station jingles he had been collecting from across the country were produced by a small number of specialized firms, most of which were headquartered in Dallas.
Jon moved to Dallas in 1971 to work for PAMS. Three years later, he and Mary Lyn decided to create their own firm. JAM officially launched in November 1974, taking its name from the initials for “Jon And Mary Lyn.”
“It’s a lot of work,” Jon said in the release, “but it’s better than having a real job!”
They will receive the Baches Award, which was created to recognize those who contribute to the success of radio stations through branding efforts such as logo design, sales and marketing materials, billboard campaigns and television messaging.
The honor is named for the late graphic designer George Baches, who designed or reimagined radio logos, including KLOL(FM)’s “Runaway Radio” in Houston and the 1990 relaunch of San Antonio’s KISS(FM).
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