Writing a song that sells a product in thirty seconds sounds like a world away from writing a chart hit. For plenty of songwriters, though, the two jobs were closely linked. Jingles paid the rent, and they taught writers how to build a hook that sticks.
The eight names below all have documented jingle work in their early careers. Some of them wrote ads before they had any major success. Others wrote ads while still working toward their biggest wins. I’ve noted where the timeline is less tidy.
Barry Manilow
Manilow is the standard example. Before “Mandy” climbed the charts and “Copacabana” became a karaoke staple, he paid his rent by writing commercial jingles for fast food. State Farm’s “Like a good neighbor” line dates to the early 1970s, and Manilow said on “Windy City Live” in 2012 that he was paid a flat fee of $500 for it.
His credits also include Band-Aid’s “Stuck on Me” and McDonald’s “You Deserve a Break Today.” His debut album came out in 1973, and “Mandy” became his first No. 1 single in 1974. He’s been open about what the work gave him. Accepting an honorary award at the 2009 CLIO ceremony, he called jingle writing “the best music college I could ever imagine.”
Randy Newman
Newman is best known for satirical songs and film scores. He wrote the music for Dr Pepper’s first jingle in 1974, though Manilow sang it. Newman, Manilow and Jake Holmes also worked together on Dr Pepper’s “Be a Pepper” campaign material.
His timeline is looser than some others on this list, so I’d call him a jingle writer before his biggest honors, not before any success at all. Mental Floss notes that he wrote jingles before winning numerous Emmys, Grammys and Oscars. It’s a good reminder that even established writers took ad work seriously.
Mark Foster
Foster’s jingle years came much later than the 1970s, and they were a deliberate stop on the way to a band. Before founding Foster the People, he wrote jingles for Cadillac, Bing, Bank of America and California Tourism, and most notably Muscle Milk. That was commercial music as a day job.
The payoff came with the band’s debut single. Foster the People had a huge hit in 2011 with “Pumped Up Kicks,” fronted by a songwriter who had spent his early twenties writing commercial music. The sunny, compact hook of that song fits the training.
Jim Brickman
Brickman works in a very different lane, easy listening piano. He’s sold millions of albums and has placed more songs, 28, on the adult contemporary chart than any other male solo artist. That success sits on top of an earlier career in advertising music.
The detail on his jingle years is thin, so I’ll keep it simple. Before he hit it big in the 1990s, he wrote jingles. The melodic, short-form style of his instrumentals makes the connection easy to believe.
Paul Williams
Williams is a case where the jingle became the hit. In the late 1960s, he and partner Roger Nichols were known as reliable content creators, writing many flip sides but no actual hits. Then came an offer from a bank.
The commission was for California’s Crocker-Citizens National Bank. Ad agent Hal Riney hired Williams and Nichols to write a song for the slogan “You’ve got a long way to go.” Richard Carpenter saw the commercial and contacted the creators for the rights to the music. It became Williams’s first major success as a musician as “We’ve Only Just Begun.”
Roger Nichols
Nichols shared that bank commission with Williams, so his story overlaps. The song was an instant hit, and it grew further when the Carpenters released a version on the album “All of My Life.” Because Williams and Nichols had only written the first two verses, the tune needed reworking to complete it.
Advertising work followed him. In 1975 he teamed with ad executive Bill Lane to write “Times of Your Life” for Kodak, recorded by Paul Anka. Few songwriters have had two ad commissions turn into songs people knew by name.
Joe Brooks
Brooks is a more complicated figure. He was an American songwriter, composer and filmmaker, and also a serial rapist. That fact is part of the record, even though his music is still remembered.
On the music side, he was a successful author of commercial jingles in the 1960s before pivoting to filmmaking. His 1977 film “You Light Up My Life” spawned the hit title song and earned him an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a Grammy. His career shows how a jingle background could lead to unexpected places.
David Dundas
Dundas is the one-hit entry for the list. For much of the 1970s he worked on the fringes of entertainment with little success, landing a few small roles before trying commercial music. The jingle work came first.
His breakthrough grew out of that work. He composed many jingles before writing and singing a piece that transcended its origin as part of a TV spot for Brutus jeans. That song became “Jeans On.” It’s a clean example of an ad being the springboard for a record.
Taken together, these careers show that jingles were often a training ground, not a detour. They pay well, demand airtight hooks, and force writers to compress melody and emotion into thirty seconds or less. The details vary, and some writers, like Newman, were already established when they took ad work.
Next time a short tune lodges in your head, remember someone might have honed their craft writing it. A thirty-second song can be a good place to learn how to write a three-minute one.
