Ken R to Retire from Jingles
February 1, 2005 Maumee, Ohio: Even though our CD/mail order business of selling classic jingles is still going strong, I will be closing it this spring, perhaps as early as May. My wife and I have wanted to move to Hawaii for a long time and it looks like we may finally do it!
When I sold my jingle recording studio in 2000 I felt the same way: this was fun but time to move on.
Let me anticipate a few questions which may be on your mind upon hearing this.
Q: Will I have a last chance to pick up some of the CDs I didn’t order yet?
A: Yes. But order as soon as possible because we are not producing any additional copies of any products. For the 450 or so individual CD products we offer, we have anywhere between four and ten copies in stock on the shelves. Please check our Web site (kenr.com) on a weekly basis for price changes. We’ll also be sending out e-mail bulletins to alert you to our progress. In other words: this is your last chance.
Q: Will your jingle CDs still be available from some other source?
A: No. Our entire catalog of PAMS, TM, Spot, Pepper Tanner, etc. will cease to be available when we close. Jon Wolfert, owner of the PAMS franchise, will continue to sell his excellent 10-CD Set “The Magic of PAMS.” He also tells me he has plans for other releases, so check www.pams.com for details. By the way, he is the only guy who can produce re-sings of classic PAMS jingles. My agreements with Anita Kerr, Johnny Mann and others will lapse when I close my CD business. Jon has no plans to license anyone else to sell PAMS product, to my knowledge.
Q: Is there anything else you’ll be selling?
A: Yes…. We’ll be clearing out copies of all remaining copies of my books and misc. PAMS merchandise.
Q: How will I know what you have left in stock?
A: We’ll make the information available on our Web site as well sell out of various items. But we have no idea how fast everything will disappear.
Q: What will you be doing after you close your CD business?
A: I’ll continue to write for Radio World, NAB and other publications… but no more jingle books. There may or may not still be a kenr.com Web site, depending on what I’ll be doing.
Let me just say what a wonderful experience it’s been producing and selling classic jingles on CD. I’ve made friends around the world and shared my enthusiasm for the genre with fans as well as the people who actually created these little wonders back in the day. We’ve sold tens of thousands of CDs each year to folks in the UK, the Netherlands, Japan, Canada and every state in the union. The PAMS sound is enjoyed all over the world and I am happy that I’ve been able to play a small role in getting this great music into the hands of people who love it.
Brooke, my secretary since 1996 and Norman Barrington, our Webmaster, have been invaluable and of course Jon Wolfert, my “boss” has been gracious, kind and funny, as he has always been. Working with people like Johnny Mann and Anita Kerr has been a joy for me.
And thanks to you, our fans around the world for making this little career possible.
– KenR
(There are specials available from Ken R here and these specials end March 31, 2005 or whenever supplies run out. Thanks to Nicky Schiller for the e-mail)