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"Taking Pride In..." vinyl record series


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So this turned up on YouTube and the uploader wasn't sure what it was:

 

 

A radio program? Part of a special? No, it's a 30-minute vinyl record! It's not from 1988 but rather 1991 (though it appears the idea originated around 1989).

 

The Taking Pride In...series was actually something sold to a whole bunch of TV and radio stations. (A list is at the end of this) It was produced by Impact Broadcast Marketing, a Nashville shop. According to this 2014 article on the KREM version (which already was online), apparently the lyrics were nearly the same for each market (with two songs being altered) — just the narration changed.

 

Found a mention of it on this site:

 

Quote

This is an odd little album, with a mildly intriguing back story... Impact Broadcast was a marketing firm based in Nashville that created a series of vinyl LPs, circa 1989-91, that were made up to look like locally-produced regional boosterism projects. All of the albums had the exact same music on them, generic, prefab songs with vague lyrics about "your town," etc., and purposefully indeterminate pop-country (which is it??) arrangements with slick, bland, contemporary production. Two of these tracks were adapted on each album to represent the individual clients, thus "Taking Pride In Portland" could become "Taking Pride In Topeka" at the drop of a hat. Likewise, many tracks feature individualized recitations that actually do reflect the town in question, albeit through rose-colored lenses. In this case, it's local TV anchor Ron Harbaugh who intones about the glories of the Kansas capitol... Impact usually partnered with a local TV or radio station, and presumably got their staff to round up financial backers: the Topeka album was sponsored by the Fairlawn Mall, TJ Maxx, and other Topeka businesses... Sadly, the Nashville studio musicians aren't credited, although many of the Taking Pride albums list a Linda Mayhew as their "creative consultant," and it's possible that she was the female vocalist featured on all the songs... Regardless, the folks at Impact Broadcast Marketing definitely had a lot of hustle, and managed to sign up several dozen clients during their short run as cookie-cutter civic cheerleaders. Other cities include: Ashville, Omaha, Peoria, Portland, Spartanburg, Spokane... you get the idea. Some albums are dedicated to entire states or regions: Central Florida, West Michigan, the state of Nevada... but one would assume these were less high-status than the folks who paid for just their own city to be feted on vinyl. This disc from Topeka is the only one I'm going to review (I got it for a dollar at a combination gun shop-antique store in Ottawa, Kansas) but if anyone wanted to send me a copy of Taking Pride In Austin, I wouldn't complain...

 

The article mentions some of the more than 25 (!) versions that were made, and there have to be some more:

 

 

Edited by Samantha
Add KTUL - turned up on Ebay in November 2023
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Nice! I just bring up how little we know about any broadcast music that came out of Nashville, and then this comes up. (I just hope that perhaps some of our questions about unidentified music might be answered by further research into the Nashville ad music industry. There were several notable national jingle campaigns to come out of Nashville, the classic “Red Lobster, for the seafood lover in you” comes to mind, so I’m sure they must have been the origin of at least some other news music beyond what we already know.)

Edited by TServo2049
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  • 1 month later...

WKRG in Mobile had one too "Taking Pride in Mobile", and theirs came out in 1993.

https://youtu.be/_Dgi24DeEJ4?t=113

 

Pretty much the same idea....a "Hello (city) promo intercut with key local advertisers".  Of the ones featured, only Newman's Ambulance and Hill & Brooks Coffee are still around today.

 

I do know that the main jingle for the Mobile version was sung by Jimmy Hall of the 70's group Wet Wille, a local group that hit it big in the south.  Still to this day, one of the local radio stations plays Weekend right before 5:00 every Friday!

 

And hearing this, I believe WKBN was a client too, with a "Spirit of our Valley" promo campaign.  The following year, it would be replaced by "Caring For Our Community", which still runs to this day.

 

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Bumping this thread... here's KOIN's version of the series.

 

 

I'm listening to this all the way through, and I'm almost positive the vocalist on the second track, In the Beginning, is none other than 1990s country star Pam Tillis. It's very well possible because these were recorded in Nashville not long before her breakout album, Put Yourself in My Place was released in January 1991.

 

Edited by Ntropolis
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