Ask Mr. Music by Jerry Osborne

FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 17, 2014

DEAR JERRY:One of my jobs in the 1960s required frequent drives between St. Louis and Chicago.

Cars had no tape players then, so I always listened the radio.

One morning, while leaving Missouri, a song about "My Home Town of St. Louis" played. It was by a female whose name I can't recall.

About five hours later, while nearing Chicago, I heard the very same song, with the same singer, but now it was "My Home Town of Chicago."

It was so surreal that I almost drove off the road.

Never again did I hear either song.

What happened to me that day?
—Cliff Johansen, Fraser, Mich.


DEAR CLIFF: Sounds like you narrowly escaped being dematerialized and beamed directly to the mother ship.

Your harrowing day began with you listening to WIL as they played "St. Louis, My Home Town," by Terry Lee Jenkins, and ended on WJJD with the similar sounding "Chicago, My Home Town," also by Terry Lee Jenkins.

I know the position of your radio dial because every version of "(Insert city), My Home Town" was produced by Production Advertising Merchandising Service (PAMS), of Dallas, for a specific station. PAMS specialty was singing station identifications, or radio jingles. As such, only one station in each market could, or would, play their custom record.

Each "My Home Town" song included the broadcaster's unique call letters, their frequency, and as many slogans or catchwords as they could squeeze into about 90 seconds.

Although Euel Box's "My Home Town" generic instrumental track was used for the record, very few of the lyrics are the same. Most were written by folks either working for or associated with the radio stations. On the reverse side of each 45 is that same instrumental, sans vocal, credited to Euel Box with studio musicians.

Terry Lee Jenkins is usually how the vocalist is shown, but she may also be shown as Terry Lea, or Terry and the (fill in whatever the local station wants to call the band).

For example, "Detroit, My Home Town," made for WJBK, 1500 on the AM dial, liked to be known as "Radio 15." On their copy, the artist credit reads "Terry and the Fifteeners."

In 1961 and '62, over 100 different localized recordings were made of "My Home Town," including versions for some Canadian and European home towns.

Most can be found in the $10 to $30 range, but expect the price to at least double for ones with custom picture sleeves.

Here is a list-in-progress of the versions I have personally confirmed. Please let us know if you find others:

Abilene, Texas
Akron-Canton, Ohio
Alexandria, Louisiana
Atlanta, Georgia
Austin, Texas
Baltimore, Maryland
Birmingham, Alabama
Boston, Massachusetts
Brownwood, Texas
Bryan-College Station, Texas
Charleston, South Carolina
Chicago, Illinois
Clovis, New Mexico
Columbus, Ohio
Corpus Christie, Texas
Crowley, Louisana
Dallas, Texas
Dayton, Ohio
Del Rio, Texas
Denison, Texas
Detroit, Michigan
Duluth, Minnesota
Edmonton, Canada
Elmira, New York
Evansville, Indiana
Farmington, New Mexico
Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Fort Worth, Texas
Fresno, California
Henderson, Texas
Honolulu, Hawaii
Houston, Texas
Huntsville, Alabama
Jackson, Mississippi
Jamestown, New York
Joplin, Missouri
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kennett, Missouri
Knoxville, Tennessee
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lawton, Oklahoma
Lexington, Kentucky
Lincoln, Nebraska
Little Rock, Arkansas
London, England
Louisville, Kentucky
Lubbock, Texas
Lufkin, Texas
Memphis, Tennessee
Miami, Florida
Midland, Texas
Montgomery, Alabama
Montreal, Canada
Nampa, Idaho
Nashville, Tennessee
New Orleans, Louisiana
Orange, Texas
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Portland, Maine
Portland, Oregon
Providence, Rhode Island
Quincy, Illinois
St. Louis, Missouri
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Shreveport, Louisiana
Streator, Illinois
Topeka, Kansas
Troy, New York
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tyler, Texas
Waco, Texas
Washington D.C.
Wichita Falls, Texas
Winston-Salem, North Carolina


DEAR JERRY:On the 50th Anniversary CBS-TV show, "The Beatles: The Night That Changed America - A Grammy Salute," someone mentioned that Paul McCartney, in addition to everything else, was among the top songwriters.

Did they mean for America or Great Britain?
—Dee Gillcrest, Gary, Ind.


DEAR DEE: I can't say what they meant, but I'll tell you what I would have said about the song writing aspect of Paul McCartney.

Not merely "among" the most successful at his craft, he is clearly the No. 1 songwriter of the 20th century, which, when it comes to record sales, pretty much means forever.

Not to be overlooked are the many songs where Paul shares writing credit with someone else. The most frequently credited co-writer is John Lennon, regardless of whether one or both actually wrote the song.

As a result of that lucrative partnership, Lennon is second on the list of most successful songwriters.


IZ ZAT SO? Just as in the glory days of Tin Pan Alley, most of the top writers in the 1950s and '60s were teams, and nearly all were men.

In no particular order, some of the more familiar conglomerations that rank below Lennon-McCartney are:

Hal David-Burt Bacharach; Gerry Goffin-Carole King; Brian Holland-Lamont Dozier-Eddie Holland; Kenny Gamble-Leon Huff; Barry Gibb-Robin Gibb; Elton John-Bernie Taupin; Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil; Ellie Greenwich-Jeff Barry; Brian Wilson-Mike Love; Neil Sedaka-Howard Greenfield; Mick Jagger-Keith Richard; Paul Simon-Art Garfunkel; Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller; Doc Pomus-Mort Shuman; Roy Orbison-Joe Melson; Antoine "Fats" Domino-Dave Bartholomew; Kal Mann-Dave Appell; and Tommy Boyce-Bobby Hart.