Hello News
Encyclopedia : H : HE : HEL : Hello News
Hello News is a popular television news music package and image campaign. Written and composed by Frank Gari for WEWS-TV in Cleveland, Ohio, the Hello News theme package first became available in 1978, and by the 1980s it had become one of the most widely used and recognized news music packages in the United States, with numerous local television stations using it.
Some stations continue to use the package, and Gari Communications' composer Chris Gari completed and 18-cut update to the package in 2004. Half of the cuts make use of a heavily disco-themed melody which harkens back to the original Hello News series, and the second half are more of a hard-hitting nature.
The accompanying image campaign was also very popular, and was even used by television stations in Canada, Australia and some Latin American countries.
Image campaign
The station promotional jingle that accompanied the news theme was one of the most notable parts of the music package. The earliest version was sung by Gari himself; he then modified it into a ballad version sung by Florence Warner. The two versions had similar lyric structures, but the first version had a repeated chorus to account for its faster pace.
The following is an example of the lyrics used for the ballad version, as heard on WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee:
- :There's a feeling in the air
- :That you can't get anywhere
- :Except in Nashville
- :I've tasted thousand yesterdays
- :And I love the magic ways
- :Of Nashville
- :Working side by side
- :We share the growing pride
- :Each time you touch the sky
- :From where the river flows
- :To where the sunset goes
- :We're all good neighbors passing by
- :(CHORUS)
- :Makes no difference where I go
- :You're the best hometown I know
- :Hello Nashville
- :Hello Nashville!
- :Channel 4 loves you...
Several years later, Gari introduced a new variant, mostly consisting of the line "Say Hello". A few other stations aired their own customized versions that deviated from the regular versions even more (eg. WBAL-TV in Baltimore introduced a version which tied in with "Reach for the Stars", the tagline for its then-parent network CBS). All variants, however, retained the familiar "Makes no difference where I go" chorus.
The treatments of the vocals were also varied. While most stations either used Gari's or Warner's vocals, some decided to go for a local twist, and have residents in their viewing areas sing the ballad version instead. Country music group Atlanta sang one version of WXIA-TV's "Hello Georgia", while the Osmonds were featured on KUTV's "Hello Utah".
Many stations had dropped the "Hello" campaign by the 1990s; however, a few brought it back in the 2000s as they approached their 50th anniversary celebrations (eg. Portland, Maine's WGME and Calgary, Alberta's CICT). The instrumentals and vocals were updated, but the structure to the song itself remained basically the same.
External links
- [SouthernMedia's News Music Search Archive]
- *[List of American stations which have used the Hello News theme package]
- *[List of American stations which have used the Hello image campaign]
- [Gari Communications at News Music Now] - Hear some samples of some of Frank Gari's greatest work for television stations
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.