Steve Karmen

Steve Karmen (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer, most famous for several jingles. Among his better known works are the New York State song, "I Love New York", the jingle Here Comes the King for Budweiser, the Hershey's chocolate jingle The Great American Chocolate Bar, the Exxon Song Energy for a Strong America (1976), and Wrigley Spearmint Gum / Carry The Big Fresh Flavor (1973). He also composed several music scores for motion pictures including the Mamie Van Doren film The Candidate (1964), Teenage Mother (1967) and What Do You Say to a Naked Lady? (1970), and performed briefly as a Calypso singer, achieving some recognition in Trinidad during that time. Karmen is the recipient of 16 Clio Awards.

Life and career

Karmen was born in the Bronx, New York. Steve was unique among jingle writers. Unlike other composers, who were paid a flat price for their jingles, Steve was the only one of his peers to receive royalties every time one of his jingles was performed on TV or Radio. His informal industry title "The King of Jingles" may have been given to him because of this extraordinary business ability to retain publishing rights.

He was born into a conservative family. His father was from Russia. Karmen grew up with Bobby Darin, and played with him in a band in the 1950s. They met while they were at the Bronx High School of Science. He played saxophone and guitar.

His wife died of colon cancer in 1973. He is the father of three daughters.

As of 2007, he lives in Westchester, New York.

List of Jingles

This list of jingles by Karmen only includes those composed from 1968 to the beginning of 1980. (Karmen, 1980).

1968

• Breakaway In A Wide-Trackin' Pontiac
• Budweiser Beer / Bud Is The King Of Beers...But You Know That
• Your Next Car Is A Chrysler
• Beneficial Finance / At Beneficial (Doot! Doot!) You're Good For More

1969

• Plymouth Makes It
• There's Nothing Like The Face Of A Kid Eating A Hershey Bar
• Tijuana Smalls [cigarettes] / You Know Who You Are
• Nationwide Insurance / Call Nationwide, 'Cause Nationwide Is On Your Side

1970

• Chrysler Plymouth Comin' Thru
• The More You Know, The More You'll Want Delco
• Budweiser Beer / When You Say Budweiser, You've Said It All
• Falstaff Brewing Company / Falstaff Beer, For Guys Who Like It

1971

• Budweiser Beer / Here Comes The King
• Michelob Beer / The Michelob Drinking Song
• National Beer / The Land Of Pleasant Living
• Diet Rite Cola / Everybody Likes It
• U.S. Brewers Association / Pitch In To Clean Up America
• Beneficial Finance / It's Great To Know You're Good For More

1972

• General Tires / Sooner Or Later You'll Own Generals
• Budweiser Malt Liquor / The First Malt Liquor Good Enough To Be Called Budweiser
• Colt .45 Malt Liquor / A Completely Unique Experience
• Colt .45 Malt Liquor / You'll Be Sorry For All The Time You Wasted
• Fresca / Tastes Like A Soft Drink
• R.C. Cola / It's Right For You
• Doublemint Gum / Doublemint Will Do It
• Hush Puppies Are Dumb

1973

• Pontiac / Stand Up
• Sunoco Oil Corp. / I Can Be Very Friendly
• Juicy Fruit Gum / Let's Pick A Pack
• Wrigley's Spearmint Gum / Carry The Big Fresh Flavor
• Ozark Air Lines / We're Big On That

1974

• Cadillac - A Standard For The World
• Michelin Tires / We Made It First, We Make It Last
• Wrigley's Spearmint Gum / You'll Like The Big, Long-Lasting Flavor
• Buc-Wheats Cereals / Feelin' Like A Million Bucks
• Northwest Orient Airlines / We Give You Half The World
• Trans World Airlines / A Taste Of Europe—Trans World Service
• Dial Soap / Aren't You Glad You Use Dial
• Purina Cat Food / Purina In The Little Blue Can
• Scholl's Sandals / The Comfortable Life
• Michelob Beer / Weekends Were Made For Michelob

1975

• Farrell's Ice Cream Parlors / Farrell's Is Fabulous Fun
• Burry's Cookies / The Burry's Blues
• The Detroit News / You Haven't Read The Paper Until You've Read The News
• Great Adventure Amusement Park (now Six Flags Great Adventure) / The Greatest Day In Your Life

1976

• Exxon / Energy For A Strong America
• Prestone Anti-Freeze / You Know It Protects
• Midas Muffler / Don't Compromise, Midasize
• Anheuser Busch Natural Light [beer] / Won't Fill You Up, So It Won't Slow You Down
• Budweiser Beer / When You Say Budweiser?
• General Foods International Coffees / It's Our Flavor That Makes Us Special
• Sunbeam Bread / A Sunwich Is Better Than A Sandwich
• Southwestern Bell Telephone / What Else Is So Nice For The Price

1977

• Anheuser Busch Natural Light [beer] / Take A Natural Break
• Michelob Beer / Weekend Pops (instrumental) - based upon "Weekends Were Made For Michelob"
• Jack in the Box [restaurants] / Ji-Ji-Jack, Ji-Ji-Jack—Jack In The Box
• Tic Tac / It's Time For A Tic Tac
• (Hershey Is) The Great American Chocolate Bar
• New York State Tourism / I Love New York

1978

• Michelob Light / Good Taste Runs In The Family
• Beneficial Finance / That's What It's All About

1979

• Ford, That's Incredible!
• Sunoco Is Making Every Drop Count
• Braniff International Airways / We Better Be Better
• Eureka vacuum cleaners / You and Eureka
• The Leukemia Society of America / We Care

1980

• Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer / Give That Man A Blue Ribbon

Discography (selective)

• "Freight Train" / "Mama Look a Boo Boo" - El Dorado 510 (1957)
• "Free Passes" / "Lost" - CUB 9059 (1960)
• "Breakaway" Part 1 / "Breakaway" Part 2 (Featuring Jimmy Radcliffe) - United Artists 50451 (1968)
• "Moments" / "Moments" instrumental - United Artists 50534 (1969)
• "What Do You Say to a Naked Lady?" / "Too Bad You Can't Read My Mind" - United Artists 50636 (1970)
• "You've Said It All" (Four Feeling) / "You've Said It All" (Tuba Version) - Audio Fidelity 171 (1971)
• "Everybody Likes It" / "The East Way" - Audio Fidelity 179 (1971)
• "I've Never Had The Time" / "37-21" - Audio Fidelity (1972)

Bibliography

• The Jingle Man (1980). Hal Leonard Corporation, ISBN 0-88188-239-9
• Through the Jingle Jungle (1989). Billboard Books, ISBN 0-8230-7707-1
• Me and Bobby D.: A Memoir (2003). Hal Leonard Corporation, ISBN 0-634-04876-7
• Who Killed the Jingle? - How a Unique American Art Form Disappeared (2005). Hal Leonard Corporation, ISBN 0-634-06656-0

External links

• Steve Karmen at IMDb