04/22/2026
News from Fervor Records:
Masters of the Airwaves: Revisiting the Advertising Magic of MCI
In 1955, musicians Connie Conway and Jimmie Wilcox, along with business partners Paul Humlie and George Welch Jr., leased office space at Audio Recorders of Arizona, the premier recording facility in Phoenix, AZ. Under the moniker Music Counselors Inc. (MCI), the team created advertising jingles and station IDs, winning over local, regional and national clients.
Conway and Wilcox hired the finest musicians in Phoenix to bring their advertising magic to life. Many of these hired guns found success just a few years down the road, including legendary session guitarist and Billboard charting artist Al Casey, country icon Waylon Jennings, as well as the entire rhythm section of legendary artist/writer/producer, Lee Hazlewood.
MCI became masters of selling products with bouncy melodies, lush harmonies and humorous quips at a time when local brands co-existed and even dominated their national counterparts. Chances are, if you had something to sell in Phoenix in the 1950s, you called on MCI.
Thanks to the archival work of the late Audio Recorders of Arizona engineer and Grammy Award winner Jack Miller, along with AZ music historian John P. Dixon, Fervor is proud to offer up this nostalgic listen of some of the finest jingles created by MCI. These adverts are still resonating today, credits include: Bride!, The Man In The High Castle, Apple, Puma, Whirlpool, Lucy In The Sky, and Meow Wolf. For more info , links, and/or licensing contact Jeff Freundlich.
