Barry Manilow Wrote A Jingle In 1971 That Everyone Still Sings Today

Like a good neighbor, Barry Manilow was there — with an unforgettable hook. As the premier songwriter and warbler of some of the greatest soft rock the 1970s produced, Manilow is a master of conjuring and selling a memorable hook and indelible melody. It's a talent that he showed off and developed further before his pop music career ever even got going.

In the early 1970s, Manilow was employed as a commercial composer, meaning he wrote the music used in TV ads. At the time, that meant coming up with precise and persuasive musical motifs that would last for all of a few seconds that could be used to deliver a catchy slogan and the name of a company or product. In the 21st century, those pieces, known in the advertising industry as jingles, aren't used as much as they were when Manilow was tasked with writing them. But one firm, State Farm Insurance, still uses the same jingle it did in 1971. Here's how Barry Manilow wound up writing State Farm's "like a good neighbor, State Farm is there" jingle.

Well before Barry Manilow doubted the viability of his 1978 hit "Copacabana," or had to rename his first No. 1 hit because of a '70s rock song, the musician made his living as a musical accompanist for piano bar singers. He was plucked from there by an advertising agency, which asked Manilow to compose the music (he was given a slogan) for a Dodge television commercial. More work followed, such as a 1971 assignment to write a jingle for State Farm Insurance. Some of the copy Manilow had been given has since been dropped from the campaign. The original version was, "Whenever you're driving and wherever you're bound, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there."

Manilow came up with the short melody to fit the words, for which he received a one-time payment of $500. That started Manilow's upward trajectory. He cashed $500 checks a few more times for some very famous ad music, including stuff used in McDonald's "You deserve a break today" campaign and the melody for Band-Aid's "I am stuck on Band-Aid, 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me." Before long, Manilow was landing jobs singing commercial jingles, and then he signed a record deal.

State Farm still uses the $500 Manilow jingle composed in 1971. While its ads sometimes feature someone singing the lines aloud, and occasionally pitchman character Jake from State Farm reciting them, they inevitably use that earworm of a string of nine notes written by a soft rock star before he was famous.