The Man Behind This Iconic New Hampshire Jingle Has Never Been to the Place the Jingle is About
If you grew up in New England, chances are you know every word to this catchy little ditty, and it fills your heart with glee every time you hear it.
Can you believe this jingle turned 40 this year? And it still slaps!
A pal and former coworker of mine, Reporter Matt Shearer from WBZ-AM in Boston, recently did a piece all about the man behind this bop of a jingle.
Producer Matt was able to track down the brains that composed this musical treasure. His name is Tom Roussell and he currently lives in Connecticut. In 1984, Tom was a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music and was working for jingle company. One of their clients was a new water park opening in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They needed a new jingle, and Tom was just the man for the job!
Through his interview, Matt found out that the whole process of composing, producing, and recording the Water Country jingle took Tom about three days. He only made about $400 for his work, which is pretty nuts. This man should be collecting royalties! Tom can't believe how much the jingle has stood the test of time, and that people are still talking about it after all these years.
The craziest part of the entire interview was the plot twist that Tom revealed at the end. The man behind the Water Country song has NEVER stepped foot inside the park. Are you kidding me?! This man deserves a season pass at the very least.
Tom, if you are reading this, thank you for giving us the precious gift that is the Water Country Jingle. For so many of us New England kids, it has been our unofficial summer anthem for decades.
PS: You should bring the grandkids to Water Country sometime. A wise man once said "there's no better place to feel or be young". I think you'd love it.