3DB Radio Broadcast featuring the Smile Away Club promo

Most early radio advertisements were not recorded. Instead, announcers would read promotional copy live on air.

One exception was jingles, which were occasionally recorded onto disc.

In 1930, 3DB hired Charlie Vaude to produce radio promotions that were more entertaining to listeners, to dissuade them from switching stations. In the theme song for 3DB’s Smile Away Club, we can hear the results.

Performed by Vaude himself, alongside fellow announcer Renn Miller, the tune is upbeat and melodious, the club name repeated over and over so that listeners remember it as well as the music.

Vaude and Miller follow with some playful banter, demonstrating what listeners can hear if they stay tuned to 3DB.

The campaign was evidently successful, with the Smile Away Club boasting 50,000 members by the close of the decade.