Today we’d like to introduce you to Deborah McDuffie.
Hi Deborah, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started out as a production assistant in the music department at McCann-Erickson Advertising Agency after graduating from Western College for Women with a BA in Music Composition. Most of our accounts at that time were “music driven”, and quickly moved into writing and producing jingles for clients such as Coca-Cola, Miller Brewing Company, Kentucky Fried Chicken, General Motors, NBC, Campbell’s Soup, and other clients.
I also started getting hired to sing on record dates and other ad agencies’ jingles. I am considered the first Black woman producer/composer in the advertising/record industries, and the second female music composer/producer of any nationality in those industries. Billy Davis, the music director at McCann, invented the now famous “song form jingle”, where the first forty seconds of the jingle is an original song that dovetails into the product’s jingle, and together we became known for these creative sicty second jingles that the consumer mistook for records, until the product was mentioned at the end. In 1981 I was hired by Mingo Jones Advertising, a new Black agency that had been awarded the Miller Brewing Company Black Consumer Market account, as it’ Music Director. My career skyrocketed in the advertising and record industries. Most of my campaigns were “celebrity driven”, and as I became friends with many of these artists, my career expanded to include producing records as well.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road was very smooth. There were a few bumps as I learned my job, but there weren’t many struggles. In fact, the movers and shakers in the music industry were extremely supportive of my journey, offering professional guidance, support, and help when needed. It took me a minute to navigate the whole “the only woman”, and also “the only Black woman”, and there were more than a few comedic moments as I grew into the position I had been honored to receive.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am known as a trailblazer in my fields that encompass music and education. I am known as “the jingle queen”, the first woman producer in advertising and the record industry. However, I am most proud of my ability to fuse the creativity of music with life lessons for those who are drawn to work with me. Many of my high school students are still with me today, some 20-25 years later. Those who aren’t with me are constantly in touch. They are thankful and often speak of my life lessons and how they are still using them today. Many of them are teachers, and others use these principles in raising their children. It is gratifying to know that I have made and continue to make a difference, using the medium of music. There is a uniqueness to what I do. It’s definitely inspired and Spirit-driven.
Following is an abridged version of my bio if you want to speed read through it…
Credited with being the first female jingle composer/producer/singer in the advertising/record industry, Ms. McDuffie is a multi-award-winning pioneer, a “behind the scenes” legend, so to speak.
McDuffie graduated from Western College with a BA in Music Composition with a minor in education at age 20. She interviewed and was immediately hired by McCann Erickson Inc., then the number two advertising agency worldwide. One of the first projects she participated in was the legendary “BUY THE WORLD A COKE” campaign. Her choral arrangement of that song still hangs on the wall at Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta.
Over the next ten years, McDuffie composed and produced music for Coca-Cola, NBC, General Motors, Campbell’s Soup, L’Oreal, Exxon, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and all brands of Miller Brewing Company in the pop, country, jazz, gospel, and R&B genres. Additionally, her fluency in Spanish and French allowed her to produce campaigns in those languages for the Coca-Cola and Miller brands, in the United States, Mexico, France, and South America.
1981 she left McCann to become Music Director at the newly formed Black advertising agency, Mingo Jones Guilmenot, where she would compose and produce commercials and special projects for major advertisers for another 15 years.
She has composed, produced, and/or performed with Luther Vandross, Janet Jackson, Gladys Knight, Al Green, Grover Washington, Jr., Jeffrey Osborne, Jose Feliciano, Patti Labelle, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Wilson, Michael Bolton, Roberta Flack, Will Smith, Peabo Bryson, Ashford & Simpson, Malcolm Jamal Warner, Bobby Caldwell, Cheryl Lynn, Peter Allen, Jennifer Holliday, Branford Marsalis, Deniece Williams, James Ingram, Jennifer Holliday, Tito Puente, Gerald Albright, Howard Hewett, Teddy Pendergrass, Temptations, Stylistics, Four Tops, Spinners…and the list goes on and on.
She served as producer/marketing consultant for the 1994 CHILDREN’S CHOICE AWARDS honoring Michael Jackson.
She relocated to Jacksonville, Florida in the summer of 1996 to pursue her dream of teaching. In her first year as band director at Jefferson Davis Middle School, she was selected 1996-97 Teacher of the Year.
In 1999, she was hired as Production Manager of the newly renovated Ritz Theatre & LaVilla Museum. She was responsible for events and programs, created and developed the local talent competition, “Ritz Amateur Night, “and “Ritz Voices” all-city youth chorus in 2000.
McDuffie returned to full-time teaching in 2001 when principal Dr. James Williams hired her as Paxon School for Advanced Studies’ choral director. She remained at the Ritz Theatre part-time as director of Ritz Voices and producer of Amateur Night.
McDuffie was named Chair of Paxon’s Fine Arts Department in 2004, teaching multiple choruses, IB Music, Music Appreciation, Musical Theatre, and Dance Techniques. In 2012, she was once again voted Teacher of the Year.
In 2003 served as judge on WJXT’s “American Idol styled” talent search, “Gimme the Mike”, also producing the shows’ holiday reunion special featuring past and present contestants. A few years later, she would return to WJXT, this time as judge for “Oh Say Can You Sing”.
McDuffie’s music ensembles are some of the most talented groups in the southeast corridor, having performed live with Barry Manilow, Eric Church, Foreigner (3 years), Neil Diamond Tribute Band (2 years), Howard Hewett, Peabo Bryson, Lisa Fischer, Will Downing, Manhattans, and Paul Shaffer
McDuffie’s autobiography, “Reign of the Jingle Queen,” was published in 2024 and is receiving national acclaim as “a unique and powerful piece of American music history”. It is available in print and eBook format at www.bookbaby.com and www.thejinglequeen.com.
Any big plans?
I am currently promoting my book and continue to produce community-based concerts at the Ritz Theatre. I am taking one day at t time. I have been in ministerial school for a few years, and speak once a month at my spiritual center as well as function as the music director. I tried retiring a few times, but that didn’t work! (-:
Pricing:
- $65 coffee table book color 5oo pages
- $40 coffee table book b&w 5oo pages
- $9.99 Ebook color
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thejinglequeen.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejinglequeen/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thejinglequeen
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/msmcdmusic/
