Eugene Pitt, singer of the classic 1980s jingle for Nickelodeon, has died. He was 80 years old.
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Pitt, who recorded the iconic jingle with his doo-wop group The Jive Five passed away on Friday. The group announced Pitt’s passing in a Facebook post, noting that the singer had been sick for some time with an undisclosed illness.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce, on behalf of the Pitt family, the passing early this morning of the legendary lead singer of Eugene Pitt & The Jive Five, Mr. Eugene Pitt,” the post read. “Eugene had been ill for some time but was in good spirits with love for his family, friend and fans. My heart breaks for his family and close friends. I ask for people to respect the family’s privacy at this time. Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date. The best of the best has joined the heavenly choir.”
Pitt found fame with the 1961 song “My True Story”. Later, the group found fame again with their a capella bumper jingle for the then-new Nickelodeon network, the catchy “Nick Nick Nick Nick na Nick Nick Nick Nickelodeon” used beginning in 1984 as part of a larger rebranding for the network. It accompanied the network’s iconic orange “splat” logo and heralded a major shift in Nickelodeon. With the rebrand, Nickelodeon began using traditional advertising and commercials for the first time as well as went to 24-hour programming. You can check the jingle out in the video up top.
In addition to the Nickelodeon jingle. Pitt and The Jive Five were an early part of the Kids Choice Awards, supplying jingles for the events and also did work on ID’s for HBO Family in 1998.
[ H/T: The Blast ]
