After running a blog post on the history of the infamous 'Big Money' Menards jingle, City Pages was contacted by Barbara Simon – the lady who actually sang the jingle (with another singer) back in the early '80s. And that's why you can read an interview with the person who was paid $150 to voice one of the midwest's most-heard taglines. From the interview: 

"It was a very low-rent project. I earned $150 for recording it. The reason we did it at the studio was the exposure. My understanding was that the melody had been written by John Menard's wife, and the original was recorded shortly after the store opened in '60. ... we couldn't change the melody, we could only change the instrumentation. It was so low rent that Mitch [Irish] and I sang it. It was just the two of us, we did multiple tracks and repeated it. Mitch even mixed it.

...

Mitch, even though he knew engineering, he mixed it with his part more prominent than mine, so everyone thinks the melody goes, "Save big money at Men-aaaaards." That's the harmony part. If you listen to the female voice, which is mine, the real melody goes, "Save big money at Meh-Naahhhhrds."

It's pretty interesting stuff ... if you're into decades old jingles used by huge home improvement stores headquartered in Eau Claire. Read the rest of the City Pages interview!