January 18 Radio History

In 1913...comedian/actor Danny Kaye was born David Daniel Kaminski in Brooklyn.

While most of his impact was on the big screen, he had his own radio show in the 1940’s, and his own TV show in the 60’s.  Surprisingly, he has only two appearances listed for the Ed Sullivan Show.  As a partner in Kaye/Smith Broadcasting he was a co-owner of KJR AM/FM in Seattle & KJRB, Spokane.

He died Mar 3, 1987 at age 74 after a heart attack.


In 1914...announcer/actor Rod O’Connor was born in Houston.

In Chicago he became announcer for both Don McNeill‘s Breakfast Club and The First Nighter Program. While serving in WWII he met comedian Red Skelton, who offered O’Connor an announcing gig on his Raleigh Cigarette Program in 1945.  He stayed on when Skelton went to television.  O’Connor also worked with some of the biggest names in radio including Art Linkletter, Dennis Day, Rudy Vallée and Danny Thomas.

He died June 5 1964 at age 50 after losing a battle with cancer.




In 1929...Walter Winchell, the "New York Daily Mirror" columnist, began on Radio. He began his career in journalism by posting notes about his acting troupe on backstage bulletin boards. Joining the Vaudeville News in 1920, Winchell left the paper for the Evening Graphic in 1924, and in turn was hired on June 10, 1929 by the New York Daily Mirror where he finally became the author of what would be the first syndicated gossip column, entitled On-Broadway.

Walt Winchell

Using connections in the entertainment, social, and governmental realms, he would expose exciting or embarrassing information about celebrities in those industries. This caused him to become very feared, as a journalist, because he would routinely impact the lives of famous or powerful people, exposing alleged information and rumors about them, using this as ammunition to attack his enemies, and to blackmail influential people. He used this power, trading positive mention in his column (and later, his radio show) for more rumors and secrets.

He made his radio debut over WABC in New York, a CBS affiliate, on May 12, 1930.

His newspaper column was syndicated in over 2,000 newspapers worldwide, and he was read by 50 million people a day from the 1920s until the early 1960s. His Sunday-night radio broadcast was heard by another 20 million people from 1930 to the late 1950s.


In 1948..."The Original Amateur Hour," hosted by Ted Mack, a spinoff of Major Bowes' popular radio series, debuted on the Dumont Television Network. Mack had been Bowes' field assistant who scouted and auditioned talent for the program. During its 22-year run, the TV series aired on all four networks and introduced acts such as Teresa Brewer, Pat Boone, Ann-Margret, and Irene Cara.

In 1964..Fifty-one years ago today, the Beatles appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time.

The band's breakthrough, and ultimately, pop culture-redefining, first U.S smash, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 45.

The issue was dated Jan. 18, 1964.

The following week, the song rocketed to No. 3. It became the Beatles' first of 20 No. 1s the following week (Feb. 1, 1964).

The Beatles' 20 toppers remain the most by any artist in the Hot 100's history. When Billboard ranked the top acts of the chart's first 55 years this past August, the Beatles ranked at No. 1.


In 1971...Canadian AM radio stations were required for the first time to play 30% Canadian music content. Many stations such as CKLG and CKVN in Vancouver ran marathon Beatles or “rock music” specials over the previous weekend before the rules came into effect. CanCon – a contraction of the words Canadian content – requiring that, from 6 a.m. to Midnight, 30% of all music aired on Canadian radio must be by Canadian artists. As originally prescribed, the recorded performances count as Canadian if two of the following four characteristics are met: *Music composed entirely by a Canadian, *Artist is Canadian, *Produced in Canada, *Lyrics written entirely by a Canadian.





In 1983...First GUI/mouse computer, the Apple Lisa, was unveiled.


In 1985...Cleveland, Ohio was chosen to be the site of the permanent home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.


In 2004...Harry Fleetwood died. He was a commentator on WNBC-AM's "Music Through the Night" in 1954. In 1975 he left that station and went to WNCN where he hosted classical music.


In 2011…The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a $28 billion merger of Comcast and NBC Universal.