Thursday, January 19, 2017

January 19 Radio History


In 1903..the first Transatlantic Radio broadcast took place. King Edward VII and President Theodore Roosevelt spoke with one another in a coded radio transmission between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Cornwall, England.


In 1905...pioneer radio writer/producer, Anne Schumacher Hummert, was born.  With her husband Frank she produced some of radio’s most memorable melodramas, including Our Gal Sunday, The Romance of Helen Trent, Mr Keen Tracer of Lost Persons, Betty & Bob, and Backstage Wife.  The Hummerts also produced several simple down-home musical series, like Waltztime and The American Album of Familiar Music. Their “radio factory” produced as many as 125 series, 61 of them soap operas. Anne Hummert died July 5 1996 at age 91.


In 1908...comic singer Ish Kabibble was born Merwyn Bogue in rural Pennsylvania.  He sang and played trumpet with Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge on radio & record in the 30’s and 40’s. His dim witted characterization was said to be a later inspiration for Jerry Lewis. He died June 5, 1994 at age 86.


In 1922...actor Guy Madison was born Robert Ozell Moseley in Bakersfield Calif.  He is best remembered as western hero Wild Bill Hickok on radio & TV in the 1950’s.  He died of emphysema Feb 6, 1996 at age 74.


George Klein
In 1923...WMC 790 AM in Memphis, Tennessee began broadcasting. The station currently airs Fox Sports Radio.

In addition to sports talk shows, WMC-AM features longtime Memphis disc jockey George Klein's weekly tribute program to Elvis Presley. Klein and Presley were close friends and confidantes during the latter's lifetime and the former's long stint on WHBQ-AM.

The station's license is currently held by Entercom Communications, which it purchased from CBS in September 2006.


In 1943...the FCC endorsed Restricted Radio Operator Permits.




In 1943...Rock singer Janis Joplin was born. She died of a heroin overdose on October 4, 1970 at 27.


In 1967…At EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London, the Beatles began recording "A Day In The Life," which had the working title "In the Life of..." The basic track was refined with remixing and additional parts added at recording sessions the next day and on February 3. The track was completed with the recording of the orchestral part on February 20. The total length of time spent recording "A Day in the Life" was 34 hours. By comparison, their first album, "Please Please Me," was recorded in its entirety in just 10 hours.




In 1998...Hall of Fame rockabilly singer Carl Perkins died. He was 65.


In 2005...Clear Channel Radio began its rollout of HD Digital Radio Multicasts in 28 Markets.




In 2006...Singer Wilson Pickett died. He was 64.

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