October 15 Radio History

Robert Trout

➦In 1909...radio & TV newsman Robert Trout was born in rural North Carolina.  While with CBS before & after World War 2 Trout became known as the “Iron Man of Radio” for his incredible ability to ad lib, as well as his stamina, composure, and elocution.  He died Nov 14, 2000 at age 91.


➦In 1914...ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers) was founded which ultimately led to nightmares in paperwork for radio board ops midway through the 20th Century!

➦In 1929...broadcaster/actor Art James was born in Dearborn Michigan. He hosted a series of TV game shows including Concentration, Say When, Pay Cards, Matches ‘N’ Mates, Catch Phrase and Blank Check. He died March 28 2004 at age 75.



➦In 1935...In Seattle, radio station KCPB became KIRO, as new owner Saul Haas increased the power to 500 watts on 650 kc.  Now with 50,000 watts at 710 kHz, and with sister stations on the FM and TV spectrums, the KIRO call letters are among the best known and most revered on the West Coast.

Vice President Garner and other dignitaries were on hand in the Cobb Building at 5 p.m. on Oct. 15, 1935 when KIRO boosted its power from 250 to 500 watts. Earlier that day, KIRO became the new call-letters for a station formerly known as KPCB. The “PCB” stood for “Pacific Coast Biscuits,” flagship product of Seattle’s Centennial Flour Mills. Local businessman and politically well-connected U.S. Customs official Saul Haas bought the station from Centennial executive Moritz Thomsen and set about making big changes right away.

Radio broadcasting was still a relatively new phenomenon in 1935, and Haas set his sights on making KIRO a powerhouse. From 500 watts, KIRO ultimately beat every other station in the Northwest and, with permission from the Federal Communications Commission, went to 50,000 watts during the summer of 1941. To accomplish the boost, KIRO built a glamorous new transmitter building and antenna array on Vashon/Maury Island.

When the U.S. entered World War II later that year, the government froze all pending power boosts for radio stations, leaving KIRO the only 50,000-watt powerhouse west of the Twin Cities and north of San Francisco for the next five years. The nighttime signal went as far as Alaska and northern California.


➦In 1957…Elvis Presley released "Elvis' Christmas Album," his fourth long-play disc for RCA Victor and the top-selling holiday album of all time with more than 9 million in sales. After hearing Presley's version of "White Christmas," Irving Berlin, the song's composer, called it a "profane parody of his cherished yuletide standard," and instructed his staff to phone radio stations across the U.S. demanding airplay of the song be discontinued. While most stations ignored Berlin's request, at least one disc jockey was fired for playing a song from the album, and most Canadian stations refused to air any part of the disc.

➦In 1960...While in Hamburg, The Beatles back Wally Eymond, the guitarist for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, on his version of George Gershwin's "Summertime." As Beatles drummer Pete Best is absent from the session, the band plays with Rory Storm's drummer, Ringo Starr. This is the first known recording of the group together, though the master is lost to history; two years later, the group would hire Ringo permanently.

➦In 1971...singer Rick Nelson was booed off the stage when he didn’t stick to all oldies at the seventh Annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival show at Madison Square Garden, New York. He tried to slip in some of his new material and the crowd did not approve. The negative reaction inspired Nelson to write his last top-40 entry, Garden Party, which, ironically, was his biggest hit in years.

Circa 1966

➦In 1975...the Music stopped on Pittsburgh's KQV 1410!  Whether they knew it as “14-K”, “14-KQV”, or “Groovy QV” many considered it was one of the great Top40 stations in the country. It was 40 years ago today that the music stopped in favor of an all-news format.

George Hart and Billy Soule did their final music show together. Taft executives were monitoring from Cincinnati, and the decision was made to pull the plug on the show –post haste– at 10:30 p.m. Their final song was “Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show” by Neil Diamond. Bob Harvey finished the night with “Those Were the Days My Friend” by Mary Hopkin.

For more on KQV: Click Here and Click Here.

➦In 1968...The former New Yardbirds, now known as Led Zeppelin, perform their first gig under that name at England's Surrey University.



➦In 1971...Rick Nelson (formerly Ricky) is invited to perform at the Seventh Annual Rock 'n' Roll Revival Show, an oldies concert held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Debuting some of his newer, country-rock material with his Stone Canyon Band, Nelson is booed by the audience; the experience so unnerves the former teen idol that he goes home and pens a song about the experience, puckishly entitled "Garden Party." Ironically, in 1972 it will become his first US Top Ten hit since 1963's "For You."

➦In 1973...The US Supreme Court upholds, by a 7-2 vote, the 1971 FCC directive that bans radio DJs from playing songs that glorify drugs.

➦In 1985...NYC WMCA 570 AM personality Ted Steele died. At one time, he also worked at KMPC 710 AM in Los Angeles.

Ted Steele's Bandstand first popularized music on television during the 1950s.

It is hosted by 40s bandleader and conductor, Ted Steele, who was also a mentor to famous singers in the likes of Frank Sinatra and Perry Como.

The show is a teen-oriented music program promoting young talents. One of the episodes features rock and roll legend Bill Haley singing his hit, Rock Around the Clock.



Ted Steele's Bandstand is the precursor of Dick Clark's American Bandstand, and shown on New York's WOR-TV (Channel 9).

In 1956...at age 19, future WNEW-FM NYC personality Alison Steele married Steele,  who was twenty years her senior.

In 1967, Ted Steele took over Saturday night Monitor from Henry Morgan.  Click Here and listen on a Saturday night in November of that year. Features "Abe Weatherwise," a feature on Wilt Chamberlain & more.

➦In 1990...NRSC-3, recommendations for AM receiver specifications, was adopted

➦In 2001...Jay Stone NYC personality at WXLO, WNBC died in a car crash in Hawaii.  Stone was raised in Los Angeles and worked at radio stations across the country in the '70s and '80s before moving to Hawaii, where he most recently was morning show host for Oldies KGMZ 107.9 FM.

➦In 2012...NYC Radio personality Dick Shepard personality died at age 90.

Shepard is strongly associated with WNEW, he also had stints are WABC, WMGM and WPAT.

Better known to his legion of listeners on WNEW at different times in the 50s, 60s and 70s as Shepard Richard A.

He also worked at WABC Radio, before the Top 40 era, as an air personality in the late 50s and  during part of 1960, appeared as a commercial, on-camera announcer on some ABC Television game shows in the early 50s, and was a busy voice-over talent  during parts of his five decades in New York.  Shep also did air work at WMGM and WPAT.