Monday, July 15, 2019

July 15 Radio History


➦In 1913... Lloyd Estel Copas born (Died at age 49 – March 5, 1963).  He is known by his stage name Cowboy Copas, and was a country music singer popular from the 1940s until his death in the 1963 plane crash that also killed country stars Patsy Cline and Hawkshaw Hawkins. He was a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Copas was born in 1913 in Blue Creek, Ohio, in Adams County. He began performing locally at age 14, and appeared on WLW-AM and WKRC-AM in Cincinnati during the 1930s. In 1940 he moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he performed on WNOX-AM with his band, the Gold Star Rangers.

In 1943, Copas achieved national fame when he replaced Eddy Arnold as a vocalist in the Pee Wee King band and began performing on the Grand Ole Opry. His first solo single, "Filipino Baby", released by King Records in 1946, hit No. 4 on the Billboard country chart and sparked the most successful period of his career.

➦In 1929...“Music and the Spoken Word” debuted on KSL Salt Lake City.  It is still on the air today, the oldest continuous nationwide network broadcast in the world.  It is a 30-minute of inspiring messages and music produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; the music is performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

➦In 2000…Radio personality Douglas “Jocko” Henderson - WOV, WADO died.

Jocko Henderson
Henderson began his broadcast career in 1952 at Baltimore station WSID, and in 1953 began broadcasting in Philadelphia on WHAT.  He hosted a show called "Rocket Ship" out of New York radio stations WOV and WADO from 1954 to 1964, which was an early conduit for rock & roll.

He was known for a distinctive style of rhythmic patter in his radio voice, which he had learned from a Baltimore deejay, Maurice "Hot Rod" Hulbert.   Henderson continued on the stations WDAS and WHAT until 1974, as a personality  in Philadelphia and New York as well as hosting concerts in both cities and a TV music program in New York. 

In addition to Philadelphia, New York, and Baltimore, Henderson was also broadcast on stations in St. Louis, Detroit, Miami, and Boston.



The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia inducted Henderson into their Hall of Fame in 2004.

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