Radio History: Sep 27

William Conrad

➦In 1920...William Conrad born (Died from heart failure at age 73. – February 11, 1994). His  career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he starred in the detective series Cannon (1971–1976).

Conrad estimated that he played more than 7,500 roles during his radio career.

Most prominently, Conrad's deep, resonant voice was heard in the role of Marshal Matt Dillon on CBS Radio's gritty Western series Gunsmoke (April 26, 1952 – June 18, 1961). The producers originally rejected him for the part because of his ubiquitous presence on so many radio dramas and the familiarity of his voice, but his impressive audition could not be dismissed, and he became the obvious choice for the role. Conrad voiced Dillon for the show's nine-year run, and he wrote the June 1953 episode "Sundown." When Gunsmoke was adapted for television in 1955, executives at CBS did not cast Conrad or his radio costars despite a campaign to get them to change their minds.

In January 1956, Conrad was the announcer on the debut broadcast of The CBS Radio Workshop.

➦In 1933..."Waltz Time" debuted . It remained on the NBC Radio network until 1948. The show features Abe Lyman (August 4, 1897 – October 23, 1957) and his band, which was popular from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including Your Hit Parade.

➦In 1938...Comedian Bob Hope introduce a new song, "Thanks For The Memory".  It was introduced in the 1938 film The Big Broadcast of 1938 by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross. In the film, Ross and Hope's characters are a divorced couple who encounter each other aboard a ship. Near the film's end, they poignantly sing one of the many versions of this song, recalling the ups and downs of their relationship (then they decide to get back together).

➦In 1985...The Howard Stern Show aired for the last time on 66 WNBC NYC.

The show developed in 1979 when Stern landed his first morning shift at WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut, four years into his professional radio career. He continued as a morning personality at WWWW in Detroit, Michigan in 1980, and was paired with Quivers in 1981 at WWDC in Washington, D.C. In 1982, Stern's success in Washington led to a spot at WNBC in New York City, where he hosted the city's top afternoon show until his firing.

That year, the show began a 20-year run at WXRK in New York City where it aired on a total of 60 markets across the United States and Canada and gained an audience of 20 million listeners at its peak. In the New York area, the show was the highest-rated morning program consecutively between 1994 and 2001.

➦In 1995...Radio personality Alison Steele died (Born Ceil Loman - January 26, 1937). She was also known by her air name, The Nightbird. She amassed a large and loyal following on her night shifts on WNEW 102.7 FM in New York City during the late 1960s and 1970s. Her show featured progressive rock and artists associated with the counterculture of the time, combined with listeners' calls and Steele's own unique brand of mellow DJ patter, peppered with poetry and mysticism. Her original Nightbird show ran from 1968 to 1979.

Steele also worked in television for many years in a variety of roles including performer, writer, and producer. She returned to WNEW in 1982 for another three years, and then joined New York's WXRK in 1989 for another six. Steele was honored with the Billboard award for FM Personality of the Year (1976), and she was the first woman to receive it. Years later, the same magazine established a new award in her honor, The Alison Steele Award for Lifetime Achievement. She was also included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Steele developed her career by working for various New York City television and radio stations, eventually becoming a production assistant and associate producer.  Along the way she worked for bandleader Ted Steele's television show, The Ted Steele Show, on WOR-TV, and by 1954 she was a regular cast member. At the age of 19, she married Steele and got her first taste of radio broadcasting with their husband and wife music show, Ted and the Redhead. The couple's marriage ended in divorce.

In 1966, the newly launched station, WNEW-FM sought to distinguish itself from its competitors by establishing an all-female disc jockey lineup. Out of the 800 women who applied, Steele was one of the team of four who were hired. Steele worked the 2–7pm slot, Sunday through Friday. In doing so, she became one of the first woman disc jockeys in the country.

When WNEW abandoned the format after the eighteen-month trial to the increasingly popular progressive rock format, Steele was the only host who was asked to stay at the station.  On January 1, 1968, WNEW placed Steele in the overnight "graveyard shift" which granted her more creative freedom, leading her to develop her on-air personality and rapport with her listeners.

➦In 2012...Radio personality Chuck Crane died at age 58 in Sarasota, FL. Crane was the mid-day guy at WHTZ Z-100 NYC back when they first went on the air in August of 1983. On-air, he used the name Dr. Christopher Reed. He also became the operations director in January of 1984.

In June of 1984, he left Z-100 and traveled to Chicago where he became the program director of WLS 890 AM. Then on September 29, 1986, he returned to New York to become the program director at WYNY. This was during their AC years and he would leave WYNY right before the switch to country. 

Randy Bachman is 81

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Actor Kathleen Nolan is 91. 
• Actor Claude Jarman Jr. (“The Yearling”) is 90. 
• Singer-guitarist Randy Bachman of Bachman-Turner Overdrive is 81. 
• Actor Liz Torres (“Gilmore Girls”) is 77. 
• Actor A Martinez (“LA Law,” ″Santa Barbara”) is 76. 
• Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (“Pearl Harbor”) is 74. 
• Actor-opera singer Anthony Laciura (“Boardwalk Empire”) is 73. 
• Singer-actor-director Shaun Cassidy is 66. 
• Comedian-podcaster Marc Maron is 61. 
• Singer-guitarist Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind is 60. 
• Actor Patrick Muldoon (“Melrose Place”) is 56. 
• Singer Mark Calderon of Color Me Badd is 54. 
• Actor Gwyneth Paltrow is 52. 
• Actor Indira Varma (“For Life”) is 51. 
• Singer Brad Arnold of 3 Doors Down is 46. 
• Bassist Grant Brandell of Underoath is 43. 
• Actor Anna Camp (“The Mindy Project,” ″True Blood”) is 42. 
• Rapper Lil’ Wayne is 42. 
• Singer Avril Lavigne is 40. 
• Bluegrass musician Sierra Hull is 33. 
• Actor Sam Lerner (“The Goldbergs”) is 32. 
• Actor Ames McNamara (“The Connors”) is 17.

✞REMEMBRANCES

• In 1993..Jimmy Doolittle, American air force general who conducted the raid on Tokyo in 1942, dies at 96
• In 1994..Gerald Bledsoe, American broadcaster (Soul Alive, WWRL), dies of a heart attack at 51
• In 1995..Alison "Night Bird" Steele, DJ (WNEW-FM, WXRK-FM), dies of cancer
• In 2003..Donald O'Connor, American dancer and actor (Singin' in the Rain), dies at 78
• In 2010..George Blanda, American Pro Football HOF quarterback/placekicker (AFL C'ship 1960, 61 [MVP], 67; First-team All-AFL 1961; 4 × AFL All-Star; Chicago Bears, Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders), dies at 83
• In 2012..R. B. Greaves, American singer, dies from prostate cancer at 68
• In 2017..Hugh Hefner, American magazine publisher and businessman (Playboy), dies of natural causes at 91
• In 2018..Marty Balin [Buchwald], American singer (Jefferson Airplane/Starship), dies at 76