February 2 In Radio History

In 1890...Charles Correll, the actor who played "Andy" on the famous "Amos & Andy" radio program, was born.




In 1940...Frank Sinatra made his singing debut with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.


In 1946...The radio quiz show "Twenty Questions," with sportscaster Bill Slater as emcee, made its debut on the Mutual Broadcasting System. The program ran for eight years on radio and six years on television.


In 1957...In the production studio of KWKH Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana, and with James Burton featured on guitar, Dale Hawkins recorded "Susie-Q."

In 1959...At the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper played their final show. Admission was $1.25. The last song of the night was the Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace."

Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly

Holly, Valens and Richardson left The Surf immediately after the show, going to the nearby Mason City airport and chartering a small plane to take them to Fargo, North Dakota to prepare for their next show at the Moorhead Armory in Moorhead, Minnesota.

The plane took off at 12:55 AM Central Time on Tuesday February 3, 1959. Shortly after takeoff, young pilot Roger Peterson, in a combination of spatial disorientation and misinterpretion of a flight instrument, flew the plane into the ground, killing everyone aboard. According to the report, Peterson was not certificated to fly commercially at night, nor was he qualified to fly in the adverse weather (IFR) conditions which prevailed at the time of the flight. Although Peterson underwent formal IFR training, he failed his final checkride weeks before the accident.

A concrete monument was erected outside The Surf, and the ballroom is adorned with large pictures of the three musicians. A street flanking the facility's east property line is named Buddy Holly Place in his honor.

In 1975...Joe McCoy started as a disc jockey at WCBS 101.1 FM in NYC.

He eventually became Program Director.  In his 23 years as Program Director at WCBS-FM in New York City the station was # 1 (12+) 5 times as well as a leader for many years in the all-important 25-54 demo.

He's now retired enjoying traveling, jazz and baseball.


In 1985...FLASHBACK...From The Pages of Radio&Records R&R....

Birch Advances

In 1995...Actor Willard Waterman, the second person (after Harold Peary) to play the lead in the radio sitcom "The Great Gildersleeve," died at age 80. Waterman was a founding member of the radio union now known as the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).

In 2009...Laurie Cantillo started as PD at WABC.  She is now PD at News WTOP-FM in Washington.  As Cantillo told the Business Journals May 2014, "When I was a victim of consolidation after working in New York at WABC, the very first email I got after the story came out in Radio Inc. was from Jim Farley, and he said, “Anything I can do to help?” And I said, “Sure, hire me,” with a smiley-face, kinda just kidding. He wrote back and said, “Well, we may have something, why don’t you come down to see us.” So I jumped on the train. I was so impressed with the team here, and what they told me was a transition plan that would allow him to retire."


In 2009...WODS-FM Boston launches 1,000th HD Radio multicast stream.