October 8 Radio History

In 1906..Radio producer/director/writer William N. Robson was born in Pittsburgh.  On staff at CBS beginning in 1936, he is best remembered today for his work on the radio thrillers ‘Suspense’ (1956-59) and ‘Escape’ (1947-48).  He was most proud of the wartime series he worked on fulltime, ‘The Man Behind the Gun’ (1942-44).  During the ’50′s he wrote TV dramas, and in 1961 joined The Voice of America, where he was reunited with Edward R. Murrow, and won four Peabody Awards. Robson died due to complications of Alzheimer’s Disease April 10 1995 at age 88.


In 1913...choral director & composer Walter Schumann was born in New York City.  His best remembered composition is the Emmy-winning “Dragnet theme”. The Voices of Walter Schumann were featured on a number of radio-friendly albums for Capitol & RCA Victor. Schumann died young 21 August 1958 during pioneering open-heart surgery, at age 44.


In 1935...“The O’Neills” debuted on CBS radio. The theme song, Londonderry Air, opened the 15-minute soap opera. The O’Neills aired Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m. In 1936 it moved to daytime until 1943 on NBC’s Red and Blue networks and on CBS, too. One of radio’s original soaps, it was sponsored appropriately by Silver Dust, Ivory soap and Ivory soap flakes.




In 1937...a radio classic had its first airing on CBS. The anthology series Grand Central Station is better remembered for the dramatic railroad sounds of the opening than for any one script in its 17 year run.




In 1944...the first broadcast of The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet was heard on the CBS radio network. The show would continue on radio until 1953 and on ABC-TV from 1952 to 1966.
“Hi Mom, Hi Dad, Hi Dave, Hi Ricky.”

When Red Skelton was drafted in March 1944, Ozzie Nelson was prompted to create his own family situation comedy. The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet launched October 8, 1944 on CBS, it moved to NBC in October 1948, then made a late-season switch back to CBS in April 1949. The final years of the radio series were on ABC (the former NBC Blue Network) from October 14, 1949 to June 18, 1954. In total 402 radio episodes were produced. In an arrangement that amplified the growing pains of American broadcasting, as radio "grew up" into television, the Nelsons' deal with ABC gave the network the option to move their program to television. The struggling network needed proven talent that was not about to defect to the more established and wealthier networks like CBS or NBC.

The Nelsons' sons, David and Ricky, did not join the cast until the radio show's fifth year (initially appearing on the February 20, 1949 episode, ages 12 and 8, respectively). The two boys were played by professional actors prior to their joining because both were too young to perform.




In 1953...the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit was Stan Freberg‘s  hillarious parody of Dragnet called “St. George and the Dragonet.”

In 1966...The Album Chart..Revolver by the Beatles was the #1 album for the fifth straight week. The Soundtrack to "Doctor Zhivago" was #2 followed by Somewhere My Love from Ray Conniff & the Singers and What Now My Love by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass.

The rest of the Top 10:  The Soundtrack to "The Sound of Music" in its 82nd week, Whipped Cream & Other Delights by Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass was #6, the Rolling Stones were stationary at #7 with Aftermath, Frank Sinatra's Strangers In the Night was #8, the Best of the Beach Boys came in ninth and Sinatra At the Sands from Frank Sinatra moved into the Top 10.

In 1966...The Hot 100..1966:  "Cherish" by the Association continued to set the example in a third week at #1.  The Four Tops, however, were up from 7-2 with "Reach Out I'll Be There).  Question Mark & the Mysterians were close behind with "96 Tears" while "Black Is Black" by Los Bravos held down #4.

The rest of the Top 10:  "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" from the Temptations, the Monkees traveled from 18 to 6 with "Last Train To Clarksville", Neil Diamond's "Cherry, Cherry" took a turn up to #7, the Supremes' former #1 "You Can't Hurry Love", Count Five was up from 15 to 9 with "Psychotic Reaction" and the 4 Seasons collected their 11th Top 10 and 31st hit with "I've Got You Under My Skin".


In 1984...Flashback from Radio&Records

In 1984....From R&R's Back Page..

In 1994...The Hot 100..The Boyz were hot--"I'll Make Love To You" spent a seventh week at #1 for Boyz II Men.  Sheryl Crow was up to the runner-up spot with her first hit "All I Wanna' Do".  Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey slipped down with their remake of "Endless Love" and Babyface found himself at #4 with "When Can I See You".

The rest of the Top 10:  John Mellencamp had his 10th Top 10 and 25th career hit "Wild Night" with help from Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Changing Faces were at 6 with "Stroke You Up", Lisa Loeb & Nine Stores were down with their former #1 "Stay (I Missed You)", Aaliyah remained at #8 with "At Your Best (You Are Love)", Immature were still at 9 and Real McCoy bounced into the Top 10 with "Another Night".


In 2001...talk show host Rush Limbaugh announced to his listeners he was totally deaf in his left ear and had only partial hearing in his right ear. The condition had happened in a three month period. (subsequently his hearing was restored through a revolutionary implant procedure.)


In 2010…Frank Bourgholtzer, the first full-time White House correspondent for NBC News, where he worked for 40 years, died at the age of 90.