June 15 Radio History

➦In 1910...composer/conductor David Rose was born in London.

His most famous compositions were “The Stripper,” “Holiday for Strings,” and “Calypso Melody.” He also wrote music for the television series Little House on the Prairie, Bonanza & more than 20 others. In addition, Rose was musical director for the Red Skelton Show, first on radio, & then during its 21-year-run on the CBS and NBC TV networks.

He died Aug 23, 1990 at age 80.

Leon Payne

➦In 1917...blind country musician/songwriter Leon Payne was born in Alba Texas. He is perhaps best known for his hits “I Love You Because,” and “You’ve Still Got A Place In My Heart,” as well as two of his songs recorded by Hank Williams Sr.; “Lost Highway,” and “They’ll Never Take Her Love From Me.”  He was performing on KWET Palestine Texas from 1935, and played with Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys in 1938. Forming his own group in 1949, he appeared on the Louisiana Hayride radio show & later the Grand Ole Opry.

He died following a heart attack Sep 11, 1969 at age 52.


➦In 1923...award-winning jazz pianist Erroll Garner was born in Pittsburgh.  Although he could not read music his distinctive and melodic style brought him both popular acclaim and the admiration of peers. He began his professional career at age 7 on KDKA Radio. His most memorable composition, “Misty” (lyrics added by Johnny Burke) was a pop hit for five different artists between 1959 and 1975.

He died Jan 2 1977 at age 53.


➦In 1936...Al Jolson and his Nova Scotia-born wife Ruby Keeler starred in ‘Burlesque’ on the Lux Radio Theatre on CBS. It was just the third Lux drama from Hollywood; for the first two seasons the show had aired from New York on NBC Blue.





➦In 1945...NBC Blue Network becomes the American Broadcasting Company.

The company’s history traces to 1926, when the Radio Corporation of America (now RCA Corporation) and two other firms founded the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) to operate a nationwide radio broadcasting network.

NBC expanded so rapidly that by 1927 it found itself with an excess of affiliates in the same cities, so it split its programming into two separate networks, called the Red and the Blue networks.

After the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) declared in 1941 that no company could own more than one radio network, NBC in 1943 sold the less-lucrative Blue Network to Edward J. Noble, the millionaire maker of Life Savers candy, who initially renamed it the American Broadcasting System before settling on the name the American Broadcasting Company, Inc. (ABC).

1947 Advertisement

ABC was the smallest of the major radio networks and distinguished itself by hiring popular singer Bing Crosby to perform on a weekly variety series. As a precondition for his employment, Crosby required that he be allowed to prerecord the program for later broadcast; as a result, ABC became a pioneer in the field of magnetic recording.


➦In 1958...Jan & Dean's "Surf City" was released to radio.


➦In 1966...Capitol released the Beatles' newest US album, a compilation of sorts entitled Yesterday and Today, featuring a bizarre cover by arty photographer Robert Whitaker where the group, dressed in butcher smocks, is surrounded by decapitated baby dolls and raw meat.

The ensuing outrage forces the label to rush-release a new version with the group sitting in and around a large steamer trunk. Despite popular rumor, the photo has never been proven as a statement by the group on Vietnam or Capitol's practice of "butchering" their UK albums for US releases; Whitaker alone remains responsible for the idea, which at least one Beatle later described as "gross" and "stupid." Capitol merely stuck the new "trunk cover" over the original, and therefore, steamed "Butcher Covers" of the album are among the most popular collectibles in existence.


➦In 1968...Sandy Beach did his last show on WDRC, Hartford, Connecticut before moving to WKBW, Buffalo, New York.  Today, Beach does the 9a-12n show on N/T WBEN 930 AM.

Sandy Beach

Sandy Beach is a WKBW Radio legend and one of the most recognized names in Buffalo Radio history. Throughtout his career he has worked in Buffalo, Hartford, Dallas, San Francisco, and Milwaukee as an on-air talent.

He was also program director for NBC and Capital Cities/ABC. His most recent success has been the #1 PM Drive personality on Newsradio 930 WBEN.

Sandy is a three time nominee for Billboard Magazine Personality of the Year. In May of 2003, Sandy was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasters Hall of Fame.


➦In 2014...Iconic radio personality (American Top 40)/cartoon voicist Casey Kasem died of complications from Lewy body dementia at the age of 82. His remains were laid to rest six months later in Oslo, Norway. (See original posting: Click Here)