August 13 Radio History

➦In 1919...Rex Humbard, pioneer radio and television evangelist, was born. His Radio and TV ministry was based out of Akron, Ohio and founded in 1958.



➦In 1952...the original version of Hound Dog was recorded by Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton. It was the first hit for songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also wrote Kansas City for Wilbert Harrison, On Broadway for The Drifters, and Stand By Me for Ben E. King.  Four years later, Hound Dog got the attention of the world when it was recorded by Elvis Presley.

➦In 1966…The first of the "Beatles bonfires," where ex-Beatles fans could burn the band's records to protest John Lennon's "bigger than Jesus" comment, was organized by radio station KLUE in Longview, Texas.

The next morning, KLUE's broadcast tower was struck by lightning, damaging much of their equipment, throwing the station off the air and sending the news director to the hospital.


➦In 1993...Terry Steele "The Bear", long affiliated with CHUM-AM, Toronto, Canada, died from a fall in his bathtub.  He also worked at CKEY and CJEZ in Toronto. For CKEY aircheck: Click Here.

➦In 1959...Danny Bonaduce was born. Bonaduce began as a child actor on "The Partridge Family" an eventually became a very successful Radio/TV host. He's currently doing mornings on KZOK 102.5 FM in Seattle.

➦In 1986...KRE-AM in Berkeley CA changes call letters to KBLX (now KBFN)

Joe Bolton

➦In 1986...Joe Bolton - WOR TV, Giants baseball announcer, WPIX TV (Officer Joe) -died. He started his broadcast career in 1927 as a staff announcer for WOR in Newark, New Jersey. He was the announcer for DuMont Television Network's talent show Doorway to Fame in 1947, but he left DuMont for WPIX on May 15, 1948 to be a news announcer and weatherman.

On January 17, 1955, he appeared as "Officer Joe" and hosted The Clubhouse Gang, and showed the Little Rascals. WPIX lost the rights to The Little Rascals, and in September 1958, he switched to hosting The Three Stooges Funhouse. This program aired on weekdays at 5:30 pm. He showed Three Stooges shorts until May 7, 1970. At one time, he showed Dick Tracy cartoons as "Police Chief Joe".

➦In 2007...In 2007..Phil Rizzuto, NY Yankees player and announcer died.

After a long Hall of Fame career as a player, Rizzuto broadcast Yankee games on radio and television for the 40 years. His popular catchphrase was "Holy cow." Rizzuto also became known for saying "Unbelievable!" or "Did you see that?" to describe a great play, and would call somebody a "huckleberry" if he did something Rizzuto did not like.

Phil Rizzuto

He would frequently wish listeners a happy birthday or anniversary, send get-well wishes to fans in hospitals, and speak well of restaurants he liked, or of the cannoli he ate between innings. He also joked about leaving the game early, saying to his wife, "I'll be home soon, Cora!" and "I gotta get over that bridge", referring to the nearby George Washington Bridge, which he would use to get back to his home in Hillside. In later years, Rizzuto would announce the first six innings of Yankee games; the TV director would sometimes puckishly show a shot of the bridge (which can be seen from the top of Yankee Stadium) after Rizzuto had departed. Rizzuto was also very phobic about lightning, and sometimes left the booth following violent thunderclaps.

Rizzuto started his broadcasting career working alongside Mel Allen and Red Barber in 1957. Among a number of announcers that Rizzuto worked with over the course of his career, Frank Messer (1968-1985) and Bill White (1971-1988) were the two most memorable. Rizzuto, Messer, and White were the main broadcast trio that presided over an important time period for the Yankees, which spanned from the non-winning CBS years through the championship seasons and other years of struggle during the Steinbrenner era. On television, for example, the Yankees broadcast team went unchanged from 1972-82.

Les Paul

➦In 2009...uber-guitarist Les Paul died in hospital in White Plains, New York at the age of 94 suffering from severe pneumonia. Paul is credited with developing one of the first solid-body electric guitars, which went on sale in 1952 and contributed to the birth of rock. He also developed other influential recording innovations such as multi-track recording and overdubbing. In the early ’50s, Paul and his wife Mary Ford had a string of hits including ‘Mockin’ Bird Hill,’ ‘How High the Moon,’ and ‘Vaya Con Dios.’

➦In 2010...longtime (1949-’84) NBC newsman Edwin Newman died of pneumonia at age 91.