August 15 Radio History

➦In 1877…Thomas Edison wrote to the president of the Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh suggesting that the word "hello" would be a more appropriate greeting than "ahoy" when answering the telephone.

➦In 1935...radio humorist/philosopher Will Rogers and his pilot, Wiley Post, died in a plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska. Rogers was aged 55.

➦In 1945...Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces the news of his country's unconditional surrender in World War II over a radio broadcast to the Japanese people.

After meeting with the Soviet Union in Potsdam, near Berlin, to determine post-war terms for defeated Germany, the governments of the United States and Great Britain (together with China) issued an ultimatum to the Japanese government in late July 1945. It offered a simple choice: surrender unconditionally to the Allies in World War II, or risk total annihilation. In their carefully worded reply, the Japanese failed to capitulate completely, and on 6 August, the U.S. B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped the world's first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, another such bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The threat of further nuclear attacks drove Japanese officials on 10 August to accept the terms put forth by the Potsdam Declaration and submit their unconditional surrender.

On the afternoon of 14 August, a Japanese radio broadcaster told the public that Emperor Hirohito would soon make an Imperial Proclamation announcing the defeat. The following day at noon, Hirohito went on the radio himself, blaming Japan’s surrender on the enemies' use of "a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which is incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives." The emperor was not only a political leader in Japan, he was also revered as a near-god, and many Japanese did not fully accept the news of defeat until they heard him speak those unthinkable words.

As sadness and shame engulfed Japan, joy spread around the Western world. In the United States, news of Hirohito's announcement reached airwaves on 14 August (due to the time difference), and that day was declared Victory in Japan – or V-J – Day.



That afternoon, President Harry S. Truman addressed a crowd that had gathered outside the White House, saying "This is the day we have been waiting for since Pearl Harbour. This is the day when Fascism finally dies, as we always knew it would."

That day, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt snapped one of the most famous photos ever published, a shot of a sailor in full uniform kissing a nurse in the middle of New York City's Times Square. The photo, published by Life magazine, became a symbol of the general atmosphere of jubilation in the United States following the end of World War II.

In Indianapolis, WIBC 1070 AM listeners - at least those who were up between 1:30 and 2:00am Eastern War Time on August 14, 1945 - likely heard; a Mutual network live broadcast of Cab Calloway's band from New York City, interrupted just before 2:00am with the first correct report that Japan had surrendered.

➦In 1948…CBS launched network television's first nightly newscast, a 15-minute show called "CBS Television News," anchored by Douglas Edwards. It was broadcast at 7:30 p.m. and in only five eastern cities at first. In 1950 the program's name changed to "Douglas Edwards With The News."

➦In 1965...Beatles concert at Shea Stadium.  It was the first time a rock band headlined a stadium concert and, with 55,600 people, it set a new record for largest attendance at a pop concert. Tickets for the show had sold out in three weeks, merely by word of mouth created by young fans who asked the concert promoter about the next Beatles show while he strolled in Central Park. Supporting acts for the concert were Brenda Holloway, the Young Rascals, the King Curtis Band, and Sounds Incorporated. The show grossed $304,000. The Beatles' share was $160,000.




In 

➦In 1969…The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, promising "three days of peace, love, and music," began on Max Yasgur's 60-acre farm in Bethel, New York.

Of the more than 450,000 music fans drawn to the town, three died, two gave birth, four had miscarriages, and two got married during the festival. Performers included Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, the Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, the Band, Canned Heat, Joan Baez, Santana, Melanie, Ten Years After, Sly & the Family Stone, Johnny Winter, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Country Joe and the Fish, Blood Sweat & Tears, Arlo Guthrie, and Jimi Hendrix. Joni Mitchell was scheduled to appear but had to cancel due to being booked for a TV show.

Hendrix earned the most money from the festival, pulling in about $18,000. (For reference, that’s roughly $112,000 in 2015). Blood, Sweat and Tears ($15,000), Joan Baez ($10,000), Creedence Clearwater Revival ($10,000), and The Band ($7,500) rounded out the Top 5 earners. Other A-listers such as The Who and Joe Cocker took home $6,250 and $1,375, respectively. There was a lot of cash to go around, to be sure, but the event wasn’t as steep as some of today’s big-budget productions. Here’s one way to look at it: The in-demand deadmau5 is currently 2x more expensive to book than Hendrix was at his prime. Check out the full listing below.

1. Jimi Hendrix – $18,000
2. Blood, Sweat and Tears – $15,000
3. Joan Baez – $10,000
4. Creedence Clearwater Revival – $10,000
5. The Band – $7,500
6. Janis Joplin – $7,500
7. Jefferson Airplane – $7,500
8. Sly and the Family Stone – $7,000
9. Canned Heat – $6,500
10. The Who – $6,250
11. Richie Havens – $6,000
12. Arlo Guthrie – $5,000
13. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – $5,000
14. Ravi Shankar – $4,500
15. Johnny Winter – $3,750
16. Ten Years After – $3,250
17. Country Joe and the Fish – $2,500
18. Grateful Dead – $2,500
19. The Incredible String Band – $2,250
20. Mountain – $2,000
21. Tim Hardin – $2,000
22. Joe Cocker – $1,375
23. Sweetwater – $1,250
24. John B. Sebastian – $1,000
25. Melanie – $750
26. Santana – $750
27. Sha Na Na – $700
28. Keef Hartley – $500
29. Quill – $375

➦In 1986...WAPP 103.5 FM dropped Top40 for dance music as WQHT.

On August 15, 1986 at 6 pm, The Rolling Stones' "It's All Over Now" and a bomb noise rang out WAPP and the classic rock titles. The station debuted as "Hot 103.5" with new call letters WQHT and a new CHR/Dance format.

The first song was believed to be "R.S.V.P." by Five Star. Nobody in the radio industry expected it, but the new rhythmic/CHR format was taking shape. WQHT was the second such station with the format, months after Emmis launched it on KPWR "Power 106" in Los Angeles earlier that year.

WQHT moved to 97.1 FM on September 22, 1988 at 5:30pm with WYNY moving to 103.5 FM

➦In 1988...WPIX 101.9 FM changed call letters to  WQCD, "CD 101.9", intially was a AC/Jazz hybrid, later just Contemporary Jazz.  In 1989, they added some New Age and Soft AC cuts.

➦In 1995…NBC anchorman (Camel News Caravan, 1949-1956)/radio-TV game show panelist (Who Said That?)/Timex watch pitchman ('It takes a licking a keeps on ticking!') John Cameron Swayze died at age 89.

➦In 2002...Opie & Anthony broadcast the “Sex For Sam” St. Pat’s incident on WNEW 102.7 FM.

One of Opie and Anthony's stunts was "Sex for Sam", an annual contest where the goal was to have sex in notable public places in New York City. Couples from various states would be selected to be trailed by a comedian or member of the show, who would call the program to report the location. The contest was sponsored by Boston Beer Company, maker of Samuel Adams beer, and prizes included trips to Boston concerts sponsored by the beer company. The contest was approved by the station and had no major problems for the first two years.

However, in "Sex for Sam 3", comedian Paul Mecurio encouraged Brian Florence and Loretta Harper, a Virginia couple visiting Manhattan, to have simulated sex in a vestibule at St. Patrick's Cathedral on August 15, 2002, which was also a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation, and a Mass was going on at the time. When a security guard ordered Mecurio and the couple to leave the church immediately, Mecurio began to argue with the guard, who then contacted police. The couple was arrested and charged with public lewdness. Intense media scrutiny led to the Catholic League demanding that Opie and Anthony be fired. The Catholic League also threatened to get WNEW's license revoked.

Brian Florence, Loretta Harper

Opie and Anthony broadcast the next day, but were ordered not to directly address the incident for legal reasons. The show went into reruns the following week. On August 22, Infinity suspended Opie and Anthony for the duration of their contract, and canceled the show. However, the company continued to pay the duo to stay off the air for the balance of their contract. The Catholic League immediately dropped its bid to have WNEW's license revoked.

The repercussions of the incident were widespread:

• Infinity was fined a total of $357,500 by the FCC, the maximum amount allowed by law, and the second-largest indecency fine in American radio history. Infinity appealed the fine but again lost the case.
• WNEW's ratings had been dreadful overall aside from Opie and Anthony. With the forced cancellation of its only strong performer, its ratings dropped even lower than those of noncommercial stations and never recovered. The station began playing music again in January 2003, starting with a Top 40 format, then going to an adult contemporary format, and later switching to a classic dance music format before returning to the AC format, at which point the station's call letters were changed to WWFS. The station has since been moderately successful. In a bit of irony, Opie and Anthony would make fun of an incident at WNEW in late 2004, in which the program director got drunk, went on air, and confused the call letters with those of WNEW's arch-rival WKTU.
• Harper pleaded guilty a month later to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to seven days of community service.  Her partner, Brian Florence, died of a heart attack on September 25, 2003

➦In 2003…NBC News reporter (from 1952 until his retirement in 1986)/aerospace specialist Roy Neal died following heart surgery at age 82.

➦In 2008...Chris “Mad Dog” Russo calls Mike Francesa to say goodbye at WFAN 660 AM

➦In 2008…Legendary record producer Jerry Wexler, who helped define R&B music with recordings by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge and Solomon Burke, died of heart failure at age 91. Wexler coined the term "rhythm & blues" while writing for Billboard magazine in the late 1940s.

➦In 2014...Al Meredith, longtime WCBS 101.1 FM News died.

Al Meredith

In an age when radio news was disappearing faster than rotary-dial telephones, Al Meredith remained a radio newsman for 38 years, according to David Hinckley at The NY Daily News on the occasion of Meredith's retirement in 2008.

Meredith retired in 2008 retiring amid a shower of accolades from almost everyone he ever worked with.

Meredith  was heard on WCBS-FM for 28 years. "It was the only place I wanted to work," he says. "I hoped to retire from there. And I did. It was a great run."

 Meredith didn't start out as a newsman. His first radio gig, in 1964, was playing music on WGBB. But after four years in the Air Force, "getting C-130s in and out of Vietnam from Okinawa," he came back and found no deejay jobs open.

There was a full-time news job, though, at WGLI. He took it, liked it and over the years got deeper and deeper into it. He won numerous awards for public service specials, which he particularly enjoyed because "they always teach me something, too."