March 7 Radio History

➦In 1876...Patent granted to  Alexander Graham Bell for the telephone. Three days later, he and associate Thomas Watson successfully tested their invention. Elisha Gray, Antonio Meucci and Thomas Edison all claimed to have invented the telephone first, and the issue is still a source of controversy.

There has long been a debate over whether Bell was truly the first man to invent the telephone. Bell was presented with more than 600 patent lawsuits, but the courts continually ruled that he was legally the inventor.

There are several controversies about the invention. First is that Bell received a patent before he had a working device, which was unusual. His critics, including Elisha Gray and Thomas Edison—who claimed to have had a working telephone but did not file for a patent—accused Bell’s father-in-law, former Congressman Gardiner G. Hubbard, of persuading the patent office to give Bell his patent over Gray.

➦In 1933...CBS' pilot episode of "Marie The Little French Princess" aired. The program aired for two years.  Marie, The Little French Princess was the first soap opera on CBS radio. It was daily program at daytime. Hilman Brown as producer and director of the serial was one of respected person in radio broadcast. He was addressed Radio Hall of Fame in 1990.

➦In 1962...The Beatles performed for 52 BBC Radio programs, beginning with an appearance on this date and ending with the special The Beatles Invite You to Take a Ticket to Ride, recorded on 26 May 1965. Forty-seven of their BBC appearances occurred in 1963 and 1964, including 10 on Saturday Club and 15 on their own weekly series Pop Go the Beatles, which began in June 1963. As The Beatles had not accumulated many original songs by this time, the majority of their BBC performances consisted of cover versions, drawing on the repertoire that they had developed for their early stage act. In total, 275 performances of 88 different songs were broadcast, of which 36 songs never appeared on their studio albums.

Judy Garland, scene from 'Wizard of Oz'

➦In 2001…The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reveal their list of the top 365 "Songs Of The Century".

The project was part of a music education program, with a curriculum distributed to fifth grade teachers.  The list is far from authoritative (or even consistent - albums and two-sided singles are somehow included); voters include elected officials, teachers, students and members of the media.

Topping the list" Judy Garland's "Over The Rainbow" (Click Here for list). Rounding out their Top Ten were (#2) "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby, followed by "This Land Is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie, "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, "American Pie" by Don McLean, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by the Andrews Sisters, "West Side Story" (album) by the original cast, "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" by Billy Murray, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by The Righteous Brothers, and (#10) "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin.

➦In 2014…Veteran broadcast journalist Bill McLaughlin, who covered the Vietnam War, two Arab-Israeli wars and the 1972 Palestinian terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the Olympics, died from cardiac arrest. He was 76.  The newsman, who spent 25 years as a CBS News correspondent, headed bureaus in Germany and Lebanon. He also covered the United Nations for NBC from 1979 to 1981.

➦In 2014…Jack Roberts, a radio industry veteran who most recently served as executive producer for the CRN Digital Talk Radio Network, died Friday in a Los Angeles hospital after a long illness. He was 62.  During his career, Roberts produced national radio shows for Dick Cavett, Oliver North, Doug Stephan, Jerry Williams and others. A native of Boston, Roberts worked in such major markets as Los Angeles, New York and Boston as an on-air personality, program director, executive producer, promotions director and GM.

Jack Roberts

Roberts,  who served as producer for Dick Cavett's and Oliver North's national radio shows and executive producer for L.A.-based Cable Radio Network (CRN),  also created and wrote the popular broadcast and music news blog "Hollywood Hills Group", which had an estimated 10,000 daily readers since its inception in 2011. His blog was very popular with radio/TV execs from L.A. to N.Y. and numerous record label presidents, personal managers, film and TV celebrities, recording artists and many, many others.

For more than 35 years, Roberts worked with some of the top celebrity broadcasters and air talent in major markets ranging from Los Angeles to New York and Boston.  Roberts’ experience ranged from working as a Top 40 format on-air personality in the northeast at a string of stations, including Boston’s WRKO, WMEX in Edgartown, MA; WXKS in Newton, MA; Providence, RI’s WPRO; WGUY in Veazie, ME; and WDRC in Bloomfield, CT, where he also became the station’s general manager and program director.

He eventually became general manager and program director at WWRC in Washington, DC, WMRE in Charles Town, WV; WBET in Sturgis, MI; and WHIL in Mobile, AL.

➦In 2015…Terry Dorsey, a longtime voice on North Texas airwaves, died unexpectedly at sge 66. Dorsey made friends of everyone he met and won numerous awards over his 46-year career before retiring in December 2014.

Dorsey began spinning country records in 1977 after landing a gig in Dayton, Ohio. He moved to Dallas in 1980 and worked for KPLX-FM (99.5) before moving to country KSCS in 1988.