August 13 Radio History

➦In 1919...Alpha Rex Emmanuel Humbard born (Died at age 88 – September 21, 2007). He was a pioneering radio and TV evangelist whose Cathedral of Tomorrow show was aired on over 600 stations at the peak of its popularity.

➦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 controversy over John Lennon's "more popular than Jesus" comments had been growing since late July. A public bonfire was on this day organised by the radio station KLUE in Longview, Texas.

The following day, the KLUE broadcast tower was struck by lightning, damaging much of their equipment and sending the news director to the hospital.

➦In 1959...Daniel Bonaduce born. The son of veteran TV writer/producer Joseph Bonaduce (The Dick Van Dyke Show, One Day at a Time, and others), he became famous as a child actor of the 1970s on the TV sitcom The Partridge Family. He co-starred as Danny Partridge, the wisecracking, redheaded middle son of the singing family band (headed by Shirley Jones), and he was the fictional pop group's bass guitar player.

Danny Bonaduce - 2007

Since then, Bonaduce has starred in several other TV series, including the VH1 reality show Breaking Bonaduce in 2005, radio shows in Los Angeles and Philadelphia and has been hosting a morning talk/music show at Seattle radio station KZOK-FM since November 14, 2011.

In the late 1980s, Bonaduce had become an on-air radio personality. He worked an overnight shift at Philadelphia's WEGX-FM. From 1994 to 1996, Bonaduce hosted his own radio show, The Danny Bonaduce Show on The Loop WLUP in Chicago. Between 1996 and 1998, Bonaduce hosted a morning radio show in Detroit on WKQI with comedian and Last Comic Standing winner John Heffron.

Bonaduce was part of The Adam Carolla Show in 2007. In 2008 he was given a daily one-hour solo spot known as Broadcasting Bonaduce, which was broadcast locally on the L.A.-based KLSX station. In February 2009, it was announced that the station had changed its format from talk to Top 40, and the removal of Broadcasting Bonaduce from the KLSX schedule was confirmed.

On October 31, 2011, it was announced by Seattle radio station 102.5 KZOK that Bonaduce would be co-hosting their morning-drive show beginning on November 14, 2011. Bonaduce came to Seattle from a radio stint at 94 WYSP in Philadelphia, following a format change from classic rock to all sports radio in September 2011.

Bonaduce is an ordained minister; he was ordained online in order to perform a wedding ceremony as part of a 94WYSP radio promotion in early 2011.

➦In 1986...KRE-AM in Berkeley CA changes call letters to KBLX (now KVTO). The station began in Berkeley in 1922 as KRE, the former call-sign of a marine radio station aboard a World War I merchant marine steamship, Florence H., destroyed in an April 17, 1918, explosion at Quiberon Bay, France.  Later programming was simulcast on KRE-FM and there were occasional AM/FM stereo broadcasts, including some classical music programming. KRE's call letters changed to KPAT in 1963, then back to KRE in 1972. The call letters KBLX were adopted in 1986, then changed to KBFN in 1989 and back to KBLX in 1990. The current call letters, KVTO, were adopted in 1994.

The station is currently owned by Phuong Pham, through licensee Pham Radio Communication LLC and air a Chinese fromat.

➦In 1986...NYC TV Personality (Officer) Joe Bolton died. He started his broadcast career in 1927 as a staff announcer for WOR in Newark, NJ. 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.

Joe Bolton

On January 17, 1955, he appeared as "Officer Joe" and hosted The Clubhouse Gang, which featured the Little Rascals and the theme song "The Whistler and his Dog". WPIX lost the rights to The Little Rascals, and in September 1958, he switched to hosting The Three Stooges Funhouse, a showcase of The Three Stooges shorts which aired on WPIX weekdays until May 7, 1970, mostly weekdays at 5:30 pm. At one time, he was host of WPIX's The Dick Tracy Show as "Police Chief Joe".

Bolton also had cameos in two Three Stooges films: Stop! Look! and Laugh (1960), as a customer in a cafe; and in The Outlaws Is Coming (1965), the last feature film by The Three Stooges, which featured him and eight other local children television show hosts, all cast as villains.

Bolton appeared at many New York area venues, including Freedomland U.S.A. in The Bronx, to meet and entertain children. At Freedomland, he hosted appearances by The Three Stooges at the park's Moon Bowl entertainment venue. Bolton and The Three Stooges are featured in the book Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History (Theme Park Press, 2019).

Bolton retired in 1975 to Santa Monica, California, and died in 1986 at Santa Monica Hospital of a heart attack.

Terry Steele

➦In 1993...Radio personality Terry Steele died after a fall in his bathtub. He was 46. One of the smoothest-sounding of all the CHUM jocks, Steele was born James Stromberg on July 19, 1947 in Chester, PA. His first radio job was in Carlisle at $60 a week. Steele jocked at WINX Rockville, Maryland, and WNOR Norfolk, Virginia, before arriving at CHUM in 1972. He spent 15 years at CHUM, establishing himself as one of Toronto's top jocks while voicing many of the station's specials.

Steele was part of one of CHUM's most memorable promotions when he wrestled Sweet Daddy Siki in 1974. He had the honor of signing off CHUM's Top 40 era on June 6, 1986 and continued at the station during the short-lived "Favorites of Yesterday and Today" format. After leaving CHUM in 1987, Steele jocked at CKEY, CKFM and CJEZ in Toronto. For CKEY aircheck: Click Here.

➦In 2007...Phil Rizzuto, NY Yankees player and announcer died in his sleep, three days short of the 51st anniversary of his last game as a Yankee, exactly twelve years after the death of Mickey Mantle, and just over one month shy of his 90th birthday. He had been in declining health for several years and was living at a nursing home in West Orange, New Jersey for the last months of his life. At the time of his death, at age 89, Rizzuto was the oldest living member of Baseball's Hall of Fame.

Phil Rizzuto

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.

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.

➦In 2010...Edwin Harold Newman died at age 91 (Born - January 25, 1919). He was anewscaster, journalist, and author. After beginning his career with the wire services and serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Newman worked in radio for CBS News. He is known for a 23-year career in television news with the National Broadcasting Company, from 1961 to 1984.

Edwin Newman - 1975

Newman initially worked for the wire services: first for the International News Service as a copy boy, mostly in the Senate, and then United Press. On Sunday, December 7, 1941, the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, he heard the news during a radio concert. When he rang the office asking if he should come in, the reply was "Hell yes!" Newman took dictation for 12 hours as United Press reporters phoned in their stories.

He served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1945 as a signal officer, stationed first in Trinidad and then at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Following the war Newman worked as a reporter for United Press (1945–1946, primarily reporting about the State Department), before moving to the CBS News radio division (1947–1949) as assistant to Eric Sevareid.

Between 1949 and 1952 Newman worked as a freelancer, primarily for NBC News. He wrote for a number of publications and, in 1951. In 1952, Newman began to work full-time for NBC. Between 1961 and 1984, Newman participated in a wide variety of NBC programs, primarily for NBC News. He was a regular on the Today show and was its news anchor from July 24 to December 22, 1961, then a contributor and guest host. On Meet the Press, he was a frequent panelist and moderator.

Kevin Tighe is 78

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Actor Kevin Tighe (“Emergency,” ″Murder One”) is 78. 
• Opera singer Kathleen Battle is 74. 

• 

  Kathryn Fiore is 43

  Actor Danny Bonaduce (“The Partridge Family”) is 63. 
• Actor Dawnn Lewis (“A Different World,” ″Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper”) is 61. 
• Actor John Slattery (“Mad Men,” ″Desperate Housewives”) is 60. 
• Actor Debi Mazar is 58. 
• Actor Quinn Cummings (“Family”) is 55. 
• Actor Seana Kofoed (“Men in Trees”) is 52. 
• Country singer Andy Griggs is 49. 
• Drummer Mike Melancon of Emerson Drive is 44. 
• Actor Kathryn Fiore (“Reno 911!”) is 43. 
• Actor Sebastian Stan (“Captain America”) is 40. 
• Actor Eme Ikwuakor (“Marvel’s Inhumans”) is 38. 
• Singer James Morrison is 38. Actor Lennon Stella (“Nashville”) is 23.

✞DEATH ANNIVERSARIES 

• Pioneering TV chef Julia Child died on this day in 2004. She was 91.
• Hall of Fame baseball player Mickey Mantle, former center fielder for the New York Yankees, died of liver cancer on this day in 1995. He was 63.
• Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, died on this day in 1910. She was 90.