December 26 Radio History

➦In 1921...Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen was born (Died – October 30, 2000).  He was was a radio, TV personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-creator and first host of The Tonight Show, which was the first late night television talk show.

Steve Allen

Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his extensive network television career. He gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. After he hosted The Tonight Show, he went on to host numerous game and variety shows, including his own The Steve Allen Show, I've Got a Secret, and The New Steve Allen Show. He was a regular panel member on CBS's What's My Line?, and from 1977 until 1981 wrote, produced, and hosted the award-winning public broadcasting show Meeting of Minds, a series of historical dramas presented in a talk format.

Allen was a pianist and a prolific composer. By his own estimate, he wrote more than 8,500 songs, some of which were recorded by numerous leading singers. Working as a lyricist, Allen won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition. He also wrote more than 50 books, including novels, children's books, and books of opinions, including his final book, Vulgarians at the Gate: Trash TV and Raunch Radio (2001).

Allen was an announcer for radio KFAC in Los Angeles, then moved to the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1946, talking the station into airing his five-nights-a-week comedy show Smile Time, co-starring Wendell Noble. After Allen moved to CBS Radio's KNX in Los Angeles, his music-and-talk half-hour format gradually changed to include more talk in an hour-long late-night format, boosting his popularity and creating standing-room-only studio audiences.

During a show's segment, Allen went into the audience with a microphone to ad lib on-air for the first time. It became a commonplace part of his studio performances for many years. His program attracted a huge local following, and as the host of a 1950 summer replacement show for the popular comedy Our Miss Brooks, he was exposed to a national audience for the first time.

Allen died at age 78 on October 30th, 2000 after a minor traffic accident caused a blood vessel in his heart wall to rupture.

➦In 1926...WSM, the “WSM Barn Dance” began regular Saturday night broadcasts. Within two years it was renamed the “Grand Ole Opry.”

➦In 1950...The Gillette Safety Razor Company & Mutual radio signed agreements for the radio rights for the next six years to baseball’s World Series and All-Star games. The price tag: a comparatively paltry $6 million dollars.

➦In 1953...The soap opera “Big Sister” was heard for the last time on CBS radio. The 15-minute melodrama had been on the air daily for 16 years. “Big Sister” was the ongoing story of Sue Evans Miller and her relationship with her big sister, Ruth Evans.

➦In 1954...Original  "The Shadow" radio programs lurked around the airwaves for the final time. It originated in 1930 with vigilante crime-fighter Lamont Cranston battling greed and corruption on a weekly basis. “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows….”

➦In 1963...Capitol Records rushed released its first single by The Beatles. “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, backed with “I Saw Her Standing There”, was released after DJ Carroll James on WWDC in Washington, DC had begun airing an imported copy.  "Hand"  reached #1 on February 1, 1964. The flood of music by John, Paul, George and Ringo had started the British Invasion, changing contemporary music forever.

➦In 1965...Beatle Paul McCartney was interviewed on pirate radio station “Radio Caroline” while spending Christmas at his father’s home in Cheshire, England. Later Paul crashed from the moped he was riding and suffered a five-inch cut to his mouth.

➦In 1974...one of the true titans of both big-time radio & TV, Jack Benny died of pancreatic cancer at age 80.

His weekly radio show was consistently top rated over a 23 year run ending in 1955.  He appeared regularly on CBS-TV from 1950-65.  He is credited with developing a broadcast format for comedy that is still being widely followed today.

Benny had been a minor vaudeville performer before becoming a national figure with The Jack Benny Program, a weekly radio show that ran from 1932 to 1948 on NBC and from 1949 to 1955 on CBS. It was among the most highly rated programs during its run.

Benny's long radio career began on April 6, 1932, when the NBC Commercial Program Department auditioned him for the N.W. Ayer agency and their client, Canada Dry, after which Bertha Brainard, head of the division, said, "We think Mr. Benny is excellent for radio and, while the audition was unassisted as far as orchestra was concerned, we believe he would make a great bet for an air program." Recalling the experience in 1956, Benny stated that Ed Sullivan had invited him to guest on his program (1932), and "the agency for Canada Dry ginger ale heard me and offered me a job."

With Canada Dry ginger ale as a sponsor, Benny came to radio on The Canada Dry Program, on May 2, 1932, on the NBC Blue Network and continuing for six months until October 26, moving to CBS on October 30. With Ted Weems leading the band, Benny stayed on CBS until January 26, 1933.

Arriving at NBC on March 17, Benny did The Chevrolet Program until April 1, 1934. He continued with sponsor General Tire through the end of the season. In October, 1934, General Foods, the makers of Jell-O and Grape-Nuts, became the sponsor strongly identified with Benny for ten years. American Tobacco's Lucky Strike was his longest-lasting radio sponsor, from October, 1944, through to the end of his original radio series.

The show switched networks to CBS on January 2, 1949, as part of CBS president William S. Paley's notorious "raid" of NBC talent in 1948–49. It stayed there for the remainder of its radio run, ending on May 22, 1955. CBS aired repeat episodes from 1956 to 1958 as The Best of Benny.

➦In 1992...NYC's WPAT 93.1 FM changed from beautiful music to down tempo AC. For decades, both the FM and AM stations simulcast a mostly-instrumental beautiful music format under the slogan "Easy 93". (By coincidence, WPAT-FM was at 93.1 and the AM was at 930, making "Easy 93" a reference for both stations.) While both stations enjoyed good ratings and profits, the beautiful music format had begun to lose popularity.

Today,  WPAT-FM – branded "93.1 Amor" – is a radio station that programs a mix of Bachata, Reggaeton and Tropical music. Licensed to Paterson, New Jersey the station is owned by the Spanish Broadcasting System and serves the New York metropolitan area.

➦In 2004...Northeast Iowa broadcaster Dick Petrik died at age 76.  He spent his 41-year career at KOEL in Oelwein. He was the station's first news director in April 1952. He retired in 1992 but remained at the station for another year as a part-time employee

Petrik was the recipient of the Jack Shelley Award, the highest honor given by the Iowa Broadcast News Association. The organization later created the Dick Petrik Outstanding Student Award, which is given annually to a college student whose work shows potential for a career in electronic media.

➦In 2019...Legendary, cowboy hat-wearing radio personality Don Imus, who hosted the radio show Imus in the Morning for nearly 50 years, died. 

Abdul 'Duke' Fakir is 87

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Singer Abdul “Duke” Fakir of The Four Tops is 87. 
• “America’s Most Wanted” host John Walsh is 77. 
• Keyboardist Bob Carpenter with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is 76. 
• Bassist George Porter Junior of The Meters is 75. 
• Humorist David Sedaris is 66. 
• Drummer James Kottak of Scorpions is 60. 
• Drummer Brian Westrum of Sons of the Desert is 60. 
• Drummer Lars Ulrich of Metallica is 59. 
• Country singer Audrey Wiggins is 55. 
• Guitarist J (White Zombie) is 55. 
• Guitarist Peter Klett of Candlebox is 54. 
• Singer James Mercer of The Shins is 52. 
• Actor-singer Jared Leto of 30 Seconds To Mars is 51. 
• Singer Chris Daughtry (“American Idol”) is 43. 
• Actor Beth Behrs (“The Neighborhood,” “2 Broke Girls”) is 37. 
• Actor Kit Harington (“Game of Thrones”) is 36. 
• Actor Eden Sher (“The Middle”) is 31. 
• Singer Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix is 30.

✞DEATH ANNIVERARIES:

• In 1999..Curtis Mayfield, American singer-songwriter and soul musician ("Freddie's Dead"; "Superfly"), dies from complications of type 2 diabetes at 57
• In 2000..Jason Robards, American actor (A Thousand Clowns, Any Wednesday), dies at 78
• In 2012..Fontella Bass, American R&B and soul singer and songwriter (Rescue Me), dies from a heart attack at 72