June 20 Radio History

Frank Gallop

➦In 1900...announcer Frank Gallop was born in New York City.

After starting his radio career in Boston, the sombre-voiced Gallop moved back to New York with friend and fellow announcer Ed Herlihy and soon established a busy career on CBS and NBC. He was heard on such soap operas as Amanda of Honeymoon Hill, Hilltop House, When A Girl Marries, and Stella Dallas, as well as Gangbusters, the Columbia Workshop and New York Philharmonic broadcasts. He was the announcer and comic foil for the host on Milton Berle’s program on radio and The Perry Como Show on TV. He narrated a 1966 hit comedy record, The Ballad of Irving.  Gallop died May 5 1988 at age 87.

➦In 1910...Fanny Brice, born Fannie Borach, debuted in the New York production of the Ziegfeld Follies.                                         

Fanny Brice

It wasn’t long before Brice became known as America’s funny girl. A regular on Rudy Vallee’s radio show, The Fleischmann Hour, in the 1920s, Fanny Brice joined The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air at age 45. The show on CBS radio was the introduction of her funny-voiced character, Baby Snooks.

In 1937 she joined NBC radio and continued as the Snooks kid, a seven-year old spoiled brat. Brice’s most famous line was, “Whyyyyyy, daddy?”  From 1936 through 1951, Brice was one of radio’s biggest draws, right until her sudden death of a cerebral hemorrhage on May 29, 1951 at age 59.

➦In 1982…WCBM 680 AM Baltimore announced it was switching from adult contemporary to news/talk. KEZL 102.9 FM in San Diego dropped Shulke II (The automated vocal/lite AC service) in favor of adult contemporary.

➦In 1982….ABC Radio officially killed its much-promoted “SuperRadio” satellite fed A/C format. The network was due to premiere July 1. The DJ lineup was completed only a few weeks ago when Jack Spector, Bob Dayton and Steve York were signed for weekends.  A lack of affiliates has been cited – with only three-full time stations ready to go.

➦In 1996…Westinghouse Electric Corp., then the largest operator of radio stations in the U.S., agreed to acquire radio giant Infinity Broadcasting Corp. in a stock transaction the two companies valued at about $3.9 billion.

The combination of the largest and second-largest radio-station groups in the U.S. would create a powerhouse in the top 10 radio markets and a company with gross advertising billings of close to $1 billion, roughly three times the size of its next largest competitor. It is unclear whether the combination would raise antitrust concerns.

Mel Karmazin, the founder of Infinity, was chosen to lead the management of Westinghouse's radio business. The move by Karmazin -- whose company grew through acquisitions over a 24-year period -- stunned the radio industry, which all along has assumed Mr. Karmazin was a buyer, not a seller.

A combination of Westinghouse/CBS and Infinity Broadcasting's stations would create a giant radio combination totaling 83 stations. The newly combined company would also be a colossus in the top 10 markets, where it would own six stations in New York City and command 35% to 40% of the market's radio billings. In Los Angeles, Westinghouse/CBS/Infinity would also own six stations, grabbing 30% to 35% of the market's radio advertising revenue.

Infinity Broadcasting was founded by Mr. Karmazin and other partners in 1972 with the purchase of KONE-FM in San Jose, Calif.  Infinity has embarked on an aggressive acquisition strategy since last fall, when it bought seven radio stations from Alliance Broadcasting for $275 million; an outdoor advertising company, TDI Worldwide Inc., for $300 million; and signed an agreement to buy 12 radio stations owned by Granum Holdings Inc. for $410 million.

Ken Rank

➦In 2004…Radio, TV Personality Ken Rank died at age 66 in a Tulsa hospital, after suffering complications from a lung transplant. After serving five years in the Navy as a medic, he began his career as a radio disc jockey in Fort Smith at KTCS Radio. Rank worked at various radio stations including KRMG in Tulsa, where he was voted one of the top disc jockeys in the United States by Broadcast Magazine.

Rank became a weather forecaster in 1983. Ken was also known for being the spokesperson for several northwest Arkansas businesses.  After working 10 years as a weather man, Ken left to start his own company, VideoBase, a video production company.

➦In 2006...News Anchor Dan Rather reached agreement with CBS News to leave the network after 44 years. He later accepted an offer from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to do a weekly news program for Cuban’s HDNet cable channel.

Brian Wilson is 81

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Actor Bonnie Bartlett (“St. Elsewhere,” ″Once and Again”) is 94. 
• Actor James Tolkan (“Back to the Future” films) is 92. 
• Musician Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys is 81. 
• Actor John McCook (“The Bold and the Beautiful”) is 79. 
• Singer Anne Murray is 78. 
• Home repair show host Bob Vila is 77. 
• Classical pianist Andre Watts is 77. 
• Actor Candy Clark (“American Graffiti”) is 76. 
• Singer Lionel Richie is 74. 
• Actor John Goodman is 71. 
• Bassist Michael Anthony (Van Halen, Chickenfoot) is 69. 
• Bassist John Taylor of Duran Duran is 63. 
• Keyboardist Mark degli Antoni (Soul Coughing) is 61. 
• Guitarist Jerome Fontamillas of Switchfoot is 56. 
• Bassist Murphy Karges of Sugar Ray is 56. 
• Actor Nicole Kidman is 56. 
• Singer Dan Tyminski of Alison Krauss and Union Station is 56. 
• Actor Peter Paige (“Queer as Folk”) is 54. 
• Actor Josh Lucas (“Sweet Home Alabama,” ″A Beautiful Mind”) is 52. 
• Bassist Twiggy Ramirez (Marilyn Manson) is 52. 
• Singer Chino Moreno is 50. 
• Singer Amos Lee is 46. 
• Actor Tika Sumpter (“The Have and the Have Nots”) is 43. 
• Drummer Chris Thompson of The Eli Young Band is 43. 
• Singer-actor Alisan Porter (“The Voice,” ″Curly Sue”) is 42. 
• Keyboardist Chris Dudley of Underoath is 40. 
• Singer Grace Potter of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals is 40. 
• Actor Mark Saul (“Grey’s Anatomy”) is 38. 
• Actor Dreama Walker (film’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” TV’s “Gossip Girl”) is 37. 
• Actor Chris Mintz-Plasse (“Superbad”) is 34. 
• Actor Maria Lark (TV’s “Medium”) is 26.

✞DEATH ANNIVERSARY

• In 1997..Lawrence Payton, American pop & soul singer (Four Tops - "I'll Be There"), dies at 59