June 4 Radio History

➦In 1917...CBS News correspondent Charles Collingwood born (Died – October 3, 1985).  He was  an early member of Edward R. Murrow's group of foreign correspondents that was known as the "Murrow Boys". During World War II he covered Europe and North Africa for CBS News. Collingwood was also among the early ranks of television journalists that included Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, and Murrow himself.  Retiring from CBS in 1982, he died from cancer Oct 3, 1985 at age 68.

➦In 1942…Songwriter Johnny Mercer founded Capitol Records with financial help from songwriter and film producer Buddy DeSylva and the business acumen of Glenn Wallichs, owner of Wallichs Music City. Mercer raised the idea of starting a record company while golfing with Harold Arlen and Bobby Sherwood and with Wallichs at Wallichs's record store.

It was Wallichs, Capitol's manager, who invented the art of record promotion by sending free copies of new releases to disc jockeys.

Clem McCarthy

➦In 1962...Pioneeering sportscaster Clem McCarthy died at age 79 (Born - September 9, 1882.  He also lent his voice to Pathe News's RKO newsreels. He was known for his gravelly voice and dramatic style, a "whiskey tenor" as sports announcer and executive David J. Halberstam has called it.

As Halberstam's book Sports on New York Radio notes, McCarthy is considered one of horse racing's great callers, setting the stage for well-known voices. He was the first to announce the running of the Kentucky Derby back in 1928 and called every Derby through 1950.

In addition to being a race caller for racetracks and NBC Radio, he was a top boxing announcer, too. His most often replayed boxing sportscast is probably his NBC radio call of the 1938 Joe Louis-Max Schmeling rematch at Yankee Stadium:

McCarthy's career also included work at local radio stations, beginning at KYW in Chicago in 1928. From there, he went to WMCA in New York City.

➦In 1962...The Beatles signed their first record contract with EMI, though it's merely to produce a series of demos.

➦In 1963…"Pop Go the Beatles" was first broadcast on BBC radio.  Each edition of Pop Go The Beatles began and ended with a rock ‘n’ roll version of the nursery rhyme Pop Goes The Weasel recorded by The Beatles.

➦In 1973…WNBC 97.1 FM  (now Urban WQHT-NYC) switched format to “The Rock Pile”

➦In 1998… WNWK NYC changes call letters to WCAA (Now Public Radio WQXR).

The station first came on the air on 105.9 FM in 1964 as WHBI, which was originally owned by Hoyt Brothers Inc.. In the 1980s, the station - by then property of Multicultural Radio Broadcasting - went by the call letters WNWK, and aired leased-access ethnic programming.

Ray Erlenborn

➤In 2007...Radio sound effects genius Ray Erlenborn, a former child vaudeville singer and silent film actor whose career in the CBS sound department spanned the late 1930s on radio to the late 70’s on television, died at age 92.

➦In 2010...Himan Brown died at age 99 in NYC.He created immensely popular radio dramas like “Inner Sanctum Mysteries,” “CBS Mystery Theatre,” “The Adventures of the Thin Man” and “Dick Tracy,” employing an arsenal of beguiling sound effects that terrified or tickled the listeners.

➦In 2019...Legendary Top40 personality Humble Harve Miller died at age 84.  He began his long and illustrious career in 1958 at radio station WAAT in Trenton, New Jersey. Miller then switched to WIBG in Philadelphia,, where he worked from 1958 to 1962. Humble Harve subsequently moved to Los Angeles in 1965 and initially established himself in the market at KBLA-Burbank (AM 1500) then achieved his greatest fame working as the nighttime disc jockey for "Boss Radio" 93KHJ. He narrated the enjoyable counterculture documentary "Mondo Mod" in 1967. In 1971 Miller murdered his adulterous wife Mary and wound up serving a stretch in prison for manslaughter. He was hired by KKDJ after getting out of jail.

Among the other Los Angeles radio stations Humble Harve worked for throughout the years are KIQQ, KIIS, KUTE, KRLA, KRTH, KCBS-FM, and KZLA. In addition, Miller also worked again for WIBG in Philadelphia 1985 and KVI in Seattle, Washington from 1986 to 1989.

Moreover, he lent his deep, smooth, and soothing voice to countless syndicated radio specials. Humble Harve appeared in two movies for director Floyd Mutrux as a disc jockey: He's Dr. J in "The Hollywood Knights" and the Beard in "There Goes My Baby." In 1995 Miller was inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. Humble Harve towards the end of his disc jockey career could be heard in syndication on various radio stations as well as on the internet with special shows and programs that mainly focused on the oldies.

Bruce Dern is 87

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Actor Bruce Dern is 87. 
• Saxophonist Roger Ball (Average White Band) is 79. 
• Singer-actor Michelle Phillips (The Mamas and The Papas) is 79. 
• Jazz saxophonist Anthony Braxton is 78. 
• Bassist Danny Brown of The Fixx is 72. 
• Actor Parker Stevenson is 71. 
• Actor Keith David (“Barbershop”) is 67. 
• Blues musician Tinsley Ellis is 66. 
• Singer El DeBarge is 62. 
• Actor Julie White (film’s “Transformers,” TV’s “Grace Under Fire”) is 62. 
• Actor Lindsay Frost (“Crossing Jordan”) is 61. 
• Actor Sean Pertwee (“Gotham”) is 59. 
• Singer Al B. Sure! is 55. 
• Actor Scott Wolf (“Party of Five”) is 55. 
• Ron Huebel (“What To Expect When You’re Expecting”) is 54. 
• Comedian Horatio Sanz (“Saturday Night Live”) is 54. 
• Actor James Callis (“Bridget Jones”) is 52. 
• Actor Noah Wyle (“ER”) is 52. 
• Bassist Stefan Lessard of The Dave Matthews Band is 49. 
• Actor Russell Brand is 48. 
• Actor Angelina Jolie is 48. 
• Actor Theo Rossi (“Sons of Anarchy”) is 48. 
• Actor Robin Lord Taylor (“Gotham”) is 45. 
• Bassist JoJo Garza of Los Lonely Boys is 43. 
• Model Bar Refaeli is 38. 
• Drummer Zac Farro (Paramore) is 33.

✞DEATH ANNIVERSARIES:

• In 2001..John Hartford [Harford], American folk and bluegrass fiddler, banjo player, and songwrite ("Gentle On My Mind"), dies at 63
• In 2012..Herb Reed, Pop singer (The Platters - "Only You"; "The Great Pretender"), dies from multiple medical complications at 83
• In 2013..Cornelius "Nini" Harp, American doo-wop singer (The Marcels - "Blue Moon"), dies at 73
• In 2013..Joey Covington [Michno], American drummer (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna, and Jefferson Starship), dies in a single vehicle car crash at 67
• In 2021..Clarence Williams III, Actor (Mod Squad; 52 Pick Up; Purple Rain), dies of colon cancer at 81