Radio History: October 29

➦In 1957...Bobby Helms was in Nashville to record “Jingle Bell Rock” for Decca Records. It made it into the Billboard Top Ten pop singles both this year and next, and has been a radio staple at Christmastime every year since.

➦In 1975....Bandleader John Scott Trotter, who was musical director for Bing Crosby on radio, and George Goebel on TV, succumbed to cancer at age 67.  He also conducted the sound track for almost all the Charlie Brown TV specials.

➦In 1995...Howard Stern’s “Miss America” book was in stores.  Lawyers for the actual Miss America pageant were not happy.

➦In 2003…According to the results of a Nielsen study, a third of the sales of "Beatles 1" were to fans aged 19 to 24, skewing the band's fan base even younger than it had been previously.

➦In 2005...Radio programmer Julian Breen, former Assistant PD at 77WABC NYC and PD at KFRC San Francisco, died.

Julian Breen

Following success at WABC New York and KYA San Francisco, Julian was largely responsible for developing two radio formats.

First, “Back Seat Music,” established at WPEN in 1975.  It was Julian's belief that people cherished most the music that was popular at the time that they lost their virginity.  He could never quite back it up with research, but didn’t let that stop him.

He also developed the Magic format that was launched at WMGK and cloned nationally.  “It was beautiful music for people who didn’t feel old,” Julian said.

Kate Jackson is 75

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Guitarist Denny Laine (Wings, Moody Blues) is 79. 
• Singer-actor Melba Moore is 78. 
• Actor Richard Dreyfuss is 76. 
• Actor Kate Jackson is 75. 
• Actor Dan Castellaneta (“The Simpsons”) is 66. 
• Singer Randy Jackson of The Jacksons is 62. 
• Drummer Peter Timmins of Cowboy Junkies is 58. 
• Actor Joely Fisher (“Ellen”) is 56. 
• Rapper Paris is 56. 
• Actor Grayson McCouch (“Gotham”) is 55. 
• Singer SA Martinez of 311 is 54. 
• Actor Winona Ryder is 52. 
• Actor Tracee Ellis Ross (“black-ish”) is 51. 
• Actor Gabrielle Union is 51. 
• Actor Trevor Lissauer (“Sabrina the Teenage Witch”) is 50. 
• Actor Milena Govich (“Law & Order”) is 47. 
• Actor Jon Abrahams (“Meet the Parents”) is 46. 
• Actor Brendan Fehr (“CSI: Miami,” ″Roswell”) is 46. 
• Actor Ben Foster (“Six Feet Under”) is 43. 
• Bassist Chris Baio of Vampire Weekend is 39. 
• Actor Janet Montgomery (“New Amsterdam”) is 38. 
• Actor India Eisley (“The Secret Life of the American Teenager”) is 30.

✞REMEMBRANCES

• In 1911..Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-American publisher (St Louis Post-Dispatch, NY World) and Democratic politician whose bequest founded the Columbia School of Journalism and the Pulitzer Prize, dies at 64
• In 1957..Louis B. Mayer, American film producer and creator of the star system (MGM), dies at 71
• In 1971..Duane Allman, American rock guitarist (The Allman Brothers Band), dies in a motorcycle accident at 24
• In 1987..Woody Herman, American jazz clarinetist and composer (Thundering Herd), dies at 74
• In 2004..Vaughn Meader, American comedian and musician, dies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at 68 (b. 1936)