Radio History: November 30

➦In 1924...the first radio photo facsimile was transmitted across the Atlantic.

The concept of sending images by wire had been around for a long time before it was ever applied to radio.  The first rudimentary fax patent was issued in Paris in 1843 and used a swinging pendulum to draw the image.  Englishman Edwin Belin first demonstrated his Belinograph in 1913.  Western Union and AT&T both transmitted photos via wire in the early 1920’s, and the technology was quickly accepted by the press as a way to send newspaper photos instantly to cities around the country.  RCA was the first company to adapt facsimile to radio, and sent a transoceanic image of President Calvin Coolidge from New York to London on November 29, 1924.

Two years later, RCA began a commercial service of transmitting transoceanic photos by shortwave radio for the newspaper industry, and transmitting weather maps to ships at sea.  RCA’s patented “Photoradio” technology was invented by RCA scientists Richard H. Ranger and Charles J. Young.  It used a rotating drum and a photoelectric scanner to convert a document into a continuous tone that varied in pitch with changes in the image.  The image was reproduced on the receiving end with another rotating drum having a stylus that pressed black carbon paper against white paper to reproduce the image.

 A few radio broadcasters showed early interest in adapting the technology to send pictures to the public.  KPO in San Francisco, owned by the San Francisco Chronicle, became the first radio broadcaster to transmit a photograph by radio when it transmitted a picture of cartoon character Andy Gump on August 22, 1925.  The image was signed by Chronicle publisher George T. Cameron with the message "Radio's latest wonder - pictures through the air.  What new marvels will this science bring forth?"   The image was received on a single machine invented by C. Francis Jenkins.

➦In 1929...Dick Clark born (Died at age 82 - April 18, 2012). He was a radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting American Bandstand from 1957 to 1988.

As host of American Bandstand, Clark introduced rock & roll to many Americans. The show gave many new music artists their first exposure to national audiences, including Iggy Pop, Ike & Tina Turner, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Talking Heads, Simon & Garfunkel and Madonna. Episodes he hosted were among the first in which blacks and whites performed on the same stage, and likewise among the first in which the live studio audience sat without racial segregation. Singer Paul Anka claimed that Bandstand was responsible for creating a "youth culture". Due to his perennially youthful appearance and his largely teenaged audience of American Bandstand, Clark was often referred to as "America's oldest teenager" or "the world's oldest teenager".

Dick Clark

In his off-stage roles, Clark served as Chief Executive Officer of Dick Clark Productions (a financial interest in which he sold off in his later years). He also founded the American Bandstand Diner, a restaurant chain modeled after the Hard Rock Cafe.[vague] In 1973, he created and produced the annual American Music Awards show, similar to the Grammy Awards.

Clark suffered a stroke in December 2004. With speech ability impaired, Clark returned to his New Year's Rockin' Eve show a year later on December 31, 2005. Subsequently, he appeared at the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006, and every New Year's Rockin' Eve show through the 2011–12 show. He died on April 18, 2012, of a heart attack, at the age of 82, following prostate surgery.

In 1945, Clark began his career working in the mailroom at WRUN 1150 AM (now silent) in Rome, NY, that was owned by his uncle and managed by his father. Almost immediately, he was asked to fill in for the vacationing weatherman, and within a few months he was announcing station breaks.

While attending Syracuse, Clark worked at WOLF-AM, then a country music station. After graduation, he returned to WRUN for a short time where he went by the name Dick Clay.  After that, Clark got a job at the television station WKTV in Utica, New York. His first television-hosting job was on Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders, a country-music program. He later replaced Robert Earle (who later hosted the GE College Bowl) as a newscaster.

In addition to his announcing duties on radio and television, Clark owned several radio stations. From 1964 to 1978, he owned KPRO (now KFOO) in Riverside, California under the name Progress Broadcasting.  In 1967, he purchased KGUD-AM-FM (now KTMS and KTYD respectively) in Santa Barbara, CA.

In 1952, Clark moved to Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, where he took a job as a DJ at radio station WFIL 560 AM, adopting the Dick Clark handle. WFIL had an affiliated television station (now WPVI) with the same call sign, which began broadcasting a show called Bob Horn's Bandstand in 1952. Clark was responsible for a similar program on the company's radio station, and served as a regular substitute host when Horn went on vacation. In 1956, Horn was arrested for drunk driving and was subsequently dismissed. On July 9, 1956, Clark became the show's permanent host.

Bandstand was picked up by the ABC television network, renamed American Bandstand, and debuted nationally on August 5, 1957.

➦In 1959...In a Billboard magazine article, disc jockey Alan Freed said his career had gone "down the drain" due to the recent "payola" scandal. In their story, Billboard claimed the scandal "will substantially damage the careers of at least twenty-five DJs."

➦In 1966...the radio time signal, WWV, moved from Greenbelt, Maryland to Boulder, Colorado.

➦In 1977...Newsman, commentator Eric Sevareid retired from CBS after 38 years with the company. He was one of a group of elite war correspondents dubbed "Murrow's Boys," because they were hired by pioneering CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow.

➦In 1982...Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller” LP was released on the Epic label. It was to become the best-selling album of all time, with worldwide sales exceeding 50 million copies.

➦In 2017...singer/actor Jim Nabors, whose name was synonymous with the genial bumpkin Gomer Pyle, whom he played on CBS-TV’s The Andy Griffith Show and in the successful spinoff Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C, died at age 87.

Jimmy Bowen is 86

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Country singer-record company executive Jimmy Bowen is 86. 
• Director Ridley Scott is 86. 
• Writer-director Terrence Malick (“The Thin Red Line”) is 80. 
• Bassist Roger Glover of Deep Purple is 78. 
• Singer-actor Mandy Patinkin is 71. 
• Guitarist Shuggie Otis is 70. 
• Country singer Jeannie Kendall of The Kendalls is 69. 
• Singer Billy Idol is 68. 
• Guitarist John Ashton of Psychedelic Furs is 66. 
• Comedian Colin Mochrie (“Whose Line Is It Anyway?”) is 66. 
• Rapper Jalil of Whodini is 60. 
• Actor-director Ben Stiller is 58. 
• DJ Steve Aoki is 46. 
• Singer Clay Aiken (“American Idol”) is 45. 
• Actor Elisha Cuthbert (“24”) is 41. 
• Actor Kaley Cuoco (“The Big Bang Theory”) is 38. 
• Model Chrissy Teigen is 38. 
• Actor Christel Khalil (“The Young and the Restless”) is 36. 
• Actor Rebecca Rittenhouse (“The Mindy Project”) is 35. 
• Actor Adelaide Clemens (“Rectify”) is 34. 
• Actor Tyla Harris (“For Life”) is 23.

✞REMEMBRANCES

• In 1996..Tiny Tim, American musician ("Tiptoe Through The Tulips"), dies of a heart attack at 64
• In 2007..Evel Knievel, American motorcycle daredevil (Snake River Canyon), dies of pulmonary disease at 69
• In 2013..Paul Walker, American actor (The Fast and the Furious), dies in a car accident at 40
• In 2017..Jim Nabors, American comedian, actor (The Andy Griffith Show; Gomer Pyle, USMC), and singer ("Back Home Again in Indiana"), dies from health complications at 87
• In 2018..George H. W. Bush, 41st US President (R, 1989-93) and 43rd US Vice President (R, 1981-89), dies at 94
• In 2022..Christine McVie, British rock keyboardist, vocalist, and songwriter (Fleetwood Mac, 1970-98, 2014-2022 - "Don't Stop"; "You Make Loving Fun"; solo - "Got A Hold On Me"), dies at 79