Radio History: April 29

➦In 1903...singer Frank Parker was born (Died at age 95 – January 10, 1999). Parker debuted on radio as a substitute singer on The Eveready Hour, and he was a regular on radio and television in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s with personalities including Jack Benny, George Burns and Arthur Godfrey.

Frank Parker

An October 30, 1930, newspaper listing shows Parker singing on the Van Heusen Program on WABC in New York City. Also, in the early 1930s, he was a featured singer with Donald Voorhees and his orchestra on the Bond Sunshine Program on WEAF in New York City.

Beginning September 14, 1935, he had his own program, That Atlantic Family on Tour, with Frank Parker, which was heard on 36 CBS stations.

In September and October 1936, Parker and Ramona were featured on a 15-minute weekly program on WEAF in New York City and WMAQ in Chicago. Beginning June 30, 1937, In the early 1940s, he sang with Andre Kostelanetz on broadcasts over WABC in New York City. He was the featured male singer on Your Home Front Reporter, which was broadcast on CBS in 1943.

➦In 1904...Thomas Edison received a patent for the alkaline battery, which indirectly influenced radio technology by improving power sources for early wireless devices.

➦In 1940...The radio show "Young Dr Malone" moved to the CBS Radio Network. It was an American soap opera which began on the NBC Blue Network on November 20, 1939.

The producer was Betty Corday who later was a co-creator with husband Ted Corday of NBC-TV  Daytime's Days of Our Lives.

The radio program ended on November 25, 1960, known as "the last day of radio soap opera" because CBS cancelled several other series on that day, including Ma Perkins, The Second Mrs. Burton and The Right to Happiness.

➦In 1953...Coke Time with Eddie Fisher began a run on NBC-TV and Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS).

Coke Time with Eddie Fisher aired NBC on Wednesday nights in early prime time from 1953 to 1957. The program was aired from 7:30 to 7:45 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesdays and Fridays, and was not seen during the summer months. A radio edition, recorded from previous TV soundtracks, was also heard on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:45 P.M. Eastern Time over the Mutual Broadcasting System from 1953 through 1955).

➦In 1963...KRE 1400 AM in Berkeley CA changed call letters to KPAT.

KRE - 1922

The Maxwell Electric Company put KRE on the air on March 11, 1922, with studios and transmitter at the Claremont Resort Hotel. In May of that year, KRE was sold to the Berkeley Daily Gazette. It was bought in January 1927 by the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, which moved the studios and built a new transmitter. In January 1930, the Chapel of the Chimes (an Oakland funeral home) bought KRE. Ownership passed in December 1936 to Central California Broadcasters, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chapel of the Chimes.

On June 11, 1972, KRE commemorated its fiftieth anniversary with a huge celebration. In an unusual event, the FCC gave permission to KPAT to revert to its previous three-letter call sign.  However, today the call letters are KVTO 1400 AM and is airing a Chinese format. Licensed to Berkeley, California, USA, the station serves the San Francisco Bay Area.

➦In 1992..The first FM HD Radio broadcast took place at WILL(FM) in Urbana, Illinois. This event marked a technological leap, introducing digital audio broadcasting with improved sound quality and setting the stage for modern HD Radio standards.

Tommy James is 78

🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:

• Singer Country singer Duane Allen of The Oak Ridge Boys is 82. 
• Singer Tommy James is 78. 
• Director Phillip Noyce (“Patriot Games,” “Clear and Present Danger”) is 75. 
• Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is 71. 
• Actor Kate Mulgrew (“Orange Is the New Black,” ″Star Trek: Voyager”) is 70. 
• Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is 68. 
• Actor Michelle Pfeiffer is 67. 
• Actor Eve Plumb (“The Brady Bunch”) is 67. 
• Country singer Stephanie Bentley is 62. 
• Actor Vincent Ventresca (TV’s “The Invisible Man,” “Boston Common”) is 59. 
• Singer Carnie Wilson of Wilson Phillips is 57. 
• Actor Paul Adelstein (“Private Practice”) is 56. 
• Rapper Master P is 55. 
• Actor Uma Thurman is 55. 
• Actor Darby Stanchfield (“Scandal”) is 54. 
• Country singer James Bonamy is 53. 
• Singer Erica Campbell of Mary Mary is 53. 
• Bassist Mike Hogan of The Cranberries is 52. 
• Actor Tyler Labine (“New Amsterdam”) is 47. 
• Actor Megan Boone (“The Blacklist”) is 42. 
• Actor Zane Carney (“Dave’s World”) is 40. 
• Singer Amy Heidemann of Karmin is 39. 
• Singer Foxes is 36. 
• Actor Grace Kaufman (“Man with a Plan”) is 23.

✞DEATH ANNIVERSARIES

• In 1980..Alfred Hitchcock, English film director (Psycho; The Birds; Rear Window; Vertigo), dies of renal failure at 80
• In 2014..Paul Goddard, American rock bassist (Atlanta Rhythm Section - "So In To You"), dies of cancer at 68
• In 2023..Tim Bachman, Canadian rock guitarist and vocalist (Brave Belt; Bachman–Turner Overdrive), dies of brain cancer at 71