➦In 1937...The soap opera "Stella Dallas" made its debut on WEAF in New York City.
It aired until December 23, 1955. The New York Times described the title character as "the beautiful daughter of an impoverished farmhand who had married above her station in life."
She was played for the entire run of the series by Anne Elstner (1902–1982). Her husband Stephen Dallas was portrayed by various actors. The series was created and produced by the husband and wife team of Frank and Anne Hummert, based on the 1923 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty. The 15-minute drama began on October 25, 1937, as a local show on WEAF in New York City, in the wake of the successful movie version starring Barbara Stanwyck, and it was picked up by the NBC Radio network beginning June 6, 1938, running weekday afternoons.
➦In 1959...Chicago-based announcer & host Bob Murphy (not to be confused with sportscaster Bob Murphy) died at age 42. He was best known nationally for his announcing & substitute hosting on Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club on ABC Radio.
➦In 1984...The summer ratings book…
Los Angeles – KIIS-FM (top-40) gets a 10.0 share. Rival KKHR is up to a 3.0. Talk KABC is up to a 7.9. Easy JOI – 4.4 and Easy KBIG – 4.1. Rock KLOS down to a 3.5 from a 3.9. Nostalgia KMPC at a 3.4 and AC KOST gets a 2.7. Rock KMET is at a #.1, All news KNX and KFWB are tied at a 2.9. A/C KFI is up to a 1.8 from a 1.4. KHTZ is at a 2.0.
New York – WHTZ – 6.6 and rival WPLJ – 5.3. WRKS gets a 5.4. WOR – 4.7. WINS – 4.4 and Easy WRFM – 3.7. Urban WBLS at a 3.5. WBLS is the “Quiet Storm” at night. WKTU – 3.1. WNBC – 3.0 and Country WHN – 2.9. WNEW AM and WNEW-FM both at a 3.1. WLTW and WYNY are tied at a 2.8. WABC gets a 2.6. WAPP – 2.4 and WMCA – 1.5
Chicago – Top-4- WBBM FM – 5.0. WGN-AM – 11.4 share. Easy WLOO – 6.8.
➦In 1984...CKLW Windsor/Detroit switched to a nostalgia music format.
Out was long-time music director Rosalie Trombley who served in that capacity since CKLW’s influential heyday in the ‘60’s. In the summer ratings book, CKLW dropped again, from a 1.2 to a .7.
Many believe that CKLW started to decline in popularity after Canadian content regulations went into effect. Although having to play some "CanCon" songs that generated little in the way of sales put the station at a competitive disadvantage compared to its U.S.-based competition, CKLW still managed to help break a number of Canadian songs and artists in the United States.
Just as, if not more, responsible for the decline in CKLW's ratings as the 1970s wore on was the rise of FM radio as an outlet for contemporary music, as the station gained a direct FM Top 40 competitor, WDRQ, in 1972, and its listening audience was also fragmented between album oriented rock outlets such as WWWW, WRIF and WABX and adult contemporary stations like WNIC and WMJC.
➦In 1937...The soap opera "Stella Dallas" made its debut on WEAF in New York City.
It aired until December 23, 1955. The New York Times described the title character as "the beautiful daughter of an impoverished farmhand who had married above her station in life."
She was played for the entire run of the series by Anne Elstner (1902–1982). Her husband Stephen Dallas was portrayed by various actors. The series was created and produced by the husband and wife team of Frank and Anne Hummert, based on the 1923 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty. The 15-minute drama began on October 25, 1937, as a local show on WEAF in New York City, in the wake of the successful movie version starring Barbara Stanwyck, and it was picked up by the NBC Radio network beginning June 6, 1938, running weekday afternoons.
➦In 1959...Chicago-based announcer & host Bob Murphy (not to be confused with sportscaster Bob Murphy) died at age 42. He was best known nationally for his announcing & substitute hosting on Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club on ABC Radio.
➦In 1984...The summer ratings book…
Los Angeles – KIIS-FM (top-40) gets a 10.0 share. Rival KKHR is up to a 3.0. Talk KABC is up to a 7.9. Easy JOI – 4.4 and Easy KBIG – 4.1. Rock KLOS down to a 3.5 from a 3.9. Nostalgia KMPC at a 3.4 and AC KOST gets a 2.7. Rock KMET is at a #.1, All news KNX and KFWB are tied at a 2.9. A/C KFI is up to a 1.8 from a 1.4. KHTZ is at a 2.0.
New York – WHTZ – 6.6 and rival WPLJ – 5.3. WRKS gets a 5.4. WOR – 4.7. WINS – 4.4 and Easy WRFM – 3.7. Urban WBLS at a 3.5. WBLS is the “Quiet Storm” at night. WKTU – 3.1. WNBC – 3.0 and Country WHN – 2.9. WNEW AM and WNEW-FM both at a 3.1. WLTW and WYNY are tied at a 2.8. WABC gets a 2.6. WAPP – 2.4 and WMCA – 1.5
Chicago – Top-4- WBBM FM – 5.0. WGN-AM – 11.4 share. Easy WLOO – 6.8.
➦In 1984...CKLW Windsor/Detroit switched to a nostalgia music format.
Out was long-time music director Rosalie Trombley who served in that capacity since CKLW’s influential heyday in the ‘60’s. In the summer ratings book, CKLW dropped again, from a 1.2 to a .7.
Many believe that CKLW started to decline in popularity after Canadian content regulations went into effect. Although having to play some "CanCon" songs that generated little in the way of sales put the station at a competitive disadvantage compared to its U.S.-based competition, CKLW still managed to help break a number of Canadian songs and artists in the United States.
Just as, if not more, responsible for the decline in CKLW's ratings as the 1970s wore on was the rise of FM radio as an outlet for contemporary music, as the station gained a direct FM Top 40 competitor, WDRQ, in 1972, and its listening audience was also fragmented between album oriented rock outlets such as WWWW, WRIF and WABX and adult contemporary stations like WNIC and WMJC.
➦In 1937...The soap opera "Stella Dallas" made its debut on WEAF in New York City.
It aired until December 23, 1955. The New York Times described the title character as "the beautiful daughter of an impoverished farmhand who had married above her station in life."
She was played for the entire run of the series by Anne Elstner (1902–1982). Her husband Stephen Dallas was portrayed by various actors. The series was created and produced by the husband and wife team of Frank and Anne Hummert, based on the 1923 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty. The 15-minute drama began on October 25, 1937, as a local show on WEAF in New York City, in the wake of the successful movie version starring Barbara Stanwyck, and it was picked up by the NBC Radio network beginning June 6, 1938, running weekday afternoons.
➦In 1959...Chicago-based announcer & host Bob Murphy (not to be confused with sportscaster Bob Murphy) died at age 42. He was best known nationally for his announcing & substitute hosting on Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club on ABC Radio.
➦In 1984...The summer ratings book…
Los Angeles – KIIS-FM (top-40) gets a 10.0 share. Rival KKHR is up to a 3.0. Talk KABC is up to a 7.9. Easy JOI – 4.4 and Easy KBIG – 4.1. Rock KLOS down to a 3.5 from a 3.9. Nostalgia KMPC at a 3.4 and AC KOST gets a 2.7. Rock KMET is at a #.1, All news KNX and KFWB are tied at a 2.9. A/C KFI is up to a 1.8 from a 1.4. KHTZ is at a 2.0.
New York – WHTZ – 6.6 and rival WPLJ – 5.3. WRKS gets a 5.4. WOR – 4.7. WINS – 4.4 and Easy WRFM – 3.7. Urban WBLS at a 3.5. WBLS is the “Quiet Storm” at night. WKTU – 3.1. WNBC – 3.0 and Country WHN – 2.9. WNEW AM and WNEW-FM both at a 3.1. WLTW and WYNY are tied at a 2.8. WABC gets a 2.6. WAPP – 2.4 and WMCA – 1.5
Chicago – Top-4- WBBM FM – 5.0. WGN-AM – 11.4 share. Easy WLOO – 6.8.
➦In 1984...CKLW Windsor/Detroit switched to a nostalgia music format.
Out was long-time music director Rosalie Trombley who served in that capacity since CKLW’s influential heyday in the ‘60’s. In the summer ratings book, CKLW dropped again, from a 1.2 to a .7.
Many believe that CKLW started to decline in popularity after Canadian content regulations went into effect. Although having to play some "CanCon" songs that generated little in the way of sales put the station at a competitive disadvantage compared to its U.S.-based competition, CKLW still managed to help break a number of Canadian songs and artists in the United States.
Just as, if not more, responsible for the decline in CKLW's ratings as the 1970s wore on was the rise of FM radio as an outlet for contemporary music, as the station gained a direct FM Top 40 competitor, WDRQ, in 1972, and its listening audience was also fragmented between album oriented rock outlets such as WWWW, WRIF and WABX and adult contemporary stations like WNIC and WMJC.
The Canadian government's initial unwillingness to licence FM frequencies with pop or rock formats stranded Canadian stations on AM while an entire demographic of listeners began the exodus to US-based FM outlets anywhere the signals were in range. For many younger listeners by 1978, CKLW was the station they listened to only if they had an AM-only radio in their cars.
As a result, like many other powerhouse AM Top 40 stations, CKLW evolved during the late 1970s into an Adult Top 40 sound. The station's music softened to the point where by 1982 it gave no airtime to harder-rocking songs like Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", and jingles were initially phased out, with new jingles and a new slogan ("The Great Entertainer") being introduced in 1979.
Dick Purtan joined the station for mornings in 1978, coming over from WXYZ-AM. Largely due to Purtan's popularity, CKLW remained a moderately popular station into the early 1980s, but after Purtan departed at the start of 1983 for FM competitor WCZY, the station quickly tumbled to the bottom of Detroit's Arbitron ratings (its last appearance in the Top 10 was in 1981). In an attempt to go after longtime "full service" powerhouse WJR, CKLW converted to AM stereo in 1982 and even got the rights to broadcast University of Michigan football and NASL soccer.
In 1984, the station's owners (Baton Broadcasting) sold CKLW-AM-FM to Russwood Broadcasting Ltd. Also in 1984, CKLW made an attempt to transfer its CHR format to its FM sister station, big band and jazz standards-formatted CKJY. These hopes were dashed when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) refused to approve the format change on anything more than an "experimental" basis, reasoning that FM was for "fine" music and that Top 40 music belonged on AM.
The final death knell for the "Big 8" came in October 1984, when the station fired 79 staffers (including most of the remaining announcers and Rosalie Trombley), closed its American sales office in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Michigan, and announced that it would soon change format to Al Ham's "Music of Your Life" format of Jazz standards and big-band music and go completely automated.
The City of Windsor, Ontario has announced plans to debut the anticipated statue of Rosalie Trombley this Sunday, as part of a day of celebration centeredd around the former Big 8 CKLW music director.
According to Windsor CTV News, the statue at the corner of Riverside Drive East and McDougall Street when it’s unveiled at 10:30 a.m. on September 17 - the day before Trombley would’ve turned 84.
Also on the 17th is the annual Open Streets Windsor event to take over the core – this year dubbed “The Big 8 Kilometer Edition” for a bit of theming around Trombley. Also that day, the Capitol Theatre will screen the documentary “Radio Revolution: The Rise and Fall of the Big 8.”
“Mom would be humbled by all this,” said Tim Trombley, Rosalie’s son. “But this is a way of the City of Windsor, St. Clair College, and Bell Media to really immortalize her.”
Rosalie Trombley, known affectionately as ‘The Girl with the Golden Ear’, picked the tunes at The Big 8 from the late 60s through to the 80s.
She garnered a reputation for being able to pick a hit song and has been credited with helping many major musical acts take their careers to the next level.
“I often think about … how hard she must have worked. How respected she must have been to get where she did,” said Lisa Williams, co-host of The Morning Drive with Mike and Lisa on AM800 CKLW. “She no doubt paved the way and opened many doors for women in radio, so thank you, Rosalie.”
Rosalie Trombley died in November of 2021 at the age of 82.
➦In 1937...The soap opera "Stella Dallas" made its debut on WEAF in New York City.
It aired until December 23, 1955. The New York Times described the title character as "the beautiful daughter of an impoverished farmhand who had married above her station in life."
She was played for the entire run of the series by Anne Elstner (1902–1982). Her husband Stephen Dallas was portrayed by various actors. The series was created and produced by the husband and wife team of Frank and Anne Hummert, based on the 1923 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty. The 15-minute drama began on October 25, 1937, as a local show on WEAF in New York City, in the wake of the successful movie version starring Barbara Stanwyck, and it was picked up by the NBC Radio network beginning June 6, 1938, running weekday afternoons.
➦In 1959...Chicago-based announcer & host Bob Murphy (not to be confused with sportscaster Bob Murphy) died at age 42. He was best known nationally for his announcing & substitute hosting on Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club on ABC Radio.
➦In 1984...The summer ratings book…
Los Angeles – KIIS-FM (top-40) gets a 10.0 share. Rival KKHR is up to a 3.0. Talk KABC is up to a 7.9. Easy JOI – 4.4 and Easy KBIG – 4.1. Rock KLOS down to a 3.5 from a 3.9. Nostalgia KMPC at a 3.4 and AC KOST gets a 2.7. Rock KMET is at a #.1, All news KNX and KFWB are tied at a 2.9. A/C KFI is up to a 1.8 from a 1.4. KHTZ is at a 2.0.
New York – WHTZ – 6.6 and rival WPLJ – 5.3. WRKS gets a 5.4. WOR – 4.7. WINS – 4.4 and Easy WRFM – 3.7. Urban WBLS at a 3.5. WBLS is the “Quiet Storm” at night. WKTU – 3.1. WNBC – 3.0 and Country WHN – 2.9. WNEW AM and WNEW-FM both at a 3.1. WLTW and WYNY are tied at a 2.8. WABC gets a 2.6. WAPP – 2.4 and WMCA – 1.5
Chicago – Top-4- WBBM FM – 5.0. WGN-AM – 11.4 share. Easy WLOO – 6.8.
➦In 1984...CKLW Windsor/Detroit is switched to a nostalgia music format.
Out was long-time music director Rosalie Trombley who served in that capacity since CKLW’s influential heyday in the ‘60’s. In the summer ratings book, CKLW dropped again, from a 1.2 to a .7.
Many believe that CKLW started to decline in popularity after Canadian content regulations went into effect. Although having to play some "CanCon" songs that generated little in the way of sales put the station at a competitive disadvantage compared to its U.S.-based competition, CKLW still managed to help break a number of Canadian songs and artists in the United States.
Just as, if not more, responsible for the decline in CKLW's ratings as the 1970s wore on was the rise of FM radio as an outlet for contemporary music, as the station gained a direct FM Top 40 competitor, WDRQ, in 1972, and its listening audience was also fragmented between album oriented rock outlets such as WWWW, WRIF and WABX and adult contemporary stations like WNIC and WMJC.
The Canadian government's initial unwillingness to licence FM frequencies with pop or rock formats stranded Canadian stations on AM while an entire demographic of listeners began the exodus to US-based FM outlets anywhere the signals were in range. For many younger listeners by 1978, CKLW was the station they listened to only if they had an AM-only radio in their cars.
As a result, like many other powerhouse AM Top 40 stations, CKLW evolved during the late 1970s into an Adult Top 40 sound. The station's music softened to the point where by 1982 it gave no airtime to harder-rocking songs like Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", and jingles were initially phased out, with new jingles and a new slogan ("The Great Entertainer") being introduced in 1979.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications announced today the selection of 10 new Legends inductees into the RADIO HALL OF FAME for 2022, recognizing the talents and efforts of air personalities, programmers and operators who contributed with greatness to the radio industry and have since passed away.
The following 10 radio legends take their place in the Radio Hall of Fame immediately:
Mr. Doug Banks- Nationally syndicated on-air personality;
Mr. James Brown- Legendary singer, to be inducted as a radio station owner of WJBE Knoxville, TN;
Mr. Bob Coburn- Host of the syndicated Rockline show;
Mr. Chick Hearn- Play-by-play announcer/voice of the Los Angeles Lakers;
Ms. Bernice Judis- Owner and General Manager, WNEW-AM, 1930’s–1950’s;
Mr. Sid Mark- Host of syndicated program, Sounds of Sinatra show for 60+ years;
Mr. Bobby O’Jay- On-air personality, WDIA-AM/Memphis;
Mr. Pervis Spann- On-air personality, WVON-AM/Chicago;
Mr. James Thompson- Group W Broadcasting President and President of the Broadcasters Foundation;
Ms. Rosalie Trombley- Music Director of CKLW-AM/Detroit in the 1960’s–1970’s.
Kraig T. Kitchin, Co-Chairman, Radio Hall of Fame, said: “The Radio Hall of Fame is dedicated to recognizing the individuals who have made the greatest impact on our 100+ year old industry. I’m thrilled to see the Nominating Committee confirm the induction of these 10 individuals who each made such an impact on our industry in their time.”
The Windsor Ontario City Council has unanimously approved $100,000 — interest from the city’s Arts Endowment Capital Project fund — for a life-sized statue of Rosalie Trombley, legendary music director of famed Top 40 radio Station CKLW, also known as The Big 8.
The Windsor Star reports the statue was designed and sculpted by Windsor artist Donna Mayne, the statue will depict Trombley in bronze leaning against a monolith number ‘8’ carved in granite. The statue’s proposed location is within the Festival Plaza footprint, and it’s anticipated to be ready for installation by April 2023.
“It would not be an overstatement on my part to say that my mom, our mom, is really a legend when it comes to the history of AM Top 40 radio in North America,” said Tim Trombley, son of Rosalie Trombley and current director of entertainment at Caesars Windsor.
“She led the way, CKLW led the way, in breaking an innumerable number of artists.”
Trombley joined The Big 8 as a switchboard operator in 1968. She would later become the station’s music director and was eventually among the organization’s top executives.
The small Windsor station’s 50,000-watt signal reached far and wide and, for a time, was one of the most-listened-to stations in North America. Through her programming choices, Trombley was responsible for boosting the careers of musicians who would become household names, including Bob Seger, Alice Cooper, Gordon Lightfoot, The Guess Who, and many more. She became known as the “girl with the golden ear” for her ability to recognize a new hit track.
She was given a special achievement award at the 2016 Junos. She died last November at age 82.
A Windsor music radio pioneer remembered as the “girl with the golden ear” and credited with jumpstarting the careers of many superstars in the music industry could soon be commemorated locally with a bronze sculpture.
The Windsor Star reports City council on Monday will decide whether to approve $100,000 for a statue of Rosalie Trombley, legendary music director of famed Top 40 radio station CKLW, also known as The Big 8.
Designed and sculpted by Windsor artist Donna Mayne, the statue will depict a life-sized Trombley in bronze leaning against a monolith number ‘8’ carved in granite. It would be located within the Festival Plaza footprint and be ready for installation by April 2023.
“She broke barriers for women in the music industry that was dominated by men,” said Mayne, who also sculpted the downtown statue of abolitionist and Black newspaper publisher Mary Ann Shad that now sits at the corner of Ferry and Chatham Streets. “(Trombley) played a very historically significant role in our area.”
Trombley joined The Big 8 in 1968 as a switchboard operator and would eventually rise to the position of music director at the station. She was later among the organization’s top executives.
While it was a small Windsor-based station, The Big 8’s 50,000-watt signal reached other markets and metropolitan areas. By the early 1970s, CKLW was among the top 10 radio stations for North American listening audiences.
Through her programming choices, Trombley was responsible for boosting the careers of seminal musicians of the period, including The Guess Who, Bob Seger, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Gordon Lightfoot, and many more.
Trombley died shortly after, on Nov. 23, 2021, at the age of 82.
Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot described Trombley as an “integral builder of the music industry” who was “kind and encouraging” and “possessed the ears to determine which songs had that ‘hit’ factor.” He said he is personally grateful that Trombley played many of his records in high rotation.
“As a Canadian artist, Rosalie helped export my music to the world,” Lightfoot wrote. “For that reason, her accomplishments are culturally significant. The global success of Canadian recording artists to this day finds its roots in Rosalie’s endeavors.”
Dan Hill, another Canadian singer-songwriter who benefitted from Trombley’s work, wrote that his single “Growing Up” sold in excess of 10,000 copies in two weeks, mostly in Detroit, after Trombley added it to her “vaunted” playlist in 1976. Although she “could be tough” and only played Canadian singles that she “felt deserving” of her station’s airplay, Hill looked up to her as a mentor.
Former program director of CKLW and American entertainment executive Les Garland wrote that Trombley’s were the “best ears” of any music director he’s ever known.
Legendary CKLW 800 AM music director Rosalie Trombley, the “girl with the golden ears” whom Bob Seger immortalized in song as one of the few female record executives in the 1960s, died Tuesday, her family announced in a release.
The Detroit News reports no cause of death was released, but Trombley, 82, had been ailing from dementia and out of the public eye for some time.
“She was absolutely the most important person in Detroit in the music business, in that time,” said Tom Weschler, a former road manager for Seger and concert photographer. “J. P. McCarthy was big, Purtan was big, but in terms of getting music played, Rosalie was bigger.”
Born in Leamington, Ontario, in 1938, she grew up listening to the first generation of rock ‘n’ roll on CKLW.
In 1963, she got a job working the switchboard at the Windsor radio station, typical of the kind of jobs women had to take in the 1960’s.
By 1968, Rosalie, a single mother of three, was CKLW’s music librarian. In that job she was responsible for reading the trades and researching to see what the station might want to play. She was so adept at it, she was almost immediately promoted to her boss’ job as music director.
Rosalie never took credit personally, but acts who give her credit for breaking them include Bob Seger, Alice Cooper, Gordon Lightfoot, Aerosmith, the Guess Who (and later, Bachman-Turner-Overdrive). Elton John credits her for forcing his record company to release “Benny and the Jets” as a single.
Her most important research tool was the phone. She had a posse of Detroit R&B disc jockeys and music directors on speed dial, and also kept up with what was being played in the Detroit clubs.
She had such a good ear for what Detroit R&B stations were playing, that acts such as the Parliaments (later, Parliament-Funkadelic) and the Detroit Emeralds hit bigger than they would have, once CKLW was beaming their records out on its enormous 50,000 watt signal, heard in some 38 states, with a weekly cumulative audience in North America of over 3 million listeners.
“She could hear a hit a mile away,” said her son, Tim Trombley, when he accepted the Walt Grealis Achievement Award on her behalf at Canada’s 2016 Juno Awards. He continued: “Most major market stations played it safe and only played the proven national hits. Mom was different. She used her golden ears and instincts to identify, take chances and lead the way for an array of then-unproven artists.”
Producer Bob Ezrin always credited Trombley for hearing “I’m Eighteen” by Alice Cooper as a hit, and playing it before anyone did. It was Cooper’s breakthrough hit.
Rosalie Trombley was the most influential radio station music director of all time. Here's a look at her legacy and some of the songs she helped discover. https://t.co/6G48tABZQp
Not all the records Trombley helped break would be considered cool today. “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast” by Wayne Newton and “You Light Up My Life” by Debby Boone also hit big thanks in part to heavy CKLW airplay. But at the end of the day, all Trombley cared about was, did the listening audience like it and want to hear it?
📻Click Here To Read More About Rosalie Trombley.
As television's popularity boomed, CKLW, like many other stations, coped with the changes by replacing the dying network radio fare with locally-based disc-jockey shows. Throughout most of the 1950s and into the mid-1960s, CKLW was basically a "variety" radio station which filled in the cracks between full-service features with pop music played by announcers like Bud Davies, Ron Knowles (who had a rock-and-roll show on AM 800 as early as 1957), and Joe Van. For a few years in the early 1960s, CKLW also featured a country music program in the evenings called Sounds Like Nashville. This ended in 1963 when WEXL 1340 became Detroit's first 24-hour country station.
After RKO General took over the station and its FM sister in 1963, CKLW began to shed the variety-format approach and, as "Radio Eight-Oh", began focusing more aggressively on playing contemporary hits and issuing a record survey. Davies, Knowles, Dave Shafer, Tom Clay, Tom Shannon, Larry Morrow (as "Duke Windsor"), Terry Knight, and Don Zee were among the "Radio Eight-Oh" personalities during this time. The station did well thanks to its huge signal, and beat the local competition in Cleveland, Ohio, though in the local Detroit ratings CKLW still lagged well behind competing hit outlet WKNR.
However, on April 4, 1967, CKLW got a drastic makeover with Bill Drake's "Boss Radio" format, programmed locally by Paul Drew. Initially known as "Radio 8" with PAMS jingles, within a few months the station's final transformation into "The Big 8," with new jingles sung by the Johnny Mann Singers, was complete, and the station was on a rapid ratings upswing. In July 1967, CKLW claimed the number one spot in the Detroit ratings for the first time, and WKNR was left in the dust.
It is with heavy hearts that the family of Rosalie Trombley, a pioneer in Canadian radio broadcasting, announces her peaceful passing on November 23. She was 82.
Trombley began her career at the AM Top 40 powerhouse, CKLW – The BIG 8 in Windsor, Ontario as a switchboard operator, but before long her talented ear for discovering hit songs made her one of the most influential individuals in radio history. Although CKLW was based in Windsor, it programmed for the Detroit market and the station’s 50,000-watt signal reached across North America.
Known as “the girl with the golden ear” due to her keen ability to choose hit songs and create music programming that appealed to wide-ranging audiences, Trombley’s tenure as a music director and one of the few female executives in radio at the time lasted over twenty years.
Rosalie Trombley - 1973
Recording artists, both established and aspiring, visited Trombley to promote their latest single releases. Artists she is credited with breaking onto the Top 40 CHR charts are: The Guess Who, Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Anka, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Bob Seger, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Andy Kim, The O’Jays, Chicago, Earth, Wind & Fire, Parliament–Funkadelic, Queen, Aerosmith and more. In addition, Bob Seger immortalized Rosalie in his 1973 song “Rosalie” from his Back in '72 album.
In 2016, Trombley was honored with the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the 45th annual JUNO Awards, the first woman to receive the honor. An annual “Rosalie Award” is presented in her name to women trailblazers in radio during Canadian Music Week. Beyond her many achievements, Trombley will also be remembered for her passion for music, her support for talented artists and her unwavering integrity.
“Mom possessed an innate sense for music and could hear a hit from a mile away” said her son, Tim Trombley. “But more than that, she had the ability to connect with music from a multitude of artists across many genres. Although we are heartbroken, we are comforted by the fact that her legacy and her influence will live on”.
➦In 1937...The soap opera "Stella Dallas" made its debut on WEAF in New York City.
It aired until December 23, 1955. The New York Times described the title character as "the beautiful daughter of an impoverished farmhand who had married above her station in life."
She was played for the entire run of the series by Anne Elstner (1902–1982). Her husband Stephen Dallas was portrayed by various actors. The series was created and produced by the husband and wife team of Frank and Anne Hummert, based on the 1923 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty. The 15-minute drama began on October 25, 1937, as a local show on WEAF in New York City, in the wake of the successful movie version starring Barbara Stanwyck, and it was picked up by the NBC Radio network beginning June 6, 1938, running weekday afternoons.
➦In 1959...Chicago-based announcer & host Bob Murphy (not to be confused with sportscaster Bob Murphy) died at age 42. He was best known nationally for his announcing & substitute hosting on Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club on ABC Radio.
➦In 1984...The summer ratings book…
Los Angeles – KIIS-FM (top-40) gets a 10.0 share. Rival KKHR is up to a 3.0. Talk KABC is up to a 7.9. Easy JOI – 4.4 and Easy KBIG – 4.1. Rock KLOS down to a 3.5 from a 3.9. Nostalgia KMPC at a 3.4 and AC KOST gets a 2.7. Rock KMET is at a #.1, All news KNX and KFWB are tied at a 2.9. A/C KFI is up to a 1.8 from a 1.4. KHTZ is at a 2.0.
New York – WHTZ – 6.6 and rival WPLJ – 5.3. WRKS gets a 5.4. WOR – 4.7. WINS – 4.4 and Easy WRFM – 3.7. Urban WBLS at a 3.5. WBLS is the “Quiet Storm” at night. WKTU – 3.1. WNBC – 3.0 and Country WHN – 2.9. WNEW AM and WNEW-FM both at a 3.1. WLTW and WYNY are tied at a 2.8. WABC gets a 2.6. WAPP – 2.4 and WMCA – 1.5
Chicago – Top-4- WBBM FM – 5.0. WGN-AM – 11.4 share. Easy WLOO – 6.8.
➦In 1984...CKLW Windsor/Detroit is switched to a nostalgia music format.
Out was long-time music director Rosalie Trombley who served in that capacity since CKLW’s influential heyday in the ‘60’s. In the summer ratings book, CKLW dropped again, from a 1.2 to a .7.
Many believe that CKLW started to decline in popularity after Canadian content regulations went into effect. Although having to play some "CanCon" songs that generated little in the way of sales put the station at a competitive disadvantage compared to its U.S.-based competition, CKLW still managed to help break a number of Canadian songs and artists in the United States.
Just as, if not more, responsible for the decline in CKLW's ratings as the 1970s wore on was the rise of FM radio as an outlet for contemporary music, as the station gained a direct FM Top 40 competitor, WDRQ, in 1972, and its listening audience was also fragmented between album oriented rock outlets such as WWWW, WRIF and WABX and adult contemporary stations like WNIC and WMJC.
The Canadian government's initial unwillingness to licence FM frequencies with pop or rock formats stranded Canadian stations on AM while an entire demographic of listeners began the exodus to US-based FM outlets anywhere the signals were in range. For many younger listeners by 1978, CKLW was the station they listened to only if they had an AM-only radio in their cars.
As a result, like many other powerhouse AM Top 40 stations, CKLW evolved during the late 1970s into an Adult Top 40 sound. The station's music softened to the point where by 1982 it gave no airtime to harder-rocking songs like Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", and jingles were initially phased out, with new jingles and a new slogan ("The Great Entertainer") being introduced in 1979.
Dick Purtan joined the station for mornings in 1978, coming over from WXYZ-AM. Largely due to Purtan's popularity, CKLW remained a moderately popular station into the early 1980s, but after Purtan departed at the start of 1983 for FM competitor WCZY, the station quickly tumbled to the bottom of Detroit's Arbitron ratings (its last appearance in the Top 10 was in 1981). In an attempt to go after longtime "full service" powerhouse WJR, CKLW converted to AM stereo in 1982 and even got the rights to broadcast University of Michigan football and NASL soccer.
In 1984, the station's owners (Baton Broadcasting) sold CKLW-AM-FM to Russwood Broadcasting Ltd. Also in 1984, CKLW made an attempt to transfer its CHR format to its FM sister station, big band and jazz standards-formatted CKJY. These hopes were dashed when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) refused to approve the format change on anything more than an "experimental" basis, reasoning that FM was for "fine" music and that Top 40 music belonged on AM.
The final death knell for the "Big 8" came in October 1984, when the station fired 79 staffers (including most of the remaining announcers and Rosalie Trombley), closed its American sales office in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Michigan, and announced that it would soon change format to Al Ham's "Music of Your Life" format of Jazz standards and big-band music and go completely automated.
Morton Downey - 1933
➦In 1985...one of early radio’s singing stars Morton Downey died at age 83. In 1930, Downey began making national radio broadcasts after opening his own nightclub (The Delmonico) in New York. He was voted America's "Radio Singer of the Year" in 1932. At the time, Downey was featured nightly on the Camel Quarter Hour radio broadcast. On February 5, 1945, his transcribed program, Songs by Morton Downey, moved from the NBC Blue Network to the Mutual Broadcasting System. The move came after Blue Network officials adopted a policy "against the use of transcriptions for network originated programs, except where technical difficulties void live broadcasts." As a result of the shift, the number of stations carrying the program more than doubled.
➦In 1987...CBS radio correspondent Cecil Brown, one of Ed Murrow’s “boys” who reported from the Pacific front during WWII, died at age 80. In September 1943, Brown resigned from CBS after being rebuked by CBS news director Paul White for expressing an editorial opinion during an August 25 news broadcast. Brown had stated that "a good deal of the enthusiasm for this war is evaporating into thin air." Announcing his resignation Brown said that he could not subscribe to what he characterized as CBS' policy of "non-opinionated" news.
After leaving CBS Brown covered the rest of the war at home, in the United States, for the Mutual Network. When World War II ended, Brown continued to work in broadcast journalism as a correspondent for Mutual, NBC and ABC. He retired from broadcasting in 1967.
Bill Graham
➦In 1991...Rock promoter Bill Graham died in a helicopter crash at age 60.
He was killed in a helicopter crash west of Vallejo, CA, while returning home from a Huey Lewis and the News concert at the Concord Pavilion. Graham had attended the event to discuss promoting a benefit concert for the victims of the 1991 Oakland hills firestorm. Once he had obtained a commitment from Huey Lewis to perform, he returned to his helicopter.
Flying in severe weather, with rain and gusty winds, the aircraft flew off course and too low over the tidal marshland north of San Pablo Bay. The Bell Jet Ranger flew directly into a 223-foot high-voltage tower near where Highway 37, which runs between Vallejo, California and Marin County, California, crosses Sonoma Creek. The helicopter burst into flames on impact, killing Graham, pilot and advance man Steve "Killer" Kahn, and Graham's girlfriend, Melissa Gold. The charred remains of the helicopter hung in the tower for more than a day.
Among other events produced by Graham were the Live Aid concert, Amnesty International tour and US Festival.
At times he managed the careers of the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison and Santana.
Marion Ross is 93
🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAYS:
Actor Marion Ross is 93.
Singer Jon Anderson (Yes) is 77.
Guitarist Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest is 74.
Actor Brian Kerwin is 72.
Guitarist Matthias Jabs of Scorpions is 65.
Actor Nancy Cartwright (“The Simpsons”) is 64.
Country singer Mark Miller of Sawyer Brown is 63.
Drummer Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers and of Chickenfoot is 60.
Actor Tracy Nelson (“Father Dowling Mysteries”) is 58.
Actor Michael Boatman (“The Good Wife,” ″Spin City”) is 57.
Actor Kevin Michael Richardson (“The Cleveland Show”) is 57.
Actor Mathieu Amalric (“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Quantum of Solace”) is 56.
Singer Speech (Arrested Development) is 53.
Comedian Samantha Bee (“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” ″The Daily Show”) is 52.
Katy Perry is 37
Actor Adam Goldberg (“Saving Private Ryan”) is 51.
Actor Adam Pascal (“Rent”) is 51.
Guitarist Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies is 51.
Actor Persia White (“Girlfriends”) is 51.
Country singer Chely Wright is 51.
Actor Leslie Grossman (“American Horror Story,” “Popular”) is 50.
Classical violinist Midori is 50.
Actor Craig Robinson (“The Office”) is 50.
Actor Mehcad Brooks (“Supergirl,” ″Desperate Housewives”) is 41.
Actor Josh Henderson (“Desperate Housewives”) is 40.
➦In 1937...The soap opera "Stella Dallas" made its debut on WEAF in New York City.
It aired until December 23, 1955. The New York Times described the title character as "the beautiful daughter of an impoverished farmhand who had married above her station in life."
She was played for the entire run of the series by Anne Elstner (1902–1982). Her husband Stephen Dallas was portrayed by various actors. The series was created and produced by the husband and wife team of Frank and Anne Hummert, based on the 1923 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty. The 15-minute drama began on October 25, 1937, as a local show on WEAF in New York City, in the wake of the successful movie version starring Barbara Stanwyck, and it was picked up by the NBC Radio network beginning June 6, 1938, running weekday afternoons.
➦In 1959...Chicago-based announcer & host Bob Murphy (not to be confused with sportscaster Bob Murphy) died at age 42. He was best known nationally for his announcing & substitute hosting on Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club on ABC Radio.
➦In 1984...The summer ratings book…
Los Angeles – KIIS-FM (top-40) gets a 10.0 share. Rival KKHR is up to a 3.0. Talk KABC is up to a 7.9. Easy JOI – 4.4 and Easy KBIG – 4.1. Rock KLOS down to a 3.5 from a 3.9. Nostalgia KMPC at a 3.4 and AC KOST gets a 2.7. Rock KMET is at a #.1, All news KNX and KFWB are tied at a 2.9. A/C KFI is up to a 1.8 from a 1.4. KHTZ is at a 2.0.
In New York – WHTZ – 6.6 and rival WPLJ – 5.3. WRKS gets a 5.4. WOR – 4.7. WINS – 4.4 and Easy WRFM – 3.7. Urban WBLS at a 3.5. WBLS is the “Quiet Storm” at night. WKTU – 3.1. WNBC – 3.0 and Country WHN – 2.9. WNEW AM and WNEW-FM both at a 3.1. WLTW and WYNY are tied at a 2.8. WABC gets a 2.6. WAPP – 2.4 and WMCA – 1.5
Chicago – Top-4- WBBM FM – 5.0. WGN-AM – 11.4 share. Easy WLOO – 6.8.
➦In 1984...CKLW Windsor/Detroit is switched to a nostalgia music format.
Out was long-time music director Rosalie Trombley who served in that capacity since CKLW’s influential heyday in the ‘60’s. In the summer ratings book, CKLW dropped again, from a 1.2 to a .7.
Many believe that CKLW started to decline in popularity after Canadian content regulations went into effect. Although having to play some "CanCon" songs that generated little in the way of sales put the station at a competitive disadvantage compared to its U.S.-based competition, CKLW still managed to help break a number of Canadian songs and artists in the United States.
Just as, if not more, responsible for the decline in CKLW's ratings as the 1970s wore on was the rise of FM radio as an outlet for contemporary music, as the station gained a direct FM Top 40 competitor, WDRQ, in 1972, and its listening audience was also fragmented between album oriented rock outlets such as WWWW, WRIF and WABX and adult contemporary stations like WNIC and WMJC.
The Canadian government's initial unwillingness to licence FM frequencies with pop or rock formats stranded Canadian stations on AM while an entire demographic of listeners began the exodus to US-based FM outlets anywhere the signals were in range. For many younger listeners by 1978, CKLW was the station they listened to only if they had an AM-only radio in their cars.
As a result, like many other powerhouse AM Top 40 stations, CKLW evolved during the late 1970s into an Adult Top 40 sound. The station's music softened to the point where by 1982 it gave no airtime to harder-rocking songs like Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", and jingles were initially phased out, with new jingles and a new slogan ("The Great Entertainer") being introduced in 1979.
Dick Purtan joined the station for mornings in 1978, coming over from WXYZ-AM. Largely due to Purtan's popularity, CKLW remained a moderately popular station into the early 1980s, but after Purtan departed at the start of 1983 for FM competitor WCZY, the station quickly tumbled to the bottom of Detroit's Arbitron ratings (its last appearance in the Top 10 was in 1981). In an attempt to go after longtime "full service" powerhouse WJR, CKLW converted to AM stereo in 1982 and even got the rights to broadcast University of Michigan football and NASL soccer.
In 1984, the station's owners (Baton Broadcasting) sold CKLW-AM-FM to Russwood Broadcasting Ltd. Also in 1984, CKLW made an attempt to transfer its CHR format to its FM sister station, big band and jazz standards-formatted CKJY. These hopes were dashed when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) refused to approve the format change on anything more than an "experimental" basis, reasoning that FM was for "fine" music and that Top 40 music belonged on AM.
The final death knell for the "Big 8" came in October 1984, when the station fired 79 staffers (including most of the remaining announcers and Rosalie Trombley), closed its American sales office in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Michigan, and announced that it would soon change format to Al Ham's "Music of Your Life" format of Jazz standards and big-band music and go completely automated.
Morton Downey - 1933
➦In 1985...one of early radio’s singing stars Morton Downey died at age 83. In 1930, Downey began making national radio broadcasts after opening his own nightclub (The Delmonico) in New York. He was voted America's "Radio Singer of the Year" in 1932. At the time, Downey was featured nightly on the Camel Quarter Hour radio broadcast. On February 5, 1945, his transcribed program, Songs by Morton Downey, moved from the NBC Blue Network to the Mutual Broadcasting System. The move came after Blue Network officials adopted a policy "against the use of transcriptions for network originated programs, except where technical difficulties void live broadcasts." As a result of the shift, the number of stations carrying the program more than doubled.
➦In 1987...CBS radio correspondent Cecil Brown, one of Ed Murrow’s “boys” who reported from the Pacific front during WWII, died at age 80. In September 1943, Brown resigned from CBS after being rebuked by CBS news director Paul White for expressing an editorial opinion during an August 25 news broadcast. Brown had stated that "a good deal of the enthusiasm for this war is evaporating into thin air." Announcing his resignation Brown said that he could not subscribe to what he characterized as CBS' policy of "non-opinionated" news.
After leaving CBS Brown covered the rest of the war at home, in the United States, for the Mutual Network. When World War II ended, Brown continued to work in broadcast journalism as a correspondent for Mutual, NBC and ABC. He retired from broadcasting in 1967.
➦In 1991...Rock promoter Bill Graham died in a helicopter crash at age 60.
He was killed in a helicopter crash west of Vallejo, CA, while returning home from a Huey Lewis and the News concert at the Concord Pavilion. Graham had attended the event to discuss promoting a benefit concert for the victims of the 1991 Oakland hills firestorm. Once he had obtained a commitment from Huey Lewis to perform, he returned to his helicopter.
Flying in severe weather, with rain and gusty winds, the aircraft flew off course and too low over the tidal marshland north of San Pablo Bay. The Bell Jet Ranger flew directly into a 223-foot high-voltage tower near where Highway 37, which runs between Vallejo, California and Marin County, California, crosses Sonoma Creek. The helicopter burst into flames on impact, killing Graham, pilot and advance man Steve "Killer" Kahn, and Graham's girlfriend, Melissa Gold. The charred remains of the helicopter hung in the tower for more than a day.
Among other events produced by Graham were the Live Aid concert, Amnesty International tour and US Festival.
At times he managed the careers of the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison and Santana.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY:
Actor Marion Ross is 92.
Singer Jon Anderson (Yes) is 76.
Singer Taffy Nivert (formerly Danoff) of Starland Vocal Band is 76.
Guitarist Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest is 73.
Actor Brian Kerwin is 71.
Guitarist Matthias Jabs of Scorpions is 64.
Actor Nancy Cartwright (“The Simpsons”) is 63.
Country singer Mark Miller of Sawyer Brown is 62.
Drummer Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers and of Chickenfoot is 59.
Katy Perry is 36
Actor Tracy Nelson (“Father Dowling Mysteries”) is 57.
Actor Michael Boatman (“The Good Wife,” ″Spin City”) is 56.
Actor Kevin Michael Richardson (“The Cleveland Show”) is 56.
Actor Mathieu Amalric (“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Quantum of Solace”) is 55.
Singer Speech (Arrested Development) is 52.
Comedian Samantha Bee (“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” ″The Daily Show”) is 51.
Actor Adam Goldberg (“Saving Private Ryan”) is 50.
Actor Adam Pascal (“Rent”) is 50.
Guitarist Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies is 50.
Actor Persia White (“Girlfriends”) is 50.
Country singer Chely Wright is 50.
Actor Leslie Grossman (“American Horror Story,” “Popular”) is 49.
Classical violinist Midori is 49. Actor Craig Robinson (“The Office”) is 49.
Actor Mehcad Brooks (“Supergirl,” ″Desperate Housewives”) is 40.
Actor Josh Henderson (“Desperate Housewives”) is 39.
➦In 1937...The soap opera "Stella Dallas" made its debut on WEAF in New York City.
It aired until December 23, 1955. The New York Times described the title character as "the beautiful daughter of an impoverished farmhand who had married above her station in life."
She was played for the entire run of the series by Anne Elstner (1902–1982). Her husband Stephen Dallas was portrayed by various actors. The series was created and produced by the husband and wife team of Frank and Anne Hummert, based on the 1923 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty. The 15-minute drama began on October 25, 1937, as a local show on WEAF in New York City, in the wake of the successful movie version starring Barbara Stanwyck, and it was picked up by the NBC Radio network beginning June 6, 1938, running weekday afternoons.
➦In 1959...Chicago-based announcer & host Bob Murphy (not to be confused with sportscaster Bob Murphy) died at age 42. He was best known nationally for his announcing & substitute hosting on Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club on ABC Radio.
➦In 1984...The summer ratings book…
Los Angeles – KIIS-FM (top-40) gets a 10.0 share. Rival KKHR is up to a 3.0. Talk KABC is up to a 7.9. Easy JOI – 4.4 and Easy KBIG – 4.1. Rock KLOS down to a 3.5 from a 3.9. Nostalgia KMPC at a 3.4 and AC KOST gets a 2.7. Rock KMET is at a #.1, All news KNX and KFWB are tied at a 2.9. A/C KFI is up to a 1.8 from a 1.4. KHTZ is at a 2.0.
In New York – WHTZ – 6.6 and rival WPLJ – 5.3. WRKS gets a 5.4. WOR – 4.7. WINS – 4.4 and Easy WRFM – 3.7. Urban WBLS at a 3.5. WBLS is the “Quiet Storm” at night. WKTU – 3.1. WNBC – 3.0 and Country WHN – 2.9. WNEW AM and WNEW-FM both at a 3.1. WLTW and WYNY are tied at a 2.8. WABC gets a 2.6. WAPP – 2.4 and WMCA – 1.5
Chicago – Top-4- WBBM FM – 5.0. WGN-AM – 11.4 share. Easy WLOO – 6.8.
➦In 1984...CKLW Windsor/Detroit is switched to a nostalgia music format.
Out was long-time music director Rosalie Trombley who served in that capacity since CKLW’s influential heyday in the ‘60’s. In the summer ratings book, CKLW dropped again, from a 1.2 to a .7.
Many believe that CKLW started to decline in popularity after Canadian content regulations went into effect. Although having to play some "CanCon" songs that generated little in the way of sales put the station at a competitive disadvantage compared to its U.S.-based competition, CKLW still managed to help break a number of Canadian songs and artists in the United States.
Just as, if not more, responsible for the decline in CKLW's ratings as the 1970s wore on was the rise of FM radio as an outlet for contemporary music, as the station gained a direct FM Top 40 competitor, WDRQ, in 1972, and its listening audience was also fragmented between album oriented rock outlets such as WWWW, WRIF and WABX and adult contemporary stations like WNIC and WMJC.
The Canadian government's initial unwillingness to licence FM frequencies with pop or rock formats stranded Canadian stations on AM while an entire demographic of listeners began the exodus to US-based FM outlets anywhere the signals were in range. For many younger listeners by 1978, CKLW was the station they listened to only if they had an AM-only radio in their cars.
As a result, like many other powerhouse AM Top 40 stations, CKLW evolved during the late 1970s into an Adult Top 40 sound. The station's music softened to the point where by 1982 it gave no airtime to harder-rocking songs like Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", and jingles were initially phased out, with new jingles and a new slogan ("The Great Entertainer") being introduced in 1979.
Dick Purtan joined the station for mornings in 1978, coming over from WXYZ-AM. Largely due to Purtan's popularity, CKLW remained a moderately popular station into the early 1980s, but after Purtan departed at the start of 1983 for FM competitor WCZY, the station quickly tumbled to the bottom of Detroit's Arbitron ratings (its last appearance in the Top 10 was in 1981). In an attempt to go after longtime "full service" powerhouse WJR, CKLW converted to AM stereo in 1982 and even got the rights to broadcast University of Michigan football and NASL soccer.
In 1984, the station's owners (Baton Broadcasting) sold CKLW-AM-FM to Russwood Broadcasting Ltd. Also in 1984, CKLW made an attempt to transfer its CHR format to its FM sister station, big band and jazz standards-formatted CKJY. These hopes were dashed when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) refused to approve the format change on anything more than an "experimental" basis, reasoning that FM was for "fine" music and that Top 40 music belonged on AM.
The final death knell for the "Big 8" came in October 1984, when the station fired 79 staffers (including most of the remaining announcers and Rosalie Trombley), closed its American sales office in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Michigan, and announced that it would soon change format to Al Ham's "Music of Your Life" format of Jazz standards and big-band music and go completely automated.
Morton Downey - 1933
➦In 1985...one of early radio’s singing stars Morton Downey died at age 83. In 1930, Downey began making national radio broadcasts after opening his own nightclub (The Delmonico) in New York. He was voted America's "Radio Singer of the Year" in 1932. At the time, Downey was featured nightly on the Camel Quarter Hour radio broadcast. On February 5, 1945, his transcribed program, Songs by Morton Downey, moved from the NBC Blue Network to the Mutual Broadcasting System. The move came after Blue Network officials adopted a policy "against the use of transcriptions for network originated programs, except where technical difficulties void live broadcasts." As a result of the shift, the number of stations carrying the program more than doubled.
➦In 1987...CBS radio correspondent Cecil Brown, one of Ed Murrow’s “boys” who reported from the Pacific front during WWII, died at age 80. In September 1943, Brown resigned from CBS after being rebuked by CBS news director Paul White for expressing an editorial opinion during an August 25 news broadcast. Brown had stated that "a good deal of the enthusiasm for this war is evaporating into thin air." Announcing his resignation Brown said that he could not subscribe to what he characterized as CBS' policy of "non-opinionated" news.
After leaving CBS Brown covered the rest of the war at home, in the United States, for the Mutual Network. When World War II ended, Brown continued to work in broadcast journalism as a correspondent for Mutual, NBC and ABC. He retired from broadcasting in 1967.
➦In 1991...Rock promoter Bill Graham died in a helicopter crash at age 60.
He was killed in a helicopter crash west of Vallejo, CA, while returning home from a Huey Lewis and the News concert at the Concord Pavilion. Graham had attended the event to discuss promoting a benefit concert for the victims of the 1991 Oakland hills firestorm. Once he had obtained a commitment from Huey Lewis to perform, he returned to his helicopter.
Flying in severe weather, with rain and gusty winds, the aircraft flew off course and too low over the tidal marshland north of San Pablo Bay. The Bell Jet Ranger flew directly into a 223-foot high-voltage tower near where Highway 37, which runs between Vallejo, California and Marin County, California, crosses Sonoma Creek. The helicopter burst into flames on impact, killing Graham, pilot and advance man Steve "Killer" Kahn, and Graham's girlfriend, Melissa Gold. The charred remains of the helicopter hung in the tower for more than a day.
Among other events produced by Graham were the Live Aid concert, Amnesty International tour and US Festival.
At times he managed the careers of the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison and Santana.
➦In 1937...The radio soap opera "Stella Dallas" made its debut on WEAF in New York City. The 15-minute drama, with Anne Elstner in the title role, was picked up by the NBC radio network beginning June 6, 1938, and aired on weekday afternoons through 1955.
➦In 1958...Cliff Richard made his British radio debut on the BBC's 'Saturday Club.' The show had started life as Saturday "Skiffle" club in 1957 hosted by Brian Matthew and was broadcast from 10am to 12noon Saturday mornings on the BBC Light Programme.
In 1995, Cliff Richard received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. Sir Cliff was reputed to be a favorite of the 95-year-old Queen Mother.
➦In 1959...Chicago-based announcer & host Bob Murphy died at age 42. He was best known nationally for his announcing & substitute hosting on Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club on ABC.
➦In 1969...The Hot 100..The Temptations remained at #1 with one of their biggest career hits--"I Can't Get Next To You". Sly & the Family Stone would have to settle for #2 this time with "Hot Fun In The Summertime". The former #1 classic by the Archies--"Sugar, Sugar" was still at #3 after 14 weeks while Oliver's "Jean" was at #4 and Elvis Presley was moving up with "Suspicious Minds".
The rest of the Top 10: Bobby Sherman's "Little Woman", "Wedding Bell Blues" the new smash by the 5th Dimension, Smith moved from 13 to 8 with "Baby It's You", the Cuff Links were up to 9 with "Tracy" and Lou Christie entered the Top 10 with "I'm Gonna' Make You Mine".
➦In 1969...The Album Chart..Green River by CCR was #1 on the Album chart for a fourth week but something was happening that even it couldn't contend with. Johnny Cash At San Quentin was #2 and the Rolling Stones rolled backwards with Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Volume 2). In one of the biggest chart moves in Rock Era history, the Beatles moved from #178 to #4 with Abbey Road. Pretty good sign that it's an album for all-time.
The rest of the Top 10: Blind Faith with their self-titled album, In-A Gadda-Da-Vida from Iron Butterfly, the great debut from Blood, Sweat & Tears, Isaac Hayes with Hot Buttered Soul (that sounds tasty...), the Best of Cream and Santana with their great debut.
➦In 1984...The summer ratings book…
Los Angeles – KIIS-FM (top-40) gets a 10.0 share. Rival KKHR is up to a 3.0. Talk KABC is up to a 7.9. Easy JOI – 4.4 and Easy KBIG – 4.1. Rock KLOS down to a 3.5 from a 3.9. Nostalgia KMPC at a 3.4 and AC KOST gets a 2.7. Rock KMET is at a #.1, All news KNX and KFWB are tied at a 2.9. A/C KFI is up to a 1.8 from a 1.4. KHTZ is at a 2.0.
In New York – WHTZ – 6.6 and rival WPLJ – 5.3. WRKS gets a 5.4. WOR – 4.7. WINS – 4.4 and Easy WRFM – 3.7. Urban WBLS at a 3.5. WBLS is the “Quiet Storm” at night. WKTU – 3.1. WNBC – 3.0 and Country WHN – 2.9. WNEW AM and WNEW-FM both at a 3.1. WLTW and WYNY are tied at a 2.8. WABC gets a 2.6. WAPP – 2.4 and WMCA – 1.5
Chicago – Top-4- WBBM FM – 5.0. WGN-AM – 11.4 share. Easy WLOO – 6.8.
➦In 1984...CKLW Windsor/Detroit is switched to a nostalgia music format.
Out is long-time music director Rosalie Trombley who served in that capacity since CKLW’s influential heyday in the ‘60’s. In the summer ratings book, CKLW dropped again, from a 1.2 to a .7.
Manybelieve that CKLW started to decline in popularity after Canadian content regulations went into effect. Although having to play some "CanCon" songs that generated little in the way of sales put the station at a competitive disadvantage compared to its U.S.-based competition, CKLW still managed to help break a number of Canadian songs and artists in the United States. Just as, if not more, responsible for the decline in CKLW's ratings as the 1970s wore on was the rise of FM radio as an outlet for contemporary music, as the station gained a direct FM Top 40 competitor, WDRQ, in 1972, and its listening audience was also fragmented between album oriented rock outlets such as WWWW, WRIF and WABX and adult contemporary stations like WNIC and WMJC.
The Canadian government's initial unwillingness to licence FM frequencies with pop or rock formats stranded Canadian stations on AM while an entire demographic of listeners began the exodus to US-based FM outlets anywhere the signals were in range. For many younger listeners by 1978, CKLW was the station they listened to only if they had an AM-only radio in their cars.
As a result, like many other powerhouse AM Top 40 stations, CKLW evolved during the late 1970s into an Adult Top 40 sound. The station's music softened to the point where by 1982 it gave no airtime to harder-rocking songs like Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", and jingles were initially phased out, with new jingles and a new slogan ("The Great Entertainer") being introduced in 1979.
Dick Purtan joined the station for mornings in 1978, coming over from WXYZ-AM. Largely due to Purtan's popularity, CKLW remained a moderately popular station into the early 1980s, but after Purtan departed at the start of 1983 for FM competitor WCZY, the station quickly tumbled to the bottom of Detroit's Arbitron ratings (its last appearance in the Top 10 was in 1981). In an attempt to go after longtime "full service" powerhouse WJR, CKLW converted to AM stereo in 1982 and even got the rights to broadcast University of Michigan football and NASL soccer, but in this it was also unsuccessful.
In 1984, the station's owners (Baton Broadcasting) sold CKLW-AM-FM to Russwood Broadcasting Ltd. Also in 1984, CKLW made an attempt to transfer its CHR format to its FM sister station, big band and jazz standards-formatted CKJY. These hopes were dashed when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) refused to approve the format change on anything more than an "experimental" basis, reasoning that FM was for "fine" music and that Top 40 music belonged on AM.
The final death knell for the "Big 8" came in October 1984, when the station fired 79 staffers (including most of the remaining announcers and Rosalie Trombley), closed its American sales office in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Michigan, and announced that it would soon change format to Al Ham's "Music of Your Life" format of Jazz standards and big-band music and go completely automated.
Morton Downey - 1933
➦In 1985...one of early radio’s singing stars Morton Downey died at age 83.
➦In 1987...radio correspondent Cecil Brown (CBS), one of Ed Murrow’s “boys” who reported from the Pacific front during WWII, died at age 80.
➦In 1991...rock promoter Bill Graham died in a helicopter crash after a Huey Lewis concert in Concord, Calif. He was 60. Among the events produced by Graham were the Live Aid concert, Amnesty International tour and US Festival. At times he managed the careers of the Grateful Dead, Van Morrison and Santana.
➦In 2002...British actor Richard Harris, who had a huge radio hit with his 1968 recording of Jim Webb’s classic MacArthur Park, died of Hodgkin’s Disease at age 72.
