➦In 1899...writer/producer Wyllis Cooper was born in Pekin Illinois. He was the creator of NBC Radio’s scary series “Lights Out.” Besides writing, producing and directing, he hosted the show from its start in 1934 to 1936, when Arch Oboler succeeded him. He also was creator/writer/producer of “Quiet, Please!” on Mutual (1947-1948 ) and ABC Radio (1948-1949), and producer/narrator of the early TV series Volume One. He died June 29 1955 at age 56.
1936 group of breakfast-clubbers "start the day with a smile, music and an extra cup of cawfee." L-R: Carl Fasshauer, Bill Short, Earl Roberts, Walter Blaufuss, Helen Jane Behlke, Don, Frank Papile, Clark Dennis, Bill Krenz and Eddie Ballantine.
➦In 1907...bandleader Eddie Ballantine was born in Chicago. He was musical director of the Don McNeill Breakfast Club on NBC Blue/ABC Radio for almost thirty years. When that program ended in 1968 he became a stock market reporter for a Chicago TV station. He died Nov. 14 1995 at age 88.
➦In 1922...pianist Page Cavanaugh was born in Cherokee Kansas. He formed & led his own trio from 1943-1960, which was featured on NBC Radio’s Jack Paar Show in 1947. They worked as backup to Mel Torme recordings, and also were featured repeatedly on CBS Radio’s Songs by Sinatra. He died of kidney failure Dec. 19, 2008 at age 86.
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| This ad for KNOW appeared in a 1947 edition of Broadcasting |
➦In 1932...KUT AM in Austin Texas became KNOW 1490 AM.
On December 7, 1926, the station's first license was originally granted, with the sequentially issued call sign of KGDR. It was owned by a company named "Radio Engineers" and broadcast in San Antonio, Texas. In December 1929, the station was renamed KUT and moved to Austin.That was followed by a call letter change to KNOW on January 26, 1932.
In the 1940s, KNOW moved to its current dial position at 1490 kHz, with the power at 250 watts. It served as Austin's ABC Radio Network affiliate, carrying ABC's schedule of dramas, comedies, news and sports during the "Golden Age of Radio."
In 1949, KNOW was acquired by the Pioneer Broadcasting Company. In the 1950s, it boosted its daytime power to 1,000 watts and remained at 250 watts at night. In the 1960s, it switched to a Top 40 sound. Air Staff in the 70's included P.D. Dave Jarrott, Randall McKee, Jason Wayne. Bill Mayne, Gil Garcia, Jim Gossett, David Gayle, Bill Moss. It call letters where change during the time Hicks Communication owned it from KNOW to KMOW since a mistake was made on giving up the old call letters but were now taken. As contemporary music listening shifted to the FM band in the 1980s, KNOW decided to serve Austin's growing African American community. It flipped to an urban contemporary format. That was coupled with Hicks Communications acquiring the station in 1981.
In 1989, KNOW was sold again, this time to Degree Communications, which switched the format to Oldies. In 1996, the station changed hands again, this time being acquired by San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia. The call letters were switched to KFON and the format became talk radio {with FON standing for "phone"). It later shifted to sports talk.
In 2005, the station was acquired by Border Media Partners, which owned other stations in Texas, several serving the Latino community. KFON switched to a Classic Regional Mexican music format. There were further call letter changes to KLGO and KTAE, before the current owner Township Media switched the call sign to KTSN, standing for The Sun Network.
The call letters live-on as KNOW-FM and are assigned to Minnesota Public Radio at 91.1 FM.
➦In 1947... “The Greatest Story Ever Told” began a 10-year run on ABC radio. It was the first radio program to dare to simulate the voice of Jesus Christ.
➦In 1969... The Beatles recorded “The Long And Winding Road.” And Ringo Starr wrote “Octopus’s Garden."
When issued as the group's final single in May 1970, a month after the Beatles' break-up, it became the group's 20th and last number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U-S.
