Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Rehearsing 'Queenie Eye'

Paul McCartney over the weekend posted a behind-the-scenes video of he and Ringo rehearsing for the CBS Special which aired Sunday evening.

I-R-S Hits Michael Jackson Estate With Tax Bill

MJ

Michael Jackson's estate is in hot water with the Internal Revenue Service as the governemnt agency believes that the King of Pop's estate was extremely undervalued at the time of his death.

According to the IRS, Jackson's executors estimated his net worth to be $7 million at the time of his death when it's now actually $1.125 billion. The IRS also took the extreme step of doubling the tax penalty from 20 percent to 40 percent.

Some of the undervalued assets of the estate include the singer's likeness which was estimated at $2,105 when it was actually worth $434 million, Jackson's interest in his music catalogue and the Beatles' songs assessed at zero when it is currently valued at $469 million.

Additionally the Michael Jackson Trust was initially valued at $2.2 million but the IRS believes it's worth $60.6 million and finally Jackson's ownership of the Jackson 5 master recording which was initially valued at $11.2 million is now allegedly worth $45.5 million.

A rep for the estate said, "The Estate of Michael Jackson disputes the IRS position in its entirety . . . The Estate used independent, nationally-recognized and highly-qualified expert appraisers in determining the value of the Estate’s assets. By contrast, the IRS consultant’s values are not based on standard appraisal methodology, but rather are speculative and erroneous assumptions unsupported by the facts or law. The Estate has paid over $100 Million dollars in taxes and is in full compliance with the tax laws."

Report: WFAN's Mike Francesa, Fox Sports1 ThisClose To Deal

Mike Francesa

Mike Francesa, whose 12-year simulcast run on the YES Network ended on Super Bowl Sunday, soon will bring his WFAN radio show to Fox Sports 1, a radio industry source with knowledge of the agreement told Newsday Sunday.

Terms of the contract could not be determined, nor could a starting date. But Francesa said on the air last week that an official announcement could come early this week, and that he could be back on TV in time for the NCAA men's basketball tournament in March.

MSG widely had been considered the most logical candidate for Francesa's show after making a bid for it five years ago that YES matched. But FS1 entered the bidding, presumably in an effort to increase the fledgling cable sports network's visibility. That was one factor behind CBS Sports Network adding WFAN's morning show featuring Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton last month -- even though both FS1 and CBSSN are national television channels and the WFAN shows are New York-oriented.

Update: Zimmerman Boxing Match Canceled

Damon Feldman

The promoter of a celebrity boxing match between George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, and rapper DMX that sparked an uproar last week when it was announced said Saturday (February 8th) that the bout has been canceled.

Damon Feldman, who has organized many fights between celebrities, tweeted, "Done with George Zimmerman if you had a major payday sitting in front of you, I know no one else would walk away like I did ***Next!!."

Feldman had not only been criticized for the planned fight, but his assistant said the promoter had received threats and had to get a bodyguard. However, Feldman later deleted his tweet and said he would announce his final decision in a Tuesday press conference.

Report: Record Labels Seek To Punish SiriusXM

A lawsuit brought by the major record labels -- Sony, Universal, Warner -- against SiriusXM has barely begun, and yet the case is skipping ahead to the issue of jury instruction.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, it's a dispute that is four decades in the making, ever since sound recordings began falling under federal copyright protection. The question the lawsuit poses is what to do about sound recordings created before 1972. The plaintiffs are attempting to use California state misappropriation claims to punish SiriusXM for allegedly not paying royalties.

To settle the issue, a California judge will need to decide whether California laws protect the public performance of pre-72 music. And so, the record labels have filed a motion so that a judge will clarify the law.

The plaintiffs believe this case is about fairness.

According to its motion, "Sirius XM unabashedly seeks to attract users to its service by offering channels dedicated to Pre-72 Recordings (including 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s channels) and by using Pre-72 Recordings to promote its channels, such as by using classic Rolling Stones recordings to advertise the 'Deep Tracks' channel and, just last week, highlighting the works of the late singer/songwriter Pete Seeger on Sirius XM's 'The Village' and 'Outlaw Country' channels. Notwithstanding the bounty that Sirius XM is receiving from its unfettered use of some of the most iconic sound recordings of all time — including recordings by artists such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Supremes, Bob Dylan, and hundreds of others — it refuses to pay the artists who created those cultural treasures, and those who own the rights to them, any portion of the millions of dollars Sirius XM makes each year from those Pre-72 Recordings."

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PA Radio: WCNS's John Longo Planning To Retire

John Longo

As a teenager listening to rock ‘n' roll in the 1950s, John Longo saw disc jockeys like the legendary Porky Chedwick and Clark Race spinning records at dances in Wilkinsburg and marveled that they were paid to play music.

“Wow, what a way to make a living. You're playing the music that you love, and you're getting paid for it. It's something I've always wanted to do, and I've done it,” Longo told triblive.com, who started working as a disc jockey at 1480 WCNS in Latrobe in 1959. A few years later, he elevated his career ambitions to owning a station.

Longo realized his dream in 1989 when he bought WCNS.

“It took me 30 years, but I did it,” said Longo, who will celebrate a quarter-century of ownership this year.

Now, he has put the community station up for sale and hopes the buyer will keep the staff intact. A New York radio station owner and a Chicago firm in the music business have shown interest so far, Longo said.

“I want to find the right person. I hate to see all this work squandered,” he said. “I hope the legacy will be carried on.”

Longo, 73, of Hempfield said the timing is right for him to sell the station. His wife, Donna, wants to stay in Florida's warmer climate. His daughter, Lisa, and son, John, don't want to follow in their father's footsteps.

Longo isn't certain how much the station is worth, but he said the new owner can make a good living. The station reaches 260,000 people in central Westmoreland County, he said.

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Art Laboe And 'His Devil Music' Made Radio Magic

Art Laboe

At 88 years old, and after seven decades in the business, Los Angeles radio host Art Laboe is still at it, reports NPR.

Six nights a week on The Art Laboe Connection, Laboe takes requests from his loyal listeners, who tune in on more than a dozen stations in California and the Southwestern United States.

This week, he'll be hosting his annual series of Valentine's concerts, featuring the "Oldies But Goodies" he's played for decades.

Laboe, with his welcoming baritone voice, has won his share of accolades over his long career. Among others, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1981 and a spot in the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2012.

Orlando Radio: Chili Cook-Off Draws Competitive Eaters

Competitive eaters Joey Chestnut (left) and Tim Janus were in Orlando this past weekend for the Orlando Chili Cook-Off Saturday to benefit Special Oympics.

More than 10,000 braved a steady drizzle for the 5th annual event.

The duo were fasting when they visted the personal financial advice  Saving Thousands Radio Show hosted by Robert Palmer (right) and Justin Clark.  The show airs Saturday mornings on WTKS 104.1 FM Real Radio in Orlando and WHPT 102.5 The Bone in Tampa.  The show is syndicated via the Savings Thousand Radio Network based in Maitland, FL.

R.I.P.: Longtime TN Radio Personality Ed Dodson

Ed Dodson

A longtime radio personality in Morristown, TN has died. Ed Dodson worked at WCRK 1150 AM since 1958.

He was 82 when he passed away at his home Friday afternoon, after complications from surgery, according to WATE-TV.

Dodson was the morning show host at WCRK. Listeners say his unique voice, and personality to match, kept them entertained for more than half a century.

Dodson stayed on air until about a week ago, says his coworker Tim Crews.

"It was just a pretty much routine day. He signed off and he always just basically thanked the Lord for another day," Crews said.

"Ed was the type of person that everyone loved. He was just a great, great soul. This community is going to miss him," Crews said.

WCRK stopped its regular programing for a while this morning to pay tribute to Dodson.

February 10 In Radio History

In 1959...Link Wray performed his controversial instrumental "Rumble" on ABC-TV's "American Bandstand." Many radio stations had refused to play the record only because of the danger implied in its title.




In 1960...country singer, Lionel Cartwright Ohio, was born. He was famous for the song "I Watched it on the Radio".

In 1964...Johnny Holliday starts at 1010 WINS

In 1989…Hockey broadcaster Dan Kelly, best known for his radio play-by-play coverage of the St. Louis Blues for more than two decades, died of lung cancer at 52.

In 1996...“The New” WKTU officially debuts at 103.5 FM



In 2004...Rick Dees announced he was leaving the morning show at KIIS-FM, Los Angeles, after 22 years at its helm. (Video is from 2007.)

February 9 In Radio History

In 1934...FCC granted 500kw license to WLW for W8XO.

Powel Crosley studio of radio station WLW

On March 22, 1922, the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation began broadcasting with the call sign WLW and 50 watts of power. Crosley was a fanatic about the new broadcasting technology, and continually increased his station's capability. The power went up to 500 watts in September 1922, 1000 watts in May 1924, and in January 1925 WLW was the first broadcasting station at the 5000 watt level. On October 4, 1928, the station increased its power to 50 kilowatts.  Again it was the first station at this power level, which still is the maximum power currently allowed for any AM station in the United States.

At 50 kilowatts, WLW was heard easily over a wide area, from New York to Florida. But Crosley still wasn't satisfied. In 1933 he obtained a construction permit from the Federal Radio Commission for a 500 kilowatt superstation, and he spent some $500,000 ($9.02 million in 2014) building the transmitter and antenna.

Cooling Pond (James P. Hawkins photo)

It was the first large amplifier used in the United States for public domestic radio broadcasting and was in operation between 1934 and 1939. It was an experimental amplifier and was driven by the radio station's regular 50 kW transmitter. It operated in class C with high-level plate modulation. The amplifier required a dedicated 33 kV electrical substation and a large pond complete with fountains for cooling. It operated with a power input of about 750 kW (plus another 400 kW of audio for the modulator) and its output was 500 kW.

In January 1934 WLW began broadcasting at the 500 kilowatt level late at night under the experimental callsign W8XO.   In April 1934 the station was authorized to operate at 500 kilowatts during regular hours under the WLW call letters. On May 2, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a ceremonial button that officially launched WLW's 500-kilowatt signal.

As the first station in the world to broadcast at this strength, WLW received repeated complaints from around the United States and Canada that it was overpowering other stations as far away as Toronto. In December 1934 WLW cut back to 50 kilowatts at night to mitigate the interference, and began construction of three 50 ft. tower antennas to be used to reduce signal strength towards Canada.

With these three antennas in place, full-time broadcasting at 500 kilowatts resumed in early 1935. However, WLW was continuing to operate under special temporary authority that had to be renewed every six months, and each renewal brought complaints about interference and undue domination of the market by such a high-power station.

The FCC was having second thoughts about permitting extremely wide-area broadcasting versus more locally oriented stations, and in 1938, the US Senate adopted the "Wheeler" resolution, expressing it to be the sense of that body that more stations with power in excess of 50 kilowatts are against the public interest.

As a result, in 1939 the 500-kilowatt broadcast authorization was not renewed, bringing an end to the era of the AM radio superstation. Because of the impending war and the possible need for national broadcasting in an emergency, the W8XO experimental license for 500 kilowatts remained in effect until December 29, 1942. In 1962 the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation again applied for a permit to operate at 750 kilowatts, but the FCC denied the application.

For more, visit Jim Hawkins WLW Transmitter Page: Click Here.

In 1958...the CBS Radio Network first aired "Frontier Gentleman".

In 1964...The Beatles made their live U.S. television debut in their first appearance on CBS-TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show." An estimated 73.7 million Americans watched as John, Paul, George and Ringo performed "All My Loving," "Till There Was You," "She Loves You," "I Saw Her Standing There," and "I Want to Hold Your Hand." During "Till There Was You," a message flashed on the screen when John appeared: "Sorry, girls, he's married."



The Beatles appeared on three consecutive Sundays in February 1964 to great anticipation and fanfare as "I Want to Hold Your Hand" had swiftly risen to No. 1 in the charts. Their first appearance on February 9 is considered a milestone in American pop culture and the beginning of the British Invasion in music. The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers, at the time a record for US television. The Beatles followed Ed's show opening intro, performing "All My Loving"; "Till There Was You", which featured the names of the group members superimposed on closeup shots, including the famous "Sorry girls, he's married" caption on John Lennon; and "She Loves You". The act that followed Beatles in the broadcast was pre-recorded, rather than having someone perform live on stage amidst the pandemonium that occurred in the studio after the Beatles performed their first songs. The group returned later in the program to perform "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand.

The following week's show was broadcast from Miami Beach where Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) was in training for his first title bout with Sonny Liston. The occasion was used by both camps for publicity. On the evening of the television show (February 16) a crush of people nearly prevented the band from making it onstage. A wedge of policemen were needed and the band began playing "She Loves You" only seconds after reaching their instruments. They continued with "This Boy", and "All My Loving" and returned later to close the show with "I Saw Her Standing There", "From Me to You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

They were shown on tape February 23 (this appearance had been taped earlier in the day on February 9 before their first live appearance). They followed Ed's intro with "Twist and Shout" and "Please Please Me" and closed the show once again with "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

The Beatles appeared live for the final time on August 14, 1965. The show was broadcast September 12, 1965 and earned Sullivan a 60 percent share of the nighttime audience for one of the appearances



A future music star from Britain also appeared on the Sullivan stage that night: Davy Jones, two years before he became a Monkee, performed as part of the cast of the Broadway show "Oliver!"

In 1964...1010 WINS personality Murray The K took John, Paul & Ringo to the then-famous Peppermint Lounge

In 1973...Max Yasgur, former owner of the dairy farm in Bethel, New York at which the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was held in 1969, died following a heart attack at age 53.




In 1981...Rock 'n' roll singer Bill Haley, whose group Bill Haley and the Comets sang the classic "Rock Around the Clock," died on this day in 1981. He was 55.

In 2002...NYC Radio Johnny Michaels - WOR FM, WMCA, WNEW FM, WCBS FM, WJTU, WBLS, WNBC - died




In 2012...Longtime Boston radio and TV personality (WBZ-AM, WBZ-TV, WCVB-TV) Dave Maynard, who retired in 1991, died of complications from Parkinson's disease at age 82.