The Academy of Country Music announced today the winners for the Music Event of the Year, Video of the Year and Songwriter of the Year categories in advance of the 55TH ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS, a Night of Heart and Hits Live from Nashville, airing on Wednesday, September 16 (live 8:00-11:00 PM ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network, and will be available to stream live and on demand on CBS All Access.
Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, Ashley McBryde, Tenille Townes, Caylee Hammack and Elle King were announced as winners of the ACM Award Music Event of the Year category for “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” produced by Jay Joyce.
Thomas Rhett was announced as winner of the ACM Award Video of the Year category for “Remember You Young” produced by Dan Atchison and directed by TK McKamy.
Hillary Lindsey was announced as the ACM Award Songwriter of the Year.
Previously announced winners include Riley Green (New Male Artist of the Year) and Tenille Townes (New Female Artist of the Year). This marks the first win for Hammack and King, and makes Townes a double winner heading into the broadcast. This is the first win for Lindsey, making her the second female Songwriter of the Year winner in the Academy’s history.
For the first time in the show’s history, the awards will take place in Nashville, broadcasting from three iconic Country Music venues: Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe.
As previously announced, the 55th ACM Awards will also feature performances by Jimmie Allen, Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Florida Georgia Line, Riley Green, Mickey Guyton, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Maren Morris, Old Dominion, Thomas Rhett featuring Jon Pardi, Blake Shelton featuring Gwen Stefani, Taylor Swift, Tenille Townes, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban with P!NK, Morgan Wallen and Trisha Yearwood. Joining the all-star lineup are presenters Lauren Alaina, Lily Aldridge, Clint Black & Lisa Hartman Black, Bobby Bones, Cam, Darius Rucker, Runaway June and CeCe Winans.
The country-turned pop superstar will perform on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry House Wednesday night for the Academy of Country Music Awards. She's set to sing "Betty," a favorite from her acclaimed, pandemic-born album "Folklore," reports The Tennessean.
It will mark Swift's first performance at the ACMs — or any country awards show — since 2013. That year, she joined Tim McGraw and Keith Urban to sing "Highway Don't Care" at the ACMs, and enlisted Alison Krauss, Vince Gill and others to perform "Red" at the CMA Awards.
Swift's sound made a full swerve into pop (and away from Music Row) with 2014's "1989" album. But she hasn't been completely absent from the country landscape. In 2016, she penned Little Big Town's chart-topping song "Better Man," and appeared on Sugarland's 2018 single "Babe."
SiriusXM announced today an extension of its long-term agreement with General Motors (GM) that will continue the relationship between the two companies into 2027. As part of the new agreement, GM will increase vehicles equipped with SiriusXM to nearly all Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac (CADIF) vehicles beginning with model year 2021.
"General Motors was the first automaker to begin factory-installing SiriusXM on select Cadillac models in 2002, and we are very proud to be extending and expanding that longstanding relationship into 2027," said Steve Cook, EVP, Sales and Automotive, for SiriusXM. "GM, forever a leader in delivering innovative technology to their customers, has produced tens of millions of vehicles with SiriusXM installed over the course of nearly 20 years and will deliver SiriusXM to more of their customers than ever as part of this new agreement."
"Our long-standing relationship with SiriusXM reinforces GM's commitment to provide our customers with the features and services they love," said Santiago Chamorro, Vice President for Global Connected Services, GM. "No matter where they're going, or how long a trip will be, SiriusXM has a channel or content option for everyone, making the ride that much more enjoyable."
Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac customers purchasing or leasing SiriusXM equipped vehicles will continue to receive a three-month trial subscription to SiriusXM All Access, SiriusXM's most robust programming package. SiriusXM All Access delivers SiriusXM's full lineup of varied content, plus access to SiriusXM outside their vehicles on the SiriusXM app and on connected devices and speakers in their homes. Customers who purchase or lease pre-owned Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles will also continue to receive a three-month trial subscription to SiriusXM All Access.
Additionally, GM will continue to roll out its integration of SiriusXM with 360L to nearly 1 million Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles. The number of GM vehicles equipped with SiriusXM with 360L will continue to increase in the years ahead. SiriusXM with 360L combines satellite and streaming content delivery into a single in-vehicle entertainment experience, upgrading the way the subscriber interacts with the service by providing more choice, a more personalized user experience, and access to thousands of hours of on demand content in the vehicle. For more information click here.
Red flag warnings for strong winds that could fan the burning wildfires have been extended through tonight for southern Oregon and northern California as the death toll from the wildfires in California, Oregon and Washington state has risen to at least 35 people. At least 10 people have died in Oregon, 24 in California and one person in Washington state, while thousands of homes and other structures have been destroyed and tens of thousands have had to evacuate from their homes. The governors of the three states, who are all Democrats, say the record-setting wildfires are a consequence of climate change. Numerous studies in recent years have linked bigger U.S. wildfires to global warming. President Trump, who will visit California today for a briefing on the fires, blamed them on inadequate forest management during a rally in Nevada last night.
➤SALLY TO BECOME HURRICANE EXPECTED TO AGAIN HIT LOUISIANA: Tropical Storm Sally is heading towards the Gulf Coast and is expected to hit southern Louisiana as a Category 2 storm, after Hurricane Laura also hit the Louisiana coast late last month. Forecasters say Sally will become a hurricane today and come onshore by early Tuesday, bringing dangerous conditions to an area ranging from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards urged people to immediately prepare for the hurricane, saying, "Based on all of the available information, we have every reason to believe this storm represents a significant threat." Mississippi officials warned that the hurricane was expected to coincide with high tide, leading to significant storm surge, and Governor Tate Reeves said that people in low-lying areas need to evacuate.
➤TRUMP HOLDS INDOOR RALLY IN NEVADA, DEFYING STATE REGULATIONS, FEDERAL GUIDELINES: President Trump held an indoor campaign rally in Nevada last night, defying state regulations and his administration's health guidelines amid the pandemic. Most people in the packed crowd in a warehouse in Henderson weren't wearing masks, in what was Trump's first indoor rally since one in June in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Trump said the nation was, quote, "making the last turn" in defeating the virus, stating, "We will very easy defeat" it. Governor Steve Sisolak has limited in-person gatherings to 50 people since May, a recommendation based on White House reopening guidelines. Sisolak, who's a Democrat, condemned the rally in a statement before it began, charging Trump was, quote, "taking reckless and selfish actions that are putting countless lives in danger here in Nevada." The city of Henderson told Xtreme Manufacturing that the rally violated emergency directives for the pandemic and that penalties would be imposed. Trump said he'd support those at the rally, quote, "if the governor came after you."
➤GUNMAN WHO SHOT TWO L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES STILL AT LARGE: Police are continuing to search for a gunman who shot two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies Saturday evening while they sat in their squad car at a Metro rail station in an ambush attack, critically wounding them. Both the 31-year-old female deputy and 24-year-old male deputy graduated from the academy 14 months ago. Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Sunday while speaking with local religious leaders, "God bless them, it looks like they’re going to be able to recover." The department released video that shows the shooter approach the parked squad car on foot and shoot through the passenger-side window. A $100,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the gunman's arrest.
➤SUSPENDED CORONAVIRUS VACCINE TRIAL RESUMED: The trial of a coronavirus vaccine candidate that's in the third and final stage of resting has resumed, days after being suspended because of a reported side effect in a person in the U.K. who volunteered to take the vaccine. Oxford University, which is developing the vaccine with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, announced Saturday (September 12th) that the trial was resuming. Oxford said, "The independent review process has concluded and following the recommendations of both the independent safety review committee and the U.K. regulator . . . the trials will recommence in the U.K." AstraZeneca had said earlier this week that the volunteer had developed symptoms consistent with a rare inflammation of the spinal cord. Pauses in drug trials are common.
➤NFL GAMES PLAYED ON FIRST SUNDAY OF SEASON: After the NFL season kicked off with a Kansas City Chiefs win over the Houston Texans last Thursday, the first Sunday game day was held yesterday. Among the day's developments, quarterback Tom Brady's first game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a loss, with his team falling to the New Orleans Saints 34-23. Meanwhile, his former team, the New England Patriots, started off with a 21-11 win over the Miami Dolphins behind quarterback Cam Newton. The day also saw the first game for the Raiders after the franchise moved to Las Vegas, and they notched a 34-30 win over the Carolina Panthers.
➤RACIAL JUSTICE DEMONSTRATIONS BY MANY NFL PLAYERS: In what was the first game of the season for the NFL players following a summer of protests against racial injustice and police brutality, many of them performed demonstrations of some kind in support during their games yesterday. The Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars and Arizona Cardinals all remained in the locker room during the National Anthem, and several players from the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings took a knee during the anthem, as did Indianapolis Colts coach Frank Reich. During the Seahawks-Atlanta Falcons game, all the players on the field took a knee after the Seahawks kicked off to the Falcons. The only game that had fans in the stands was in Jacksonville for their game against the Colts because of the pandemic, but the Vikings hosted the family of George Floyd.
🏈NFL SCORES -- WEEK 1: Here are the results of this weekend's National Football League games (Home teams are listed in italics):
Seattle Seahawks 38, Atlanta Falcons 25
Buffalo Bills 27, New York Jets 17
Chicago Bears 27, Detroit Lions 23
Green Bay Packers 43, Minnesota Vikings 34
New England Patriots 21, Miami Dolphins 11
Washington Football Team 27, Philadelphia Eagles 17
Las Vegas Raiders 34, Carolina Panthers 30
Jacksonville Jaguars 27, Indianapolis Colts 20
Baltimore Ravens 38, Cleveland Browns 6
L.A. Chargers 16, Cincinnati Bengals 13
New Orleans Saints 34, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23
Arizona Cardinals 24, San Francisco 49ers 20
Los Angeles Rams 20, Dallas Cowboys 17
🏈Tonight's Monday Night Football games on ESPN:
Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Giants (7:15 p.m. ET)
Tennessee Titans at Denver Broncos (10:10 p.m. ET)
🏀NBA PLAYOFFS: Results from Conference Semifinals yesterday:
Denver Nuggets 111, L.A. Clippers 98 -- Series tied at 3-3 (West)
🏒NHL PLAYOFFS: Results from Conference Finals yesterday:
Tampa Bay Lightning 4, New York Islanders 1 -- Tampa Bay leads series 3 games to 1 (East)
➤THIEM, OSAKA WIN U.S. OPEN: Dominic Thiem mounted a big comeback after losing the first two sets to the win the U.S. Open championship Sunday against fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (6), becoming the first man in 71 years to win the final after dropping the opening two sets. It's the first Grand Slam title for Thiem, who was seeded second in the coronavirus-affected U.S. Open in Queens, New York.
It had to be like this - my career was always like the match today - many ups and downs and I love the way it turned out. pic.twitter.com/ksFDgIfws8
The 27-year-old Austrian's victory coming on a fifth-set tiebreaker was also the first time the event had ever been won that way. On Saturday, Japan's Naomi Osaka won the women's U.S. Open championship, defeating Victoria Azarenka 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. It was the second U.S. Open title for the fourth-seeded Osaka, after she won in 2018, and her third Grand Slam.
➤MIRIM LEE'S WINS ANA INSPIRATION: South Korea's Mirim Lee won the ANA Inspiration, one of women's golf's majors, on Sunday at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California. Lee got the victory in a three-way playoff against American Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson of Canada, winning on the first extra hole to get her first major championship.
➤CUBS' MILLS PITCHES NO-HITTER: The Chicago Cubs' Alec Mills pitched a no-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday in just the 15th start of his career. The 28-year-old struck out five and walked three in the 12-0 Cubs victory that was the second no-hitter of the coronavirus-shortened season.
➤PUJOLS HITS 660TH HOMER TO TIE WILLIE MAYS: The Los Angeles Angels' Albert Pujols hit the 660th home run of his career on Sunday to tie Hall of Famer Willie Mays at fifth place on the all-time list. The two-run homer came in the eighth inning of the Angels' 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. The 40-year-old Pujols is now behind only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714) and Alex Rodriguez (696) on the career list.
➤D'ANTONI WON'T RETURN AS ROCKETS COACH: Mike D'Antoni told the Houston Rockets Sunday that he won't return as coach next season. The news came a day after the Rockets' season ended with a conference semifinals loss to the L.A. Lakers in Game 5. D'Antoni was Houston's coach for four seasons.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested a public radio reporter covering a protest that broke out late Saturday night outside a Lynwood hospital where two deputies were being treated for gunshot wounds.
KTLA 5 reports video showed several deputies pulling KPCC 89.3 FM and LAist reporter Josie Huang up from the ground and handcuffing her outside St. Francis Medical Center. Earlier, video showed deputies pushing her away from a patrol car where others were detaining a man.
What appeared to be a press badge could be seen around Huang’s neck while she was being detained and put into a patrol car, the video shows.
On Sunday, Huang released videos that her phone captured in the moments leading up to and during her arrest. One shows her approaching to film deputies detaining a man on the ground before they started yelling, “back up, back up.”
Here’s more of the video, the zoom is still on.
I saw a commotion ahead of me. Deputies rushed one man and chased another.
I was filming an arrest when suddenly deputies shout “back up.” Within seconds, I was getting shoved around. There was nowhere to back up. pic.twitter.com/Y0amc46NZr
The clips appeared to contradict the Sheriff’s Department’s account and drew widespread condemnation from journalists and the national Committee to Protect Journalists. Following their release, Sheriff’s Captain Kerry Carter tweeted that “an active investigation is underway.”
Another clip Huang tweeted shows a deputy apparently stepping on the phone as a crackling sound is heard. Another deputy is then seen kicking it. In the background, she’s heard saying “You guys are hurting me.”
After her arrest, the Sheriff’s Department said she had “interfered with the arrest” of a man who deputies were taking into custody. Huang said she was charged with obstructing a peace officer, a misdemeanor, and released from custody hours later.
It’s not clear if charges have actually been filed by the District Attorney’s Office.
“The female adult, who was later identified as a member of the press, did not identify herself as press and later admitted she did not have proper press credentials on her person,” the Sheriff’s Department said.
However, following Huang’s release of videos contradicting that narrative, Carter tweeted that the department planned to further investigate the arrest.
Executive Editor at KPCC and LAist, Megan Garvey, tweeted photos of bruises on Huang’s arm and ankle after the reporter was released from custody.
Garvey described Huang as an “an award winning, thoughtful journalist who has been covering protests for months.”
Incoming WBEZ CEO Andi McDaniel has withdrawn from the position following an investigation into personnel issues at her former public radio station in Washington.
The Chicago Tribune reports the decision was announced Friday by the board of Chicago Public Media, which operates non-com WBEZ 91.5 FM, Chicago’s NPR station.
“Among other considerations, the decision follows deeper research into the recent turmoil at Andi’s prior employer, WAMU, and a review led by the search committee of the Chicago Public Media board,” WBEZ said in a statement.
Andi McDaniel
When McDaniel was named in May to helm WBEZ, she told the Tribune it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
McDaniel, 39, who spent the last five years as chief content officer at WAMU-FM, Washington’s NPR station, was set to take the helm at WBEZ Sept. 28. Her start date was delayed by a planned maternity leave with her first child.
During the interim, her former station was rocked by allegations of sexual harassment by a former reporter, and complaints about the station’s workplace culture, according to multiple news reports. Last month, WAMU announced general manager J.J. Yore’s resignation and pledged to address issues of diversity, inclusion and how matters of misconduct are handled.
In a Facebook post Friday, McDaniel accepted responsibility for her role in the turmoil and workplace culture at WAMU.
“I have always done literally everything I can to make the workplaces I have led ‘jerk-free.’ WAMU was no exception — but in some cases, that was impossibly hard,” she wrote.
Chicago Public Media said it is taking a “fresh look” at the search process and embarking on a renewed effort to hire a new CEO.
Media mogul Michael Bloomberg, who spent $1 billion of his own money on a failed 2020 presidential bid, will inject at least $100 million to help Democrat Joe Biden’s campaign against President Donald Trump in Florida.
Reuters reports the billionaire’s decision comes at a critical moment in the final 51 days of the race, with polls showing a close race in the battleground state and no financial advantage for the sitting president as voting gets under way later this month.
Trump’s initial financial supremacy over former Vice President Biden evaporated after the Republican’s campaign spent freely and Democratic fundraising surged once the party’s divisive primary ended.
“Mike Bloomberg is committed to helping defeat Trump, and that is going to happen in the battleground states,” said Bloomberg adviser Kevin Sheekey, who added that the ex-New York City mayor’s spending “will mean Democrats and the Biden campaign can invest even more heavily in other key states like Pennsylvania, which will be critical to a Biden victory.”
Even before Bloomberg’s spending, both campaigns were expecting Florida to be the most expensive state in which to campaign. It will be the biggest prize among competitive states on Election Day, offering 29 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win.
In-state voting by mail in Florida starts on Sept. 24, and Biden is planning his first in-person visit to Florida of the general election season on Tuesday.
Trump won the state by 113,000 votes in his victorious 2016 election, or 1.2 percentage points. He has since adopted the state as his residence and visits regularly.
Recent polls have shown Biden with a very slim margin there, gaining ground with older voters but trailing previous Democrats’ performance with Latinos. People over 65 years old make up one in five of the state’s population and Latinos make up one in four.
The candidates have already booked $58 million in advertisements to run between last Tuesday and the Nov. 3 election, more than any other single state, according to Advertising Analytics LLC, a market data firm.
As the economy continues to be a central theme of President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, is highlighting a persistent divide between the financial health of wealthy Americans and regular consumers.
“Those at the top are seeing things go up, and those at the middle or below are seeing things go down or get worse,” Biden said last week in a speech about the economy.
Central to this discussion has been the disparity between the stock market, which recently hit a record high before a tech rout last week that sent shares plummeting, and the “real economy” — measures like consumer confidence, unemployment and other underlying economic indicators.
Voters appear to be more motivated by unemployment, which recently fell to 8.4 percent, rather than the ups and downs of the stock market, which recently hit a four-week low, new Morning Consult polling indicates.
More than half of voters (52 percent) said they would describe the current U.S. economy as “recovering,” compared to 33 percent who said it’s “worsening.”
That’s a 9-point jump from the end of August, when 43 percent said the economy is recovering. At that point, the S&P 500 had reached a record-high and unemployment was near its 2008 financial recession peak at 10.2 percent in July.
The trends are heightened among parties. Just over a third of Democrats in the most recent poll said the economy is recovering, compared to 28 percent who said the same at the end of August.
The jump among Republicans was much higher. Seventy-six percent of GOP voters said the economy was recovering in the new poll, an 11-point increase from the end of August when 65 percent of Republicans said the same.
Independents split the difference. Forty-six percent said the economy is improving in the September survey, compared with 40 percent in the August poll.
Edna Wright, the lead singer of the early 1970s R&B group Honey Cone, died Saturday at the age of 76.
Wright, who reportedly suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, suffered a heart attack at a hospital in Encino, Calif., according to the NY Daily News.
“I’m in complete shock and so heartbroken by the sudden loss of my beautiful baby sister,” wrote sibling and Blossoms singer-actress Darlene Love on Saturday, according to Showbiz411. “Please keep me and my family in your prayers during this very sad time for us.”
In her early days, Wright sang backup for numerous artists, including the Righteous Brothers and Ray Charles. Under the stage name Sandy Wynns, she recorded the 1960s single “The Touch of Venus,” according to 24-7.
In 1969, Wright formed Honey Cone as a trio comprising herself, Carolyn Willis and Shelly Clark. “Working together with Edna was magical,” recalled Willis on Saturday. “My heart is broken and my love and thoughts go out to her family and daughter Melodye.”
In 1971, the group topped the Billboard Hot 100 with the melodically funky hit “Want Ads" from the album “Soulful Tapestry.” The song spent one week at No. 1, bumping off The Rolling Stones' “Brown Sugar.”
The single also spent three weeks atop the R&B chart.
The group broke up in 1973, having never generated a hit as big as “Want Ads.” Three years later, Wright released her first solo album, “Oops! Here I Go Again.”
In the 1980s and ’90s, Wright provided backup vocals for many musical acts, including U2, Kim Carnes, Aaron Neville and gospel legend Andraé Crouch, according to 24-7.
➦In 1814...Attorney Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to the "Star-Spangled Banner" after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry, Maryland during the War of 1812.
Key, accompanied by the British Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner, dined aboard the British ship HMS Tonnant as the guests of three British officers: Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane, Rear Admiral George Cockburn, and Major General Robert Ross. Skinner and Key were there to negotiate the release of prisoners, one of whom was Dr. William Beanes, a resident of Upper Marlboro, MD, who had been arrested after jailing marauding British troops who were looting local farms.
Skinner, Key, and Beanes were not allowed to return to their own sloop because they had become familiar with the strength and position of the British units and with the British intent to attack Baltimore. Thus, Key was unable to do anything but watch the bombarding of the American forces at Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore on the night of September 13–14, 1814.
At dawn, Key was able to see an American flag still waving.
Back in Baltimore and inspired, Key wrote a poem about his experience, "Defence of Fort M'Henry", which was soon published in William Pechin's American and Commercial Daily Advertiser on September 21, 1814. He took it to Thomas Carr, a music publisher, who adapted it to the rhythms of composer John Stafford Smith's "To Anacreon in Heaven". It has become better known as "The Star-Spangled Banner". Though somewhat difficult to sing, it became increasingly popular, competing with "Hail, Columbia" (1796) as the de facto national anthem by the time of the Mexican–American War and American Civil War.
More than a century after its first publication, the song was adopted as the American national anthem, first by an Executive Order from President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 and then by a Congressional resolution on March 31, 1931, signed by President Herbert Hoover.
Cecil Brown
➦In 1907...Cecil Brown, radio newsman & commentator, was born in New Brighton, PA. Some of his most important broadcasts were from the Pacific war front during the early days of World War II. One of the correspondents known as ‘Murrow’s Boys,’ he resigned from CBS in 1943 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.
Brown continued his commentaries with Mutual, NBC and ABC. For his contributions to radio he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He died Oct. 25 1987 at age 80.
Jerry Coleman
➦In 1924...Gerald Francis Coleman born in NYC (Died at age 89 after a fall – January 5, 2014), Jerry Coleman was a MLB second baseman for r the New York Yankees and manager of the San Diego Padres for one year.
Coleman was named the rookie of the year in 1949 by Associated Press, and was an All-Star in 1950 and later that year was named the World Series Most Valuable Player. Yankees teams on which he was a player appeared in six World Series during his career, winning four times. Coleman served as a Marine Corps pilot in World War II and the Korean War, flying combat missions.
He later became a broadcaster, and he was honored in 2005 by the Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award for his broadcasting contributions.
➦In 1928...singer Gene Austin recorded one of the first million sellers, My Blue Heaven, for Victor Records, which eventually was #1 for 13 straight weeks.
A jazz artist at heart, he was equally at home singing country ballads, blues and spirituals. His improvisational style apparent in his recordings, added a unique flavor to his interpretations.
Colonel Tom Parker, later to become Elvis Presley's manager, gradually worked his way into the music business when he began to promote Gene Austin in 1938.
➦In 1936...The radio soap opera 'John's Other Wife' aired for the first time on the NBC Red Network. In March 1940, the show moved NBC-Blue Network, where it ran until March 20, 1942.
John's Other Wife centered around a store executive, his wife, and a woman who worked for him. The man in the title was John Perry, who owned Perry's Department Store. His insecure wife, Elizabeth, suspected John of being romantically involved with either Annette Rogers, his secretary, or Martha Curtis, his assistant. The program was one of many soap operas created and produced by Frank Hummert and his wife, Anne.
Beginning on May 8, 1939, John's Other Wife was broadcast via electrical transcription on WMCA in New York City in addition to its regular network airings.
➦In 1966…Actress Gertrude Berg died (Born - October 3, 1899). She was a pioneer of classic radio, she was one of the first women to create, write, produce and star in a long-running hit when she premiered her serial comedy-drama The Rise of the Goldbergs (1929), later known as The Goldbergs. Her career achievements included winning a Tony Award and an Emmy Award, both for Best Lead Actress.
The Goldbergs aired on radio for 27 years (1929-1956) and television for two years (1949-1951).
➦In 1986...Radio pioneer and station owner Gordon Barton McLendon died (Born - June 8, 1921. He was nicknamed "the Maverick of Radio." McLendon is widely credited for perfecting, during the 1950s and 1960s, the commercially successful Top 40 radio format created by Todd Storz. He nicknamed himself "The Old Scotchman", founded Liberty Radio Network (noted for its daily national broadcasts of Major League Baseball) in the 1940s. Liberty was the second largest radio network in the U.S. at the time with over 458 affiliated stations. Most of Liberty's MLB broadcasts were re-creations of games.
McLendon and his father founded radio station KLIF (The Mighty 1190) in Dallas, TX in 1947, and introduced the Top 40 format there in the early 1950s to great success. KLIF enjoyed a long run at the top of the Dallas radio ratings in the 1950s and 1960s, but its standing in the market fell in the early 1970s thanks to growing competition from FM radio. One of the FM stations most instrumental in the downfall of KLIF was its former sister station KNUS (now KLUV), of which McLendon retained ownership after selling KLIF and revamped as a rock-oriented Top 40.
The McLendon family built a communications empire that included radio stations across the United States. In addition to KLIF, McLendon owned KNUS–FM in Dallas, KOST in Los Angeles, WYNR (later WNUS) & WNUS-FM in Chicago, WWWW–FM in Detroit, KEEL in Shreveport, WAKY in Louisville, KABL in Oakland, KABL–FM in San Francisco, KILT in Houston, KTSA in San Antonio, and KELP in El Paso. McLendon introduced the all-news format to Southern California through XETRA in Tijuana. McLendon was one of the originators of the "beautiful music" format on his KABL in Oakland, California in 1959; and as the founder of the first all-news radio station (WNUS in Chicago) in the 1960s.
He is credited by most broadcast historians with having established the first mobile news units in American radio, the first traffic reports, the first jingles, the first all-news radio station, and the first "easy-listening" programming. He also was among the first broadcasters in the United States to editorialize.
The McLendon family sold KLIF in 1971 to Fairchild Industries of Germantown, MD, for $10.5 million, then a record price for a radio station. By 1979 the family had sold all of its broadcasting properties, including fourteen radio and two television stations, worth approximately $100 million. By 1985 Forbes magazine estimated McLendon's net worth at $200 million.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY:
Faith Ford is 56
Actor Walter Koenig (“Star Trek”) is 84.
Singer-actor Joey Heatherton is 76.
Actor Sam Neill is 73.
Singer John “Bowzer” Baumann of Sha Na Na is 73.
Actor Robert Wisdom (“Nashville,” ″The Wire”) is 67.
Saxophonist Steve Berlin of Los Lobos is 65.
Country singer-songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman is 64.
Country singer John Berry is 61.
Actor Mary Crosby is 61.
Singer Morten Harket of A-ha is 61.
Actor Melissa Leo is 60.
Actor Faith Ford (“Faith and Hope,” ″Murphy Brown”) is 56.
Actor Michelle Stafford (“The Young and the Restless”) is 55.
Actor Dan Cortese is 53.
Singer Mark Hall of Casting Crowns is 51.
Actor Tyler Perry is 51.
Actor Ben Garant (“Reno 911!”) is 50.
Actor Kimberly Williams-Paisley (“According to Jim”) is 49.
Actor Andrew Lincoln (“The Walking Dead”) is 47.
Rapper Nas is 47.
Actor Austin Basis (“Life Unexpected”) is 44.
TV chef Katie Lee (“The Kitchen”) is 39.
Actor Adam Lamberg (“Lizzie McGuire”) is 36.
Singer Alex Clare is 35.
Actor Jessica Brown Findlay (“Downton Abbey”) is 33.
Actor-singer Logan Henderson (“Big Time Rush”) is 31.
Actor Emma Kenney (“The Connors,” ″Shameless”) is 21.
The debut broadcast was to be on November 11, 1928 (to honor Armistice Day) but on-the-air testing between 4AM and 8AM the morning of October 27, 1928 proved so successful that KOH went directly to full-time broadcasting running 100 watts on 1370 kHz. This early debut also allowed KOH to take advantage of the lucrative political advertising for the upcoming 1928 Presidential Elections in November. In fact, KOH even carried the election returns in a joint effort with the Reno Evening Gazette on November 6, 1928. KOH had a seven man crew, which was the largest for a radio station in Nevada up to that time. KOH was the first professionally operated, commercial radio station in Nevada.
Today the station is KKOH 780 AM is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a News/Talk format.
➦In 1932...Retired personality Dick Biondi born. Calling himself The Wild I-tralian, he was one of the original "screamers," known for his screaming delivery as well as his wild antics on the air and off. In a 1988 interview, Biondi related he had been fired 23 times; both fits of temper and jokes gone wrong were part of the tally. Over many years and many frequencies, Dick's close-of-the-program line was, "God bless, bye, bye, Duke. Thanks a million for dialing our way."
Biondi gained national attention in the 1950s and 1960s as a disc jockey on leading AM radio stations in Buffalo, New York; Chicago, Illinois; and Los Angeles, California. Besides being among the first to play Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, and other early rhythm and blues artists, he was able to meet them also. The early Rock and Roll era meant "record hops" where disc jockeys would make personal appearances at local schools and clubs; they often included appearances by the artists whose records were being played.
Biondi is credited as the first U.S. disc jockey to play the Beatles, on Chicago's WLS 890 AM in February 1963, with the song "Please Please Me". Later, while working at KRLA 1110 AM in Los Angeles, he introduced the Beatles and Rolling Stones at their Hollywood Bowl concerts.
Since 1984, Biondi has been a mainstay on Oldies stations in the city where he first earned his reputation, Chicago. On 2 May 2010, Dick Biondi celebrated the 50th anniversary of his first Chicago broadcast. WLS-AM and WLS-FM presented a 5-hour simulcast special from 7 PM to midnight, featuring memorable moments in his career and special celebrity guests, with Biondi as its host.
Biondi is an inductee of the National Radio Hall of Fame.
➦In 1937...the first successful radio soap opera set in the world of doctors and medicine Road of Life debuted on the NBC Red network. Writer/producer Irna Phillips‘ story of handsome Dr. Jim Brent and his wife Jocelyn ran simultaneously on CBS for much of its 22 year run ➦In 1960...the FCC formally banned the practice of payola — in which record companies paid disc jockeys to play certain records.
Alan Freed
Prosecution for payola in the 1950s was in part a reaction of the traditional music establishment against newcomers. Hit radio was a threat to the wages of song-pluggers. Radio hits also threatened old revenue streams; for example, by the middle of the 1940s, three-quarters of the records produced in the USA went into jukeboxes. Still, in the 1950s, independent record companies or music publishers frequently used payola to promote rock and roll on American radio; it promoted cultural diversity and disc jockeys were less inclined to indulge their own personal and racial biases.
Radio personality Alan Freed, an early supporter of rock and roll (and also widely credited for actually coining the term), had his career and reputation greatly harmed by a payola scandal. Dick Clark's early career was nearly derailed by a payola scandal, but he avoided trouble by selling his stake in a record company and cooperating with authorities.
Dick Clark
After the initial investigation, radio DJs were stripped of the authority to make programming decisions, and payola became a misdemeanor offense. Programming decisions became the responsibility of station program directors.
A different form of payola has been used by the record industry through the loophole of being able to pay a third party or record promoters, who will then go and "promote" those songs to radio stations. Offering the radio stations "promotion payments", the independents get the songs that their clients, record companies, want on the playlists of radio stations around the country.
This newer type of payola was an attempt to sidestep FCC regulations. Since the independent intermediaries were the ones actually paying the stations, it was thought that their inducements did not fall under the "payola" rules, so a radio station need not report them as paid promotions.
➦In 1986...Bob “Bob-A-Loo” Lewis aired last radio show.
He was best known as one of the “All Americans” on 77WABC. Lesser known was the fact that he was also heard on the FM side. WABC-FM 95.5 was airing Progressive Rock. The format was called “Love”. It featured tons of album cuts from all the heavies of the time, Hendrix, the Doors, the Who, and many more similar artists which would become the staples of AOR and later, Classic Rock stations. Courtesy of the musicradio77.com website, Aircheck from 1965: Click Here. ➦In 1999...WNEW 102.7 FM flipped to 'extreme' talk format
➦In 2017...WFAN sports radio talk show host Craig Carton resigned as co-host of ‘Boomer and Carton. He served prison time in Lewisburg PA for his involvement in a ticket scam. He was released in late June 2020.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY:
Fiona Apple is 43
Actor Barbara Bain (TV’s “Mission: Impossible”) is 89.
Actor Eileen Fulton (“As The World Turns”) is 87.
Actor Joe E. Tata (“Beverly Hills, 90210,” ″The Rockford Files”) is 84.
Singer David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat and Tears is 79.
Singer Peter Cetera (Chicago) is 76.
Actor Jacqueline Bisset is 76.
Actor Christine Estabrook (“Desperate Housewives”) is 70.
Actor Jean Smart is 69.
Singer Randy Jones of the Village People is 68.
Record producer-musician Don Was (Was (Not Was)) is 68.
Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr. (“The Wire,” “BlacKkKlansman”) is 66.
Actor Geri Jewell (“The Facts of Life,” ″Deadwood”) is 64.
Country singer Bobbie Cryner is 59.
Singer-guitarist Dave Mustaine of Megadeth is 59.
Radio and TV personality Tavis Smiley is 56.
Comedian Jeff Ross (“Sneaky Pete”) is 55.
Actor Louis Mandylor (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”) is 54.
Drummer Steve Perkins of Porno for Pyros and Jane’s Addiction is 53.
Actor Roger Howarth (“General Hospital,” “One Life To Live”) is 52.
Actor Dominic Fumusa (“Nurse Jackie”) is 51.
Actor Louise Lombard (“CSI”) is 50.
Guitarist Joe Don Rooney of Rascal Flatts is 45.
Singer Fiona Apple is 43.
Guitarist Hector Cervantes of Casting Crowns is 40.
