Jokes Fly At WHCD 2013

President Barack Obama poked fun at the press, Republicans, his wife's much-discussed hairstyle and himself at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night.

The comic entertainment of the night, Conan O'Brien, had his own jab at CNN. "Tonight's entrees were halibut and filet mignon," Mr. O'Brien informed viewers. "Or as CNN's John King reported it, lasagna and couscous."

Study: Social Media's Climb Highlighted

Preliminary findings from The Media Audit's soon-to-be released 2012 National Report highlights that popular social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are continuing to increase in their popularity. According to the study, 61.6% have now visited these websites with the past month. The figure represents more than 89 million monthly unique website visitors across 105 markets measured by The Media Audit.

The figure, when compared to last year's 58.5% who visited these sites represents another 5.3% gain in only a year.

Orlando Radio: Dave Wahl Signs Off At WDBO

Dave Wahl

Friday marked the final day at Orlando radio station WDBO 96.5 FM for Dave Wahl after nearly 25 years.

A story in the Orlando Sentinel says the 62-year-old Wahl had a nuts-and-bolts way of describing his role as managing news editor: "I go on the air. I wear all hats. I anchor, I report, I order people around."

In a 42-year career, Wahl has worked at radio stations in Detroit; Rochester, N.Y.; and Cleveland before arriving in Orlando. No place is quite like Central Florida.

"What area of the country do you have such variety?" Wahl asks. "Casey Anthony, Aileen Wuornos, theme parks, the space shuttle. Central Florida has such a cast of news characters. You couldn't ask for anything better."

AOL Shutting Down Music Service

AOL has shuttered its entire Music division, the company announced on Friday, laying off the few dozen employees in a division that has faltered over the past few years.

News of the layoffs leaked on Friday afternoon, as staffers who were in attendance live-tweeted their own dismissals.

According to AllThingsD, AOL joins the ranks of the major portals offloading their music divisions over the past six years. 2006 saw Microsoft’s shuttering of MSN Music, while Yahoo closed the doors on its Yahoo Music services in 2008, as well as shutting down its MusicMatch service the year prior (just three years after acquiring it in 2004 for $160 million).

AOL Music, in particular, has waned in popularity with the rise of other streaming music services like Spotify, Pandora and the like, along with a series of executive departures.

AOL did not respond to a request for comment.

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Rolling Stones Rock LA Club

The Rolling Stones performed a surprise club gig in Los Angeles on Saturday night (April 27th). The gig, which took place in the Echo Park section of town at the venue Echoplex, had fans scrambling for tickets to the show.

Hundreds of Stones die-hards lined up at the El Ray Theatre in the Miracle Mile section of town for the chance to buy a single $20 ticket. Pollstar reported that there were heavy regulations imposed on the lucky few:

"Buyers were limited to one ticket, and they were required to pay with cash, show a government-issued ID, wear a wristband with their name on it and be photographed. Their names were verified at the venue, which has a capacity of about 700."

Mick Jagger greeted the crowd following the band's second number, "Respectable," by joking: "Welcome to Echo Park, a neighborhood that's always coming up -- and I'm glad you're here to welcome an up-and-coming band."

Lauryn Hill Confirms Sony Deal

Singer Lauryn Hill took to her Tumblr page to comment on recent media reports that she’d inked a new deal with Sony Music in order to help her avoid prison time for three years' worth of missed tax returns, according to billboard.biz.

She wrote that she will be launching a new label through Sony to release her new music but called media reports on the nature of the deal and its dollar amount “inaccurate.”

Last year, Hill pleaded guilty for failing to pay federal taxes on $1.8 million earned between 2005 and 2007. On Monday, a federal judge postponed Hill's tax evasion sentencing, giving her until May 6 to pay off her liability, which now stands at $504,000 after Hill made a payment of $50,000 late last year.

During last Monday's proceeding in Newark, N.J., however, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Moser revealed that Hill had signed a new deal with Sony, and was set to receive $1 million for recording five new songs, plus additional money for an entire album's worth of music, according to NJ.com. 

However, according Billboard, Hill has yet to finish writing and recording the new songs; a rep for the singer declined to provide further details on the deal.

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Photo Book Reveals Early ‘New York City Radio’

Scott Muni (NY Daily News)

The fact that radio is a non-visual medium makes it feels exotic and perhaps slightly forbidden to see what happens in the studio, according to David Hinckley at nydailynews.com.

“New York City Radio,” a new picture book by Alec Cumming and Peter Kanze (Arcadia Publishing, $21.99), is a delightfully random collection of photos and memorabilia that goes back to a March 13, 1921, broadcast featuring Rosette and Vivian Duncan over radio station 2XX.

The book runs roughly in chronological order as we see big bands segue into wartime newscasts, then into great casual shots like the record library at WHOM, a floor-to-ceiling rack of 78s for a station that specialized in foreign-language programs.

A WMGM promo shot shows Gussie Moran from the Brooklyn Dodgers radio team, followed by a 1958 Yankees broadcasting photo with Mel Allen, Red Barber and Phil Rizzuto.

The authors reprint an ad that WINS ran after it kept broadcasting through a blackout. “The station that glowed in the dark,” it declares.

Once rock ’n’ roll arrives, the look of radio changes considerably. The early WNEW-FM staff, for instance, looks a lot different from the WNEW-AM staff of the same era.

WNBC has Imus, Howard Stern, Wolfman Jack and Soupy Sales in the same promo shot.

Many pictures here are bittersweet, echoing eras past: the early WCBS-FM, WHN, all the popular standards stations like WNEW-AM and WQEW.

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Broadcast historian Peter Kanze, who has worked at WHN and the ABC Radio Network, also produces WABC "Rewound."  And with his background, there's lots of WABC in the book.

Co-author, Al Cumming, is billed as a pop historian and television writer/producer who has worked for NBC, USA, Syfy, the History Channel, Rhino Records and Nickelodeon.  Currently, he serves as a history consultant for NBC Universal.   

Royal Hoax DJ To 'Appear' At Nurse Inquest

Mel Greig

One of the Australian DJs who made a prank call to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated will appear at an inquest into the death of the nurse who answered the phone, itv.com is reporting.

Mother-of-two Jacintha Saldanha was found dead in her nurses' quarters three days after she transferred the call from the DJs to a colleague at London's King Edward VII's Hospital who then described Kate's condition in detail.

DJ Mel Greig said she was "determined to answer any questions surrounding her role in these tragic events" and would appear in person or by video link, BBC News reported.

The inquest will be held on 2 May.

Meanwhile, the contents have just been released of a purported 'suicide note' directly blames the Aussie DJs for the death of Saldanha.  See posting, Click Here.

Just Unveiled: Suicide Note Directly Blames 2DAY FM DJs

The nurse who fell for a hoax call from two Australian DJs who were then given details of Kate Middleton's health, said they drove her to suicide, reports London’s Daily Mail.

Jacintha Saldanha, 46, directly blamed the radio presenters in a suicide letter found by her hanged body.

The note said: 'I hold the Radio Australians Mel Greig and Michael Christian responsible for this act.

'Please make them pay for my mortgage.'

ALSO READ: Report Says Aussie DJ To Testify At Death Inquest, Click Here.

Mrs Saldanha left the handwritten note in her living quarters close to King Edward VII's Hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated for acute morning sickness.

She took her own life last December- just three days after she transferred the hoax call to a ward nurse.

It had been thought that Mrs Saldanha was unhappy with how the hospital treated her after falling victim to the prank call.

But she exonerates the hospital from any responsibility in the letter and points the finger of blame at the 2Day FM presenters.

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R.I.P.: Twin Cities Radio Personality Michael “Donuts” Douglas

Michael Wegner, best known by his radio moniker Michael "Donuts" Douglas, died last week after a severe injury to his head.

He was 65, according to the Star-Tribune.

From 1979 to 1994,  "Knapp & Donuts" was among the hottest morning shows in the Twin Cities, eventually helping to establish KSTP KS95 as the country's most popular FM radio station.

Program director Chuck Knapp may have technically been the boss, but it was his on-air partner's homespun, and often cranky, personality, that defined the program.

R.I.P.: Denver Concert Promoter Barry Fey Dead At 73

Barry Fey

 The colorful promoter who made Colorado a destination for the biggest names in music died Sunday.

Barry Fey was 73, according to The Denver Post.

The cause of death was not immediately available, but an unusually downtrodden Fey told The Denver Post last week that he was recovering from hip-replacement surgery.

Fey promoted tens of thousands of concerts and other events from the 1960s until he retired his Feyline corporation in the late-'90s.

He was friends with acts he promoted, a list that included the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead, the Who, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and other big-time acts.

In 2011, Fey published a memoir called "Backstage Past" with forewords written by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne and the Who's Pete Townshend.

"Barry was the first promoter to book Black Sabbath in 1971," Osbourne wrote. "He was the first one to believe in us."

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R.I.P. El Paso's ‘The Mouth’ Paul Strelzin Dead At 75

Paul Strelzin

Paul Strelzin, former educator, KROD Sports ESPN 600AM and KRHO-AM radio host and sports announcer who earned the nickname "The Mouth" for his antics as an announcer for the El Paso Diablos, has died.

Strelzin, a Brooklyn native, died in his sleep on Friday. He was 75, reports elpasotimes.com.  The cause of his death was not immediately known, said his daughter Sandra Strelzin Lewis. She said her father had suffered from heart problems several years ago and had to undergo quadruple bypass surgery.

"He had such a large booming voice that was so intimidating," said radio host Steve Kaplowitz. "And yet, if you peel back the layers, he was like a big teddy bear. He was a real lovable guy, and he was a guy that always wanted people to respect him for the job he did. But more than anything else, he lived for his wife and three daughters, and, later on, his grandchildren."