As the morning host of the classical music radio station for three decades, Krauss was a familiar voice to many.
Gary Sexton, director of broadcasting for the station, called her “The voice of WYSU for the past 30 years.” Sexton delivered news of Krauss’ death on the air Monday morning during what would have been Krauss’ show.
Krauss has continuously hosted a program on WYSU since 1987, said Sexton, who worked with her at the station for the past 29 years. She started at WYSU in the early 1970s while she was a student at Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music.
➦In 1878...Investor Thomas Alva Edison got patent for the phonograph. Edison began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey, with the automatic repeater and his other improved telegraphic devices, but the invention that first gained him wider notice was the phonograph in 1877. This accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edison became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," New Jersey.
His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil around a grooved cylinder. Despite its limited sound quality and that the recordings could be played only a few times, the phonograph made Edison a celebrity.
Joseph Henry, president of the National Academy of Sciences and one of the most renowned electrical scientists in the US, described Edison as "the most ingenious inventor in this country... or in any other". In April 1878, Edison traveled to Washington to demonstrate the phonograph before the National Academy of Sciences, Congressmen, Senators and US President Hayes. The Washington Post described Edison as a "genius" and his presentation as "a scene... that will live in history". Although Edison obtained a patent for the phonograph in 1878, he did little to develop it until Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester Bell, and Charles Tainter produced a phonograph-like device in the 1880s that used wax-coated cardboard cylinders.
"Mary had a little lamb" were the first words that Edison recorded on the phonograph and he was amazed when he heard the machine play them back to him. In 1878, Edison established the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company to sell the new machine.
Edison 1878
Edison suggested other uses for the phonograph, such as: letter writing and dictation, phonographic books for blind people, a family record (recording family members in their own voices), music boxes and toys, clocks that announce the time, and a connection with the telephone so communications could be recorded. How many of these uses have become a reality today?
Many of the uses Edison suggested for the phonograph have become a reality, but there were others he hadn't imagined. For example, the phonograph allowed soldiers to take music off to war with them. In 1917, when the U.S. became involved in World War I, the Edison Company created a special model of the phonograph for the U.S. Army. This basic machine sold for $60. Many Army units purchased these phonographs because it meant a lot to the soldiers to have music to cheer them and remind them of home. This is an audio clip of Edison himself in which he expresses his pride in the soldiers and reminds Americans of the enormous sacrifice and contribution made by the other allied nations.
➦In 1922...Comedian, Ed Wynnbecame the first vaudeville star to agree to a radio contract.
In the early 1930s Wynn hosted the popular radio show The Fire Chief, heard in North America on Tuesday nights, sponsored by Texaco gasoline. Like many former vaudeville performers who turned to radio in the same decade, the stage-trained Wynn insisted on playing for a live studio audience, doing each program as an actual stage show, using visual bits to augment his written material, and in his case, wearing a colorful costume with a red fireman's helmet. He usually bounced his gags off announcer/straight man Graham McNamee; Wynn's customary opening, "Tonight, Graham, the show's gonna be different," became one of the most familiar tag-lines of its time; a sample joke: "Graham, my uncle just bought a new second-handed car... he calls it Baby! I don't know, it won't go anyplace without a rattle!"
Wynn reprised his Fire Chief radio character in two movies, Follow the Leader (1930) and The Chief (1933). Near the height of his radio fame (1933) he founded his own short-lived radio network the Amalgamated Broadcasting System, which lasted only five weeks, nearly destroying the comedian. According to radio historian Elizabeth McLeod, the failed venture left Wynn deep in debt, divorced and finally, suffering a nervous breakdown.
Wynn died June 19, 1966 in Beverly Hills, California of throat cancer, aged 79.
➦In 1981...George Harrison was found to have subconsciously plagiarised the song He's So Fine, a verdict that had repercussions throughout the music industry. He was ordered to pay ABKCO Music $587,000. HarrisonHe claimed to have used the out-of-copyright "Oh Happy Day", a Christian hymn, as his inspiration for the melody.
➦In 2007...the SIRIUS and XM Satellite Radio services announced their intention to merge.
After years of speculation (the New York Post first reported on a potential merger in January 2005), and three months of serious negotiations, the $13 billion merger between Sirius and XM was officially announced on February 19, 2007. At the time, the nation’s only two satellite radio providers reported nearly 14 million combined subscribers (with nearly 8 million belonging to XM), with neither having turned an annual profit. Sirius was valued at $5.2 billion, and XM at $3.75 billion. Each subscription was sold for $12.95 monthly.
Sirius and XM executives felt the merger would lower programming costs by eliminating overlapping stations and duplicated marketing costs. According to their original operating licenses, the two companies were not allowed to ever own each other’s license. In proceeding with the merger, then-Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin ignored this rule, gambling that the FCC would consider other audio entertainment to be competitors and allow the merger to proceed by waiving the rule.
➦In 2016…Arthur W. Ferguson, known professionally as Charlie Tuna, was a radio personality and television host based in Los Angeles, California. He was 71.
At age 16, Tuna began working at his hometown's radio station, KGFW. Then, he went to work at KLEO in Wichita, Kansas for a year with the air name "Billy O'Day". He then worked for KOMA Radio in Oklahoma City in 1966, where he took over the "Charlie Tuna" pseudonym from Chuck Riley, who had used it for one show the week prior to Tuna's arrival. Tuna then moved on to WMEX in Boston for the first 9 months of 1967.
In late 1967, KHJ in Los Angeles offered Tuna the 9 to noon slot, where he debuted on Thanksgiving Day 1967. In 1972 he became one of the original DJs at KROQ AM, a new Top 40 station (formerly Country KBBQ). In 1973 be moved to KKDJ as program director and morning personality. He presided over its 1975 call-letter change to KIIS, and broadcast the first show at KIIS-FM as it began its AM/FM simulcast. He also worked at KTNQ, KHTZ (later KBZT), KRLA, KODJ (later KCBS-FM), KMPC, KIKF, and KLAC.
He worked at KBIG 104.3 where he hosted a long running morning show Charlie Tuna in the Morning which aired from 5 to 10 am. His last full-time morning show aired on September 17, 2007, when the station flipped to a non-rhythmic-based adult contemporary format, as 104.3 My FM. He returned to radio February 9, 2008 when he became the weekend personality on Los Angeles oldies station K-Earth 101. CBS on August 27, 2015 began down sizing their stations in Los Angeles, at which point Charlie moved on to expand his syndicated radio business.
Tuna served as announcer for Casey Kasem on his 1980s television program America's Top 10, and occasionally filled in for Kasem on his radio programs American Top 20 and American Top 10. He co-hosted Your Good Time Oldies Magazine from 1992 to 1995, and he produced and hosted 52 weekly episodes of Back to the 70s, which were rerun at radio stations across the country until 2008.
Tuna had a year long run in 2009 of a 5-hour classic hits daily and weekend show, syndicated through United Stations Radio Network in New York.
Spurred by verbatim comments picked up in client studies in the past year, the folks at Nuvoodoo Research recently asked Smart Speakers owners to agree or disagree with this statement: "I've had problems when asking smart speakers to play one of my favorite AM or FM stations" - and 46% of Smart Speaker owners agree. That's a lot of potential occasions snubbed out because the Alexa couldn't find what they were asking for or played the wrong thing.
Looking at the data, Mike O'Connor, NuVoodoo's EVP of Marketing remarked, "Jeff Bezos recently touted Alexa's improved ability to understand requests and answer questions, proudly announcing that the number of learned skills had doubled to over 80,000 worldwide. In the face of this this tectonic shift in audio distribution, radio station listeners have identified a "skill gap" when attempting to access their favorite radio station. These data say to the industry, "Drop everything and address this - NOW!"
Also according to Nuvoodoo, many Smart Speaker owners have at least occasionally listened to a favorite local FM station on their devices, but we see that listening to digital pureplays on Smart Speakers is gaining traction.
Garth Brooks detailed how he hopes to expand his relationship with Amazon to embrace terrestrial country radio stations further and to protect the songwriters during an in-depth town hall session last week at the 2019 Country Radio Seminar in Nashville.
Billboard reports Brooks -- who is among the top 10 artists streamed on Amazon in any genre -- and Steve Boom, vp of Amazon Music, discussed how Amazon can stop competing with radio and learn how to partner with it in a session moderated by Melinda Newman, Billboard’s executive editor, West Coast and Nashville.
Garth Brooks
Many radio industry professionals have expressed their fear of streaming to Brooks, and the singer promises platforms like Amazon Music won’t eliminate the importance of country radio. In fact, listeners can stream over 40,000 radio stations on Amazon Echo from around the world.
“The opposite has happened from what the fear was. It brought music back into the home,” Boom explained. “It’s in your family room, it’s in your kitchen. It’s a communal listening environment and radio is a huge part of that. Tens of millions of hours of terrestrial radio is being listened to on Echo every month. We just brought radio into the home. That’s why we’ve seen such great growth of music. We’re not bound by a device.”
Brooks added, “Country radio is the 800-pound gorilla. It ain’t going anywhere. Everybody talks about the demise of radio because of streaming. What you guys got ain’t nobody else has is discovery. That’s what it’s all about.”
The country legend then proposed a radical idea for how Amazon and radio can work even more closely. Since radio plays a major role in music discovery, he suggested Amazon look into monetizing radio’s impact, such as when a listener is streaming a radio station on Amazon and wants to purchase a song, radio would share in the revenue. “Eighty-six percent of discovery is from radio, but radio doesn’t see those retail dollars,” he noted.
Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Sunday decried former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe's comments that Justice Department officials raised a plan to potentially remove President Trump from office as a "silent coup," and suggested those involved should be imprisoned, reports The Hill.
"We’re losing sight of what happened. People un-elected, simply 'cause they don't like a guy's hairstyle or like where he came from, decided the American people’s decision was invalid and began a systematic process to get him thrown out of office," Limbaugh said on Fox News Sunday.
"This is a silent coup," he continued. "These guys, if you ask me, ought to be the ones in jail. They ought to be the ones under investigation."
McCabe said in a "60 Minutes" interview which aired Sunday that there were conversations among Justice Department officials raising possibility of removing Trump via the 25th Amendment, and that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had offered to wear a wire around the president.
The Justice Department issued a statement in response reiterating Rosenstein's denial of the claim, which the deputy attorney general called "inaccurate and factually incorrect."
McCabe has since walked back his remarks, with a spokesperson issuing a statement that he did not "participate in any extended discussions about the use of the 25th Amendment, nor is he aware of any such discussions."
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the chairman the of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he intends to subpoena McCabe and Rosenstein to testify before the panel about their remarks if they won't agree to do so voluntarily.
Also, Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on Sunday called out conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh over the difference between his response when President Trump and former President Obama made an executive action.
“I want to ask you about the game you say we play in Washington," Wallace said while on "Fox News Sunday." "Because the fact is that when President Obama took executive actions, you were outraged."
"You may look at it that way. I don’t," Limbaugh replied, adding that "what Obama was doing was furthering" problems related to executive action because he was taking "action that I deemed to be harmful to the country."
"I look at what Trump is doing as something he has to do because he’s not getting any cooperation whatsoever," Limbaugh said.
The comments from Limbaugh came just days after Trump declared a national emergency to allocate nearly $8 million for construction of his long-promised wall along the southern border.
Spotify paid about $337 million for podcasting companies Gimlet Media and Anchor FM, according to a fresh filing with the SEC.
According to MediaPost, that represents a big chunk of the $400 million to $500 million that the Swedish streaming giant said it plans to spend on podcasting companies this year.
The world first learned of Spotify’s plans to buy up podcast network and producer Gimlet Media and podcast platform and service provider Anchor earlier this month.
Per the deals, Spotify is expected to run both companies as subsidiaries. No layoffs are expected.
As illustrated by the size of the deals, Spotify sees podcasting as a huge growth opportunity.
Indeed, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek called podcasting “the next phase of growth in audio” in a recent blog post.
“The format is really evolving and while podcasting is still a relatively small business today, I see incredible growth potential for the space and for Spotify in particular,” Ek said.
By next year, annual podcast ad revenue will reach $659 million, according to a forecast from the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
The national outrage that simmered after actor Jussie Smollett said he was attacked by people shouting racial and anti-gay slurs was fueled in part by celebrities who spoke out loud and strong on social media.
But reports KTLA Los Angeles, the outrage has now been replaced by surprise, doubt and bafflement as the singers, actors and politicians who came out in support of the “Empire” star struggle to digest the strange twists the case has taken. Some conservative pundits, meanwhile, have gleefully seized on the moment.
The narrative that just a week ago seemed cut-and-dry has become messy and divisive — and it’s all playing out again on social media.
Smollett, who is black and gay, said he was physically attacked last month by two masked men shouting racial and anti-gay slurs and “This is MAGA country!”— a reference to the Make America Great Again slogan used in President Donald Trump’s election campaign. Smollett said the attackers looped a rope around his neck before running away as he was out getting food at a Subway restaurant.
Celebrities including Ariana Grande, Zendaya, Kerry Washington, Shonda Rhimes and Andy Cohen rallied behind Smollett immediately. They focused on the alleged hate crime as a microcosm for the ills of America in 2019 and how intolerance can lead to violent acts. Smollett’s own celebrity and activism for the rights of the LGBTQ community helped raise the profile of the case even more.
But then published reports emerged that police believe Smollett may have staged the attack — something the actor has vehemently denied through his lawyers — or that a grand jury may hear evidence in the case. The reports cited unidentified police sources.
On Saturday, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the trajectory of the case had “shifted” — that two brothers who had been questioned had been released without charges and investigators wanted to speak to Smollett again . Guglielmi did not elaborate.
Smollett’s attorneys said Saturday that he would continue to cooperate with police but that he felt victimized by the suggestion he played a role in his attack.
GLAAD, a nongovernmental media-monitoring organization founded by LGBT members of the media, on Thursday reiterated its support for Smollett. The group said in a statement that the actor had been doubly victimized: first by the attack and then by the doubts cast around it.
Entercom's KALC Alice 105.9 Denver raised over $1,350,000 to benefit the Children’s Miracle Network at Children’s Hospital Colorado through its 18th annual “Alice Cares for Kids Radiothon."
This year’s fundraiser brings the 18-year total for the radiothon to more than $24 million.
“This is truly a labor of love for all of us,” said John Fullam, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Entercom Denver.
“It is an honor to support the kids of Colorado and their families and we are extremely proud of our generous listeners; their support and donations will not only make a difference but ultimately saves lives.”
The station broadcast the two-day radiothon live from the Children’s Colorado Boettcher Atrium on February 13 and 14.
Entercom's Talk WPHT has $151,535 was raised during its 2nd annual Radiothon to benefit the Liberty USO.
WPHT personalities Chris Stigall, Dom Girodano and Rich Zeoli anchored the day long event that featured special guests, local state representatives and dignitaries.
Even the Philadelphia Phillie Phanatic and the Philadelphia Eagles Swoop stopped by to lend their support. The Liberty USO supports Active, Guard and Reserve military and their families through various programs and services throughout Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey.
The NYPD has confirmed to PIX11 News that there is an internal review into Deputy Inspector Emmanuel Gonzalez of the 72nd precinct after the New York Daily News reported the precinct commander told his officers during roll call to shoot rapper 50 Cent "on sight."
The comments were allegedly made last June when the artist was "expected to attend an NYPD sanctioned boxing match" in the Bronx.
The "In Da Club" rapper responded on Instagram, writing in part that he "takes this threat very seriously" and that he's consulting with legal counsel.
"This guy Emanuel Gonzales is a dirty cop abusing his POWER. The sad part is this man still has a badge and a gun," he wrote in one post
The precinct commander is a 30-year veteran of the force. The two have been at odds before, after multiple raids at a popular Sunset Park strip club last year which eventually led club "Lust" to shut down, the rapper blamed the precinct commander.
At the time, 50 cent — who is friends with the owner of the club — posted he would "Get the strap" - which is slang for getting a gun. Back then, the NYPD investigated the rapper for making those comments after some followers allegedly started threatening Gonzalez.
The rapper says "get the strap" is one of his popular catchphrases.
Multiple artists have accused Gonzalez of shaking down the owner of Club Lust. The owner said Gonzalez asked for seats on a private jet to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and, when the owner of the club couldn't do it, the NYPD retaliated.
Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next storms in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with 360,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 14, according to Nielsen Music. The set launches with the biggest week for a pop album in over a year and garners Grande her fourth No. 1 -- and second in less than six months. Of Thank U, Next’s starting unit sum, 116,000 were in album sales.
Thank U, Next, released on Feb. 8 through Republic Records, is Grande’s fourth Billboard 200 No. 1. It also launches with the biggest streaming week ever for a pop album.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Feb. 23-dated chart (where Thank U, Next debuts at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard's websites on Wednesday, Feb. 20 (a day later than usual, owed to the U.S. Washington’s Birthday holiday, often referred to as Presidents’ Day, on Feb. 18).
Media Attoryney David Oxenford of Wilkinson Barker Knauer in Washington, DC, reports that the FCC released word Friday of an EEO audit where a long list of radio and TV stations will be required to file with the FCC their last two years’ Annual EEO Public File Reports along with backing document s to support the information on the annual public file reports.
The stations subject to the audit have until April 1, 2019 to compile and submit the required information.
If any station in an employment unit (a group of commonly owned stations serving the same general geographic area and having at least one common employee) is listed among the stations to be audited, the information in the audit response should cover all of the stations in the employment unit.
The FCC, when it adopted the current EEO rules over a decade ago, promised to audit 5% of all stations each year to assess their EEO compliance. This is the first such request of 2019.
Click Here for the list of TV and radio station to be audited.
Gerald “Jerry” Blum, former president and general manager of former top 40 powerhouse WQXI 790 AM and what was then known as 94Q, passed away Saturday.
He was 86, according to Atlanta Media Watcher Rodney Ho at ajc.om.
Blum was the inspiration for the Arthur “Big Guy” Carlson character played by Gordon Jump in the CBS sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati,” according to Hugh Wilson, the creator of the show who passed away in 2018.
Blum ran WQXI from 1960 to 1989 and what is now WSTR-FM (Star 94.1) from 1967 until 1989.
At the time, WQXI was known as “Quixie from Dixie” and drew huge ratings when people primarily listened to AM radio.
He was inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame in 2007.
“He was still brash, still in your face,” said Rob Stearns, who was a sales guy at WQXI/94Q in the late 1980s. “He was an old-school guy. He was a fighter. He wanted to crush the competition. He had a very charismatic way. Always surrounded himself with the best talent and best people. A real strategic guy. Nothing could constrain him. He wanted everything big. That’s where his ‘Big Guy’ nickname came from.”
➦In 1920...Bill Cullen born (diedfrom lung cancerJuly 7, 1990).
Bill Cullen
He was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades. His biggest claim to fame was as a game show host; over the course of his career, he hosted 23 shows, and earned the nickname "Dean of Game Show Hosts". Aside from his hosting duties, he appeared as a panelist/celebrity guest on many other game shows, including regular appearances on I've Got a Secret and To Tell the Truth.
Cullen's broadcasting career began in 1939 in Pittsburgh at WWSW radio, where he worked as a disc jockey and play-by-play announcer or color commentator for Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Hornets games. In 1943, Cullen left WWSW to briefly work at rival station KDKA before leaving Pittsburgh a year later to try his luck in New York. A week after arriving in New York, he was hired as a staff announcer at CBS.
His last regular radio job was as one of the hosts of NBC Radio's Monitor from 1971–73.
➦In 1922...WOC-AM, Davenport, Iowa, went on the air. WOC is widely known as the radio station where future U.S. President Ronald Reagan got his start re-creating Chicago Cubs baseball games.
Ronald Reagan
WOC traces its roots to 1907, when Robert Karlowa began an experimental station in Rock Island, Illinois. The station was known under several callsigns, including 9-BC, 9-XR and 9-BY.
On February 18, 1922, the government assigned the fledgling station the WOC call letters, and full-time broadcasting commenced. Historians believe WOC to have been the first commercial radio station west of the Mississippi River, and certainly the first in Iowa.
Karlowa continued to operate the station, but the costs quickly became too great. In March, he sold the station to Col. B. J. Palmer, who operated the Palmer School of Chiropractic, later the Palmer College of Chiropractic, in Davenport. The equipment was moved to a small studio on Palmer's Brady Street campus, and a family connection was started that lasted almost 75 years.
WOC was known for many firsts in the radio industry. A short list might include:
Broadcasting from the Iowa Legislature.
On-air and studio personnel being required to keep logs of such things as electrical consumption and on-air programming (to the second). The programming log also helped the station begin programs on an absolute "minute-and-second" schedule.
Use of a fader panel, allowing use of several microphones in the studio at one time.
On January 26, 1925, WOC formed a network and joined forces with radio station WEAF. In September 1927, WOC became a charter member of the new NBC radio network.
In 1933, Ronald Reagan got his first broadcasting job at WOC as a sportscaster. Reagan returned to WOC in 1988, when WOC and FM-affiliate KIIK 104 dedicated its new studios on East Kimberly Road.
Courtesy of Faded Signals
Early radio stations often shared frequencies. One station often would broadcast during the day and the other station at night.
According to Faded Signals, beginning in 1930, WOC in Davenport, Iowa, shared a frequency with WHO in Des Moines. In 1933, WHO signed on a 50,000-watt transmitter. The two stations shared the transmitter until 1934 when the owner of WOC-WHO, B.J. Palmer, was able to move WOC back to a full-time frequency in Davenport.
➦In 1927...the first United States Radio Broadcast of "Cities Service Concerts" took place, featuring Jessica Dragonette.
The Cities Service Concerts were musical broadcasts which had a long three-decade run on radio from 1925 to 1956, encompassing a variety of vocalists and musicians.
The concerts began with trial broadcasts in the New York area during 1925 and 1926 Graham McNamee was the announcer for the brass group of Edwin Franko Goldman when the hour-long program began February 18, 1927 on NBC, expanding to a symphonic sound with Rosario Bourdon and a 30-piece orchestra that summer along with the Cavaliers quartet.
On January 3, 1930, Jessica Dragonette brought her repertoire of 500 songs to the series, often doing duets with Frank Parker and generating top ratings during the 1930s. She was replaced by soprano Lucille Manners in 1937. Other performers during this period were Robert Simmons and James Melton. Along with the Cities Service Singers, baritone Ross Graham (1905-1986) arrived in 1939. Graham was also heard on Show Boat. Maestro Dr. Frank Black headed the show from at least 1938 to 1942 along with Manners and Graham.
The title changed to Highways in Melody in 1944 when Paul Lavalle was the orchestra leader. Lavalle continued after the show was retitled yet again as The Cities Service Band of America which experimented with simulcasting (audio broadcast separately over the radio) in 1949 and 1950. The series came to an end on January 16, 1956
➦In 1949...The radio drama "Yours Truly Johnny Dollar" premiered on CBS Radio Network.
The show aired on CBS Radio from January 14, 1949 to September 30, 1962. There were 811 episodes in the 12-year run, and more than 720 still exist today.
Each story started with a phone call from an insurance executive, calling on Johnny to investigate an unusual claim. Each story required Johnny to travel to some distant locale, usually within the United States but sometimes abroad, where he was almost always threatened with personal danger in the course of his investigations. Johnny's file on each case was usually referenced as a "matter," as in "The Silver Blue Matter" or "The Forbes Matter." Later episodes were more fanciful, with titles like "The Wayward Trout Matter" and "The Price of Fame Matter" (the latter featuring a rare guest-star appearance: Vincent Price).
Johnny usually stuck to business, but would engage in romantic dalliances with women he encountered in his travels; later episodes gave Johnny a steady girlfriend, Betty Lewis. Each story was recounted in flashback, as Johnny listed each line item from his expense account.
In 1964...The Beatles were taken to the training camp of boxer Cassius Clay – later known as Muhammad Ali – who was preparing for his 25 February fight against heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. The meeting took place at Miami's Fifth Street gym.
In the evening The Beatles went to a drive-in movie, where they watched Elvis Presley in Fun In Acapulco.
➦In 1992...WOWO 1190 AM's Jack Underwood died. He hosted mid-days from 1956 to 1984.
➦In 1994..."Jungle Jay" Nelson, a popular Toronto and Buffalo radio personality and TV show host in the late 1950s and early 1960s, was found dead in his home. He was 58.
He was a DJ at powerhouse Top 40 WKBW 1520 AM "Jungle Jay Show" on WKBW-TV.
He left Buffalo for Toronto in 1963 to become the morning disc jockey at CHUM Radio, the Toronto equivalent of the old "KB," after a ballyhooed contest for the job. He left CHUM in 1981 and moved to CJEZ-FM and City TV in Toronto. Out of the broadcast limelight in recent years, he worked for the National Institute of Broadcasting in Toronto and as maitre d' at a restaurant, the Daily Planet.
Born Frank Coxe in Scranton, Pa., Nelson was a disc jockey there before coming to Buffalo, where WKBW was riding the crest of rock's surging popularity.
He joined Joey Reynolds, Danny Neaverth, Fred Klestine and a handful of other star disc jockeys who were kings of radio and school record hops. Owing to the station's 50,000 watts, their irreverent voices and record selections boomed into homes up and down the Eastern Seaboard.
On weekends Nelson changed into a pith helmet and khakis for his role as host of WKBW-TV's "Jungle Jay Show," a humorous audience participation series that aired on Saturday morning. The program was a hit with Canadian viewers as well, and it was Nelson's cross-border popularity that earned him the morning job at CHUM, said Michael Clement, a Toronto Sun reporter who once worked at the station.
Over the next two decades, he became a very big star in the market, known for his fast humor and impressions."
➦In 1998...Radio-TV sportscaster Harry Caray (Born Harry Christopher Carabina; March 1, 1914) died. He was 84. He covered five Major League Baseball teams, beginning with 25 years of calling the games of the St. Louis Cardinals with two of these years also spent calling games for the St. Louis Browns. After a year working for the Oakland Athletics and eleven years with the Chicago White Sox, Caray spent the last sixteen years of his career as the announcer for the Chicago Cubs.
Caray caught his break when he landed the job with the Cardinals in 1945 and, according to several histories of the franchise, proved as expert at selling the sponsor's beer as he'd been in selling the Cardinals on KMOX.
Patti Wheeler
➦In 2012...Radio personality Patti Wheeler Patti Wheeler, a longtime fixture in Birmingham radio before retiring in 2008, died. She was 71.
For nearly 30 years, Ms. Wheeler co-hosted two of Birmingham's most well-known and highly rated radio shows. The first was "Patti and the Doc" with the late Tom "Doc" Atkinson. After that came "Patti and Dollar Bill" with "Dollar" Bill Lawson for 16 years.
Wheeler worked at WZZK 104.7 FM for 23 years before moving to The Bull (FM-102.5) with Lawson in 2002. She retired in 2008.
