Radio's Greatest Broadcasts

This cassette was released by the The Longines Symphonette Society record label. Nobody seems to know the year of release.  It's listed on Discogs here which proves it exists. The narrator is Frank Knight. As you might imagine I disagree with some of their picks, but the track listing is (supposedly) a list of Radio's Greatest Broadcasts.
     SIDE 1

1. Introduction
2. Famous Old Commercials
3. Jack Armstrong
4. The Lone Ranger
5. The Shadow
6. The Romance Of Helen Trent
7. Famous Radio Flubs
8. Pearl Harbor
9. Manila Is Bombed
10. VE Day
11. FDR Dies
12. Report From Nuremberg
13. Eddie Fisher Interview
14. Dempsey-Tunney "Long Count" Fight
15. Whirlaway Wins The Derby
16. Schmeling Defeats Louis
17. Louis Defeats Schmeling

     SIDE 2

1. John F. Kennedy Assassination
2. John F. Kennedy Funeral
3. Robert Kennedy At Democratic National Convention
4. Robert Kennedy Assassination
5. Senator Ted Kennedy At St. Patrick's Cathedral

Frank Knight was the voice of the CBS network and he served for 29 years as a newsman at 740 KCBS-AM. Born Frank Dale Leber in 1935, he also worked at XETRA  in the 1960s and actually lived until 2007. Adding his voice to any "best" radio compilation gives it an authentic vintage sound. But that's not the only reason he's on this tape.

Frank was also the announcer for a pre-recorded classical music program called the Longines Symphonette. It's first incarnation aired nightly on the Mutual Broadcasting System from 1943 to 1949. Then it moved to the CBS network until 1957 airing on Sundays at 2:00 PM. It was sponsored for all 14 years by the Longines watch company.  It was popular enough that it had it's own spin-off program "The Longines Choraliers" also on CBS which ran from 1949 to 1955 and also featured the voice of Mr. Knight.

Alan Cartoun the president of the Longines Watch Company, and his son of Fred used that popularity to start a record label based in new Rochelle, NY.  The Longines Symphonette Society specialized in releasing crap. It released recordings of classic radio programs (what we now call OTR) and also theme songs, mood music, tribute bands, and drek compilations by artists like Henry Mancini and the like. The company operated from the late 1960s until 1974 when they sold the business to WMG. It's notoriety probably peaked in 1969 when it was named in a Congressional investigation looking into deceptive marketing practices. More here.

The Mystery Announcer

Frank Knight was a producer at KCBS, and his name back in the day was usually attached to Jack Benny. He was the voice of the the CBS network, But initially he was brought in as a MYSTERY ANNOUNCER... http://members.aol.com/jeff560/cbs.html

It was a clever stunt, one that worked when there were still only half a dozen staitons to listen to. The gig was like this "A new personality will make its debut before the millions of Radio's audience with the opening program in the person of a man whose identity will be concealed behind a black mask and who will be known only as The Voice of Columbia."

The Voice of Columbia was a discovery of Major White's. White was fooling around with a studio mic one night and notice that produce Frank Knight had the pipes for radio. The Major decided that the witty and affable Frankie needed to be moved to the other side of the mic. In the end, the mystery-man gimmick was dropped quickly to little fanfare. The "Voice of Columbia" became simply Frank Knight.

Frank became an archetype of hosting. his ch mature, grave, slow-spoken style and professional look like a doctors, lawyer or bankers was just a part of the golden age of radio. It is emulated to this day.

His voice is on almost every WWII era music collection. If you own a music or radio program collection from WWI or D-Day themed or the semi-famous program Chronoscope, Remember the Golden Days of Radio, Vol. 1 -7 , The Victory Collection or pretty much any live radio revival programs... (Like this one.) You've heard Frank Knight.