Hugo Gernsback Vs. Gaylord Wilshire

Henry Gaylord Wilshire, known by his friends as Gaylord, was a quack. But he was a notable quack. In 1895 he began developing 35 acres of a barley field in what is now Los Angeles. From that parcel, he donated a strip of land 120 feet wide by 1,200 feet long to the city. This was intended for a Boulevard which now bears his name: Wilshire Boulevard. If you're not familiar, it's the primary east-west arterial road in L.A. The Los Angeles Conservancy described him as "flamboyant character." In his day he was a land speculator, gold speculator, public speaker, political candidate, publisher and radio broadcaster.

In 1925, he started marketing the I-on-a-co, an electric belt that could purportedly improve health. The belt gained popularity from its marketing. [Donald G. Davis wrote a great whitepaper on the I-on-a-co here]  He bought a nearly full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times in 1926. At the bottom of that advert he listed a schedule of his upcoming radio appearances. He also was quoted as below:

"Since 1925 I have been broadcasting weekly lectures regarding the I-on-a-co Belt, in practically all the leading newspapers in California. I have been broadcasting weekly lectures on the I-on-a-co over three radio stations. I have lectured in person in many California cities..."

But even his biography by Louis Rosen does not name the stations. The advert listed only one of the three, his Thursday-evening spot on 1250 KTAB-AM in Oakland. We know the other two were also in the Bay area: San Francisco and Oakland. In Oakland the 9 options were: 590 KLX-AM, 830 KGO-AM, 1170 KFUS-AM, 1200 KLS-AM, 1250 KZM-AM (share with KTAB), 1360 KFUU-AM, and 1450 KFWM-AM. But in San Francisco there were only five: 700 KPO-AM, 1120 KFRC-AM, 1330 KFWI-AM, 1360 KJBS-AM, and 1450 KGTT-AM.

I had assumed it would be KLX as they also aired the nutter Aimee Semple McPherson. But it appears the answer lies elsewhere. I found a Radio Doings calendar from August, 1926 for 1260 KMTR-AM in Hollywood airing "Wilshire's Ionaco Lectures" at 7:30 PM on Tuesday the 17th and "Gaylord Wilshire Lectures" at 7:00 PM on Friday the 20th.  Broadcast Weekly lists "Ionaco with Gaylord Wilshire" on 1200 KFWI-AM on Tuesday Nov. 23rd, at 8:30 PM and again that Friday. KFWI is actually in San Francisco but KFWI is basically in Los Angeles... leaving us with a missing station.

A February issue of Radio Doings puts Wilshire on 7:00 PM on Tuesday Feb 15th on 890 KNX-AM, also in Los Angeles, then again on KMTR, 10:00 AM Saturday, February 19th Charles W. Hemp "Presenting Gaylord Wilshires famous invention The Ionaco." Charles was the Director of Radio Activities at the Iona Company. So it is no surprise to see him at 7:00 AM on 830 KFWB-AM, June 14th 1927. In Hollywood again this time on 1330 KFQZ-AM, 7:30 PM another "Wilshire Ionaco Lecture" Tuesday, February 15th. They keep stacking up also in that issue is 1220 KSFD-AM 7:00 PM Feb. 16th, KNX, again on Feb 15th and Charles Hemp was on KFWB and KMTR with the same schtick at least as early as January  1927.

Interestingly not only did the American Medical Association (AMA) go after Wilshire, but so did some science hobbyist magazines. Notably Science and Invention which was funded by WRNY. In October 1927 Hugo Gernsback wrote an exposé The Ionaco Swindle. Some readers wrote in to defend Wilshire and the Ionaco, most of them read like advertising copy. But other savvy readers, in a move that prefigures "doxxing" wrote in and outed other print publications still running I-on-a-co advertisements. Wilshire was already dead, but the editors rejoiced in the irony that Wilshire "died of the very ailments for which Ionaco was supposed to be specific [cure]."

Wilshire died destitute in 1927 in New York City. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. But even after his death (according to the book The Body Electric by Carolyn Thomas de la Pena) radio stations continued to broadcast his program from transcription discs. The FRC finally banned quack advertisements from radio in 1932.

A History of Radio Station Bombings

Historically, in the U.S. radio station bombings have been rare. So rare, it was comic fodder in an episode of the TV program WKRP. This is not the case in other nations. Often in the case of war or unrest, media outlets become targets. The U.S. has been very fortunate in this regard. Before I dig into the details I'm going to specify "bombings" as opposed to other attacks for the sake of clarity. The IRA's attacks on Marconi stations are usually described as fires, not bombings and are excluded. Also notably so many radio stations were bombed in WWII I doubt my list is complete. Also excluded are bomb scares, and bomb threats. I am not distinguishing between "terrorist" bombings and wartime bombings or fire bombings. I include bombings of studios, towers or any of their electrical or structural parts. The nuances are too complex to split hairs.

I discovered in the course of this project that KPFT is not the only US radio station to have been bombed, though multiple sources claim that to be the case. A more complete list also includes: WEDR, KMAK, KFWB and WKRL. Most appear to have been racially motivated as was the case with KPFT.

2018 - (9/17) Saudi-led coalition airstrike on Yemen public radio/Hudaydah
2018 - (6/12) Afghan air force bombs Voice of Shariah Radio station
2016 - (10/2) ISIS Radio Station in Al-Bayan Iraq bombed by coalition forces
2015 - (4/29) Tao FM radio in Nigeria bombed
2015 - (5/14) Burundi's RPA radio station bombed
2014 - (7/30) Israeli AF bombs Sawt al-Watan radio station
2013 - (8/7) Building housing Wow FM bombed in the Phillipines
2013 - (3/9) Voice of the People bombed in Zimbabwe
2012 - (5/29) Dunya Radio bombed in Afghanistan
2012 - (10/5) Paraguayan People's Army bombs Radio Guyra Campana
2011 - (4/21) FM 93 Radio Dilbar bombed in Pakistan
2011 - (10/24) Radio Galkayo bombed in Somalia
2011 - (5/24) Nations Radio bombed in India
2011 - (10/23) Radio Galkayo bombed in Somalia
2010 - (8/12) Farc guerrillas bomb Caracol Radio, Columbia

2008 - (10/23) bombing of marine barracks TV & radio in Beirut, Lebanon
2006 - (10/17) Voice of Tigers radio station bombed in Sri Lanka
2005 - (5/6) Voice of Charity radio station bombed in Lebanon.
2002 - (8/28) The Voice of The People (VOP) bombed in Zimbabwe  [LINK]
2002 - (4/21) A bomb detonated near radio station DXMD in the Philippines
2001 - (8/29) Caracol Radio offices in Medellin, Columbia
2000 - (9/19) DXWO radio station bombed in the Philippines
2000 - 12/13) DXMS radio station bombed in the Philippines

1999 - (4/23)  NATO bombed Radio Television of Serbia HQ
1998 - (5/30) DXLL radio journalists bombed in the Philippines
1997 - (?/?) Nigerian jets bomb state-run radio in Sierra Leone
1994 - (4/18) RPA shelled the RTLM station in Rwanda
1993 - (2/26) Truck bombing of WTC takes multiple NYC radio towers

1988 - (8/10) Israeli AF bombs PLO radio station in Lebanon
1986 - (2/25) Radio Veritas bombed by loyalists of Gen. Fabian in Phillipines
1985 - (10/17) Voice of Hope christian radio station bombed in Israel
1983 - (10/25) Radio Free Grenada bombed by US Navy SEALS [LINK]
1981 - (2/22) Radio Free Europe bombed in Munich, Germany
1980 - (2/19) YSAX bombed in El Salvador by guerrillas

1977 - (8/16) FLNC bombs radio relay station in Corsica, France
1973 - (4/20) Radio Grenada fire bombed
1973 - (9/11) CIA-backed Chilean Military forces bomb radio stations
1972 - (12/13) Radio Hanoi bombed in Vietnam
1971 - (5/4) Radio towers of the KMAK bombed in Fresno
1971 - (?/?) Radio North Sea bombed by Norbert Jurgens [LINK]
1971 - (1/21) KPFT bombed by KKK (again)
1970 - (5/12) KPFT bombed by KKK [LINK]

1968 - (2/14) USAAF bombs Radio Hanoi  in Vietnam
1967 - (?/?) WKRL firebombed in Rockland, MD [LINK]
1965 - (5/13) Loyalistas bombed rebel-controlled Radio Santo Domingo
1962 - (8/9)  980 KFWB-AM bombed in Los Angeles
1961 - (7/5) La Paz radio station bombed
1961 - (12/18) - Armed Forces of India bomb Radio station in Goa
1960 - (?/?) WEDR bombed by the KKK (multiple events) [LINK]
1956 - (?/?) Cyprus Broadcasting Service bombed
1955 - (?/?) Agents of Roberto Farinacci bomb Vatican radio station
1955 - (12/8) Japanese military bombs Guam Navy Yard and radio station
1953 - (5/1) USAAF bombs radio station at Pyongyang, North Korea

1948 - (12/19) Radio Station at Yogyakarta, Java bombed by Netherlands AF
1945 - (11/25) British AF bombs Radio Republik Indonesia/ Surakarta
1945 - (8/6) JOFK and the city Hiroshima Japan bombed by US
1945 - (4/30) USAAF bombs bombs radio station at Truk Atoll
1945 - (4/19) USAAAF bombs radio station at Neu-Ulm, Bavaria
1944 - (10/10) USAAF bombs Pagan Island radio station
1944 - (10/4) USAAF bombs Iwo Jima radio station
1944 - (8/8) USAAF bombs radio station in Hallandia New Guinea
1944 - (7/7) USAAF bombs radio station on Woleai, E. Caroline Islands
1944 - (5/19) Bombing radio stations on islands of Maloelap, Jaluit & Wotje Atolls
1944 - (5/24) USAAF bombs radio station on Wotje Island
1944 - (2/28) USAAF bombs radio station in Pintha area Burma
1944 - (2/24) USAAF bombs radio installation on Mille Atoll
1944 - (2/24) USAAF bombs radio station(s) in Burma
1944 - (2/23) USAAF bombs radio station at ManPang, Burma
1944 - (2/18) USAAF bombs radio station at Waingmaw, Burma (again)
1944 - (2/15) USAAF bombs radio station at Waingmaw, Burma
1944 - (2/13) USAAF bombs radio "installations" Kamaing, Burma
1944 - (2/9) USAAF bombs radio station SW of Haiphong, Vietnam
1944 - (2/7) USAAF bombs radio station in Vinh, Vietnam
1944 - (1/18) USAAF bombs radio station on Jaluit Atoll
1943 - (11/11) USAAF bombs radio station at Yoyang, Burma
1943 - (8/31) USAAF bombs radio station at the Solomon Islands

1932 - (2/15?) Japanese forces bomb RCA's Mukden radio station

The Wizard of Odds

The Stranger [SOURCE] called him the "worst pulp novelist ever" but they also called him "the greatest hack ever." Leo Guild wrote a river of schlock: kids joke books,  fawning, gossipy puff books on Bob Hope, Hedy Lamarr, Jayne Mansfield, and Liberace. He later switched to schlock horror books like his 1972 novel The Werewolf vs. Vampire Woman and for a change of pace penned utterly disposable, trashy sexploitation novels like his 1976 book, Street of Ho's. He was the Ed Wood of pulp novels. In 1967, the Los Angeles Time published an an article by Guild titled "Confessions of a Celebrity Ghost Writer" It was a self-serving autobiographical piece but gives you an idea of how highly he thought of his trade. Later in life he made some big money on lawsuits.

In 1973 he filed a $2 million lawsuit against NBC. They had started a game show named Wizard of Odds hosted by Alex Trebek. But he had used it as a newspaper column during the late 1940s, the same column that led to that book above What Are The Odds?  In 1992 he sued the Carsey-Werner Co. and Bill Cosby for 11 million dollars. He claimed he owned the copyright to the title “You Bet Your Life.”  He kinda did. In 1948, journalist Leo Guild named his newspaper column and a book “You Bet Your Life” and copyrighted that title. NBC settled.

Leo did dip his toe into radio, it wasn't all as a plaintiff. He was a radio and TV columnist for the Hollywood reporter in the 1940s, which is what probably led to his 1954 KFWB program Amateur Record Hour. It was produced by Merrilyn Hammond of Capitol Records. Previously he had hosted "Hollywood's Best" on KRCA-TV. Station KFWB also aired his short-lived program The Wizard of Odds, and it's later version, The Wizard Vs. Criswell. It started in KFI then quickly moved to KFWB. It had at least a 14 week initial run sponsored by Wax Seal in 1947. Teevee Film Company (TFC) licensed it in 1950 for a half-hour TV show. His co-host, Criswell (aka Jeron Criswell Konig) later became "The Amazing Criswell", a psychic and radio-personality. In Criswell's career highs and lows he appeared on the Jack Paar Show and also appeared in Ed Wood films. Criswell himself claimed that he had once worked as a radio announcer, this was also probably at KFWB.

But back to that book What Are The Odds?. My copy is falling apart and is missing the first dozen pages. But the Entertainment section is intact and had a few radio gems of dubious import. I"m paraphrasing but... TV commercials are less disruptive than radio ads, Only 1 in 15 radio actually works, landing a radio writer job is an 8,000 to 1 long shot, 99% of daytime radio listeners are women, Odds are 190 to 1 of landing a radio gig via audition... etc. The stats are ostensibly based on 1940s data, but I think that more than 50% of his stats are just made up.

The Hawthorne Thing

In his later years Jim Hawthorne was a contributor to www.laradio.com which is how I came to know of him. His radio career took in the 1940s on KXLA in Pasadena, CA. He was a wacky DJ playing novelty songs and spinning his shtick three decades before Dr. Demento got into that racket. The good doctor himself described Hawthorne as "one of a kind."You can hear air-checks here.

He was born in Victor, CO, a suburb of Colorado Springs in 1918. He enrolled at Denver University and fresh out of college in 1941 he found work on 1340 KMYR-AM in Denver, CO. (No connection to the form FM station) KMYR-AM was founded in 1940 by Frederick W. Meyer, a local grocer. The studio was on the second floor of the Industrial Federal Savings and Loan Building at 1626 Stout St. It appears that the original building still stands.

Hawthorne relocated to L.A. the following year to start at KXLA. His show was more reserved at first but by 1947,  Time magazine described it as "Hellzapoppin on the air." His overnight program featured songs by Tex Ritter,  Spike Jones, Homer and Jethro, Buddy Baker, Red Ingle and Slim Coates, and cuts that were already old even then by Arthur Pryor, Billy Murray. That's when he started cutting novelty 45s. Don't even get me started about the hogan-twanger. More here.

Starting in 1948, he produced and starred in his Saturday night syndicated NBC program, "The Hawthorne Thing." Most sources list it as starting in 1950, but Billboard clearly lists it in issues as early as 1947. But he hopped around after that. He did a Top-10 type program at KYA in 1957. He went back to LA in 1959 for a gig at KDAY, then in 1960 he worked at KFWB but the station was shut down by an AFTRA strike in 1962 and flipped to all-news. More here.

1965 he did a children's show on KMGB-TV in Honolulu from 1965 - 1969.  He was on KOA-AM back home in Denver starting in 1974 doing overnights and then PD for both KOA and KOAQ-FM. He left there in 1985 when Jacor bought the cluster and "retired" him. He was 67 and not quite done, he popped back up in 1991 on 1500 KIEV-AM to recreate his classic KXLA schtick as a weekly program. then he retired for real. He died in 2007. He was 89 years old. 

Hollywood Walk of Fame: H - L

This is part three of what will be a 5 part series wrapping this Friday. The Los Angeles Times has a series of biographies of every star on the walk and notes the categories, but even they have been unable to link some of these names to radioland itself. I've examined over 100 "stars" now: some obscure, some still ubiquitous. Very few were actually deejays. The list is mostly comics and singers than anything else. I think that says more about Hollywood than radio.

Jack Haley - This former  host of the Jack Haley Wonder Show later played the Tin Man in the The Wizard of Oz. the Wonder Show was famous for featuring the then not-so-famous Lucille Ball. Jack also hosted the Log Cabin Jamboree on the NBC Red Network.

Carl Stewart Hamblen - He was one of radios early singing cowboys. His first stretch on air started in 1936 on KFYO-AM in Abilene, TX. He later sang as Cowboy Joe on KFI-AM, and with the Beverly Hillbillies, on KMPC in 1930. He performed with several groups under different shows on KFWB into the late 1930s. He found god in 1949, quit drinking and started "The Cowboy Church of the Air" which ran until 1952.

Bill Handel - He won his star only in 2009. He hosts a morning show on KFI-AM  and a legal advice program on Premier Networks presently. He has been notable lately only for making racist remarks on air.

Arlene Harris - She made her name as a comic actress on the radio program "The Chatterbox."  But she also put in some time on CBS as Mummy Higgins, playing the mother of Baby Snooks with Fanny Brice.

Phil Harris - In 1946 he started doing wholesome family skits with his wife Alice Faye on The Fitch Bandwagon show. In 1949 the show was became The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show. Afterward he moved onto bit parts in TV and cartoon voice over gigs.

Bill Hay - Starting in 1926 he announced for the  Amos 'n' Andy show, moving with them from WGN to WMAQ. He actually got his start on KFKX in 1922.

George Hayes - He is known for his work in westerns acting alongside William Boyd,  Roy Rogers, Gene Autry or Wild Bill Elliott. He also hosted "Melody Ranch" a WWII-era country music program on AFRS. He also guested on the Andrews Sisters show in 1944 and in the supporting cast of the Roy Rogers Show 1946-1947 on Mutual in the role he was typecast for.

Helen Hayes - After a good showing on Lux Radio Theater she got her program the "Helen Hayes Theatre" which ran 1935 - 1936. After which she did a year on the O'Neill Cycle on NBC Blue. She was on the Electric Theater on CBS in 1948 and in 1949 she turned up again on "This Is Broadway" a radio talent show on CBS.

Johnny Hayes - A real deal DJ from KRTH-FM. He started at WAKE in 1961,and after a few stops,  KRLA in 1965 where he stayed for 25 years. (Some sources say 27.) Today he is alive, well and retired.

Dick Haymes - His recording career takes front and center but he was also a performer on Club Fifteen with the Andrews Sisters. His show "Here's To Romance"ran on the NBC Blue network in 1943. He followed that with The Dick Haymes Show running 1944 to 1948. Then "The Carnation Show" in 1950, NBC Bandstand 1956-1957... you get the drift.

Jim Healy - A sports announcer who was on KLAC from 1961 to 1965, then KFWB in 1969. He spent some time on TV but came back and was on KLAC from 1973 to 1982 and KMPC from 1984 to 1994. He also hosted Here's Healy on KBIG-FM back in the 1950s. .

Chick Hearn - He was  the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers  which have been carried on network radio via KLAC-AM since the beginning of time. Still, a sort of dubious inclusion.
*Corrections from  KoHoSo

Horace Heidt - He was a popular radio bandleader on both NBC and CBS. He did dozens of programs: Horace Heidt's Alemite Brigadeers, Pot O' Gold, Tums Treasure Chest, The American Way, Captain Dobbsie's Ship of Joy, The Horace Heidt Youth Opportunity Program the list goes on.

Jean Hersholt - He of the unpronounceable surname had two big roles in his career. He spent 7 years starring on "Dr. Christian" and playing the character Dr. John Luke. The rest of his career appears to have been in TV.

George Hicks - A war journalist who was first on NBC then NBC Blue. He actually recorded the D-Day Normandy Invasion. It was broadcast on NBC and the BBC. That's pretty damn amazing.

Hildegarde - Also known as Hildegarde Loretta Sell a slightly risque cabaret singer. She had two radio shows.  Her NBC radio program "Raleigh Room" ran in the 1940s and AFRS carried Hildegarde's Radio Room for at least a couple episodes in 1945.

John Hodiak - most of his career was on stage and screen but he also played the role of the comic strip character Li'l Abner on radio. It ran in 1939 and 1940 on NBC.

Portland Hoffa - Married to Fred Allen it's no surprise she performed as both comedian and vocalist on his programs.  her character was so unpopular that sales execs begged Allen to drop her but he stood firm. In 1949 he left the program. The performed together on The Big Show 1950–52, and she finally started working without Fred in 1954 usually as a mystery guest on TV quiz shows.

Bob Hope - Bob Hope was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1990 while he was still alive. He  first appeared on the show "The Intimate Revue" in 1935, followed by the Woodbury Soap Hour in 1937, and the Pepsodent Show in 1938. His film career took off and then those USO shows... etc. Guinness Book rates him as the most awarded entertainer in history.

Warren Hull - He started out on Soap Operas like "The Gibson Family" which ran on NBC in 1934. Following a short film career he became a radio announcer on The Hit Parade and Vox Pop in the 1940s. He then hosted the game show "Strike It Rich" on NBC radio 1949 - 1957.

Frazier Hunt - This respected newscaster and war correspondent was on WLS-AM on every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday  at 6:45 PM. Frazier Hunt and the News was on NBC in the early 1940s. Probably best known for smuggling out a copy of  the Versailles Peace Treaty in order to scoop the story.

Marlin Hurt - He did the Hometown Incorporated show in 1940, Fred Brady Show in  1943 and subbed on the The Bob Burns Show on NBC. But the big fame came from his role on the Fibber McGee and Molly program in 1944. He played the role of Beulah, a black woman. In 1945, Beulah was spun off into it's own radio show "The Marlin Hurt and Beulah Show" which ran 1945 to 1954. Thankfully on TV ABC finally cast a black woman to play the part of  Beulah.

Ted Husing - Primarily known as a sportscaster in the 1930s, he was also a CBS announcer on "March of Time" and an for "George Burns and Gracie Allen.  In 1946, he moved from CBS to WHN-AM to try his hand at DJ-ing.   It was a hit and the Ted Husing Bandstand ran from 1946 to 1954. He moved on to TV after that.

Michael Jackson - Born in England he became a DJ in South Africa. He came to the US in 1958 and did a program on KYA. At KEWB he phased out the record flipping and phased in a talk format. He made stops at KNX,and KHJ, then put in 32 years at KABC starting in 1966.  He came back to KABC in 2009 and is still there.

Jaime Jarrin - The Dogers moved to LA in 1958 and KWKW-AM picked up the Spanish language broadcasting rights for the games. Jarrin was the news and sports director, and he became the  announcer from 1962 to 1984.

Al Jolson - A radio star from it's earliest days he was on NBC's The Dodge Victory Hour and his own shows included Presenting Al Jolson,  Kraft Music Hall, Jolson Sings Again, Shell Chateau and a litany of others.

Spike Jones - After a good performance on The Bob Burns Show, he got his own radio show,  The Chase and Sanborn program on NBC. Then he moved over to CBS 1947 to 1949 for his show The Spotlight Revue, which was renamed later The Spike Jones Show. But really, his recording career is where it's at.

Ellen K- Inexplicably Ryan Seacrest's sidekick has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. She used to be a co-host with Rick Dees on KIIS at least as early as 1995. She also had a Top 30 Countdown show on Premier networks that was cancelled in 2002.

Casey Kasem - See previous post here.

Danny Kaye -  Most of his fame is from film and music but he also starred in a radio program "The Danny Kaye Show" which was carried on the CBS network from1945–1946. He also did a set of shows for AFRS in WWII and in 1963 he repeated the recipe with a TV version of the show.

Sammy Kaye - He started out on the Mutual network in 1937 doing short sets. Then starting in 1940 had a show called "Sensation and Swing" on NBC. He also was on the Old Gold program for two seasons starting in 1943 . Starting in 1944 he launched the Sunday Serenade, a program title he'd recycle often. He continued to do short run programs and short form music programs into the mid 1950s.

John B. Kennedy -  An American radio correspondent whose radio debut was in 1924 on WJZ-AM on the Collier Hour which ran until 1931. Afterward NBC had him host "The Magic Key" from 1934 to 1939 and "The People’s Rally" which ran 1938 - 1939.

John Reed King - Famous as a game show host on radio and television he ended up doing morning news at KDKA in the 1960s and KGO-TV in the 1970s. The peak of his popularity was probably the radio show "Missus Goes A-Shopping" on CBS.  He also announced on the soap opera "Our Gal Sunday" and the infamous Duffy's Tavern among others.

Wayne King - Nick named the "Waltz king" his longest stretch was 1931 to 1940 on NBC doing random gigs usually as the "Wayne King Program" sponsored by Lady Esther cosmetics. He later subbed for Jack Benny and Jimmy Durante.

Raymond Knight - Originally an ad writer for NBC, he was asked to write a comedy program in 1929 and came up with  "The Cuckoo Hour". He later did the children's program "Wheatenaville Sketches." He later wrote for Broadway productions.

Kay Kyser - You can't forget "Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge". It started in 1937 on WGN-AM in Chicago and then moved to NBC. It continued to air until 1949. He retired from broadcasting in the 1950s and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1990.

Art Laboe - See previous post here.

Jim Ladd - Possibly the last surviving DJ of note from the Freeform era, he started at KNAC in 1969, but earned his stripes doing a weeknight show on KLOS-FM starting in 1971. In 1974 he began 13 year stretch at KLOS that ended with in 1984. He was on KMET until 1987 when it flipped to KTWV, smooth jazz. In 1988 he moved to KMPC (later KEDG) staying until it flipped in 1989 to Español. He DJ'd at KLOS again in the 90s getting booted with  format flip staff purge in 2011.  He now does a shift on the Deep Tracks XM/Sirius channel. (Long Live Ladd)
*Corrections from  KoHoSo 

Arthur Lake - Mr. Lake played the part of Dagwood Bumstead in 28 different "Blondie" films, 1 TV show and the radio series on NBC Blue. It ran 1944 to 1950. He also portrayed the character in a couple guest appearances.

Dorothy Lamour - While most of her career was in film she also had her own fifteen-minute weekly musical program on NBC Radio in 1935. She also guested on the Rudy Vallee radio show, The Chase and Sanborn Hour and The Sealtest Variety Hour

Frances Langford - She got onto the Rudy Vallee by auditioning and became a regular starting in 1931.
From 1946 to 1951, she performed on The Bickersons and the Chase & Sandborn Show. She later replaced Judy Garland in Bob Hope's show.

Fulton Lewis II - See previous post here.

Art Linkletter - See previous post here.

Little Jack Little - He was a song plugger in Chicago who got lucky. He was a short man which a big orchestra on WABC-AM in the early 1930s. He did a lot of USO shows in WWII, and was a DJ on WEAM-AM starting in 1947.

Mary Livingston - She was a comedian in her own right, but also the wife and radio partner of comedy great Jack Benny.  In 1932 she turned a bit part into a full-time rule. her stage fright kept her from beginning a major character, and she was large absent from the last season 1954-1955.

Al Lohman & Roger Barkley - They share a star because they shared a show, a highly rated morning drive program "The Lohman and Barkley Show" on KFI. It ran through most of the 1970s into the 1980s. Barkley quit the duo in 1986. They both have notable radio careers before and after they were a team.

Guy Lombardo - He was Dick Clark before Dick Clark. From 1929 to 1959 he and his band hosted a New Years Eve show at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City live on NBC. From 1959 to 1976 the program continued with Lombardo at the Waldorf Astoria.Starting in the 1960s it was also aired on TV competing with that young upstart Mr. Clark.

Vincent Lopez - His first documented radio performance was in 1921 on WJZ-AM. He and his band continued to perform on air including a series called "Luncheon with Lopez"  but it was in 1952 that he and Gloria Parker hosted a radio program on ABC broadcast from the Taft Hotel called "Shake the Maracas."

Phillips Lord -  He started with a small singing show on WTIC-AM. Then became a successful as a radio script writer for NBC with "Sunday Evening at Seth Parker's" which actually ran 6 days a week from 1929-1939. He later created the show  Gang Busters a huge hit that lasted from 1935 to 1957.

Hollywood Walk of Fame: A - C

As of this writing there are 2,476 stars in the Hollywood walk of fame. I recently read that only 10% of those are so-called radio stars.  By that math there should be about 248 radio stars on the walk. There are in fact only 238, which is 9.61%... close enough.

Because many stars cross media formats from music, to film to print and broadcasting the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce breaks this down into categories for us. Each category has an identifying emblem for it's brass radio star.  Inside the coral-pink terrazzo five-point star rimmed with brass is a circular 4-inch brass plaque showing an antique studio-style microphone Radio microphone. I'll warn you now that some category inclusions are dubious.

Since there are hundreds of these lets go at it alphabetically. This will take all week. In cases where there are two names or a state name absent a surname I have alphabetized by the first name of the listed first party. If I have already written a post about them I have inserted a link, if not then just a very abbreviated bio.

Bud Abbott - The straight man of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Lou Costello which his listed under "C."  Many comedy duos share a star. They do not.  Costello appears below.

Dear Abby - Dear Abby of the advice column by the same name. It was founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pseudonym Abigail Van Buren. Her daughter Jeanne Phillips. There was in fact a Dear Abby radio show.

Fred Allen - He was a vaudeville performer, who became a guest on a couple radio shows then began hosting The Linit Bath Club Revue starting in 1934. The eponymous Fred Allen Show debuted on NBC in 1945. His radio career is long and storied.

Steve Allen - You already know his voice. The Steve Allen Show began airing in 1956,  but his first radio gig was on KOY-AM way back in 1945. You'd know him best as the first host of the tonight show.

Don Ameche - He was a film actor in the 1930s and '40s but he started in radio. He had numerous bit parts over the years, but his big radio role was as John Bickerson... of the Bickersons. It ran 1946 to 1951 but it lives on as a model for sitcoms today.

Morey Amsterdam - He had an eponymous TV program starting in 1948. He did relatively little notable radio. He was was a regular guest on The Al Pearce Show show, and himself hosted an obscure series called the Night Club of the Air which only ran for 2 months in 1937. His inclusion is dubious.

Eddie Anderson - Anderson rose to fame playing the character of Rochester, Jack Benny's personal valet.  He began playing bit parts on the program starting in 1937.  Anderson made it to the Radio Hall of Fame in 2001. He was the man. His gravelly voice tops even Tom Waits.

Eve Arden - She was a a regular on Danny Kaye's variety program in 1946. But her career was playing the character Connie Brooks in the sitcom "Our Miss Brooks." Arden portrayed the character on radio from 1948 to 1957 then for TV from 1952 - 1956, and then a film in 1956.

Eddy Arnold - He was a country artist with over a hundred singles to his name. He made his career the hard way playing live on air. He was on WTJS-AM in Jackson, WMPS-AM in Memphis, KWK-AM in St. Louis, WHAS-AM in Louisville eventually making it to the Grand Ol' Opry on WSM-AM.

Cliff Arquette - It has been said that at one point he was performing on 13 different daily radio shows in the Chicago metro. The big one was called "Dave and Charley" which Arquette hosted with Dave Willock,it even made it on TV briefly. He later revisited his characters for the Tonight Show while Jack Paar was host.

Gene Autry - See previous post here.

Dan Avey - Avey won over 30 major journalism awards in his career including 15 Golden Mikes, which might be a record. He was a sportscaster and newscaster on stations like KXLY-AM, KWIZ-AM, KFI-AM, KFWB-AM, and KABC-AM. He retired in 2007.

Lew Ayres - He was in more than 50 films in his career but he did a tour of radioland. He acted the part of Kildare on the program "The Story of Doctor Kildare" airing 1950 through 1951. He also played the part in film. His inclusion is dubious.

Jack Bailey - He was the host of a daytime game show called "Queen for a Day."  It debuted on the Mutual Radio Network in 1945 continuing through 1948 when it jumped to television.

Art Baker - His real name was Arthur Shank. The program "Art Baker's Notebook" debuted on KFI-AM in Los Angeles in 1938. It ran for 20 years. If that wasn't enough, he went on to host the TV show "You Asked for It."

Kenny Baker - This is different fellow than the Kenny Baker that was in R2D2. This Baker was a singer on  The Jack Benny Program in the 1930s. He had his own program which didn't do so well. He went on to sang on the Texaco Star Theater radio program and do film.

Phil Baker - He hosted a number of big radio programs in his career. Starting in 1933 Baker starred in his own NBC series "The Armour Jester." He was also the host of the popular quiz show "Take It or Leave It," which later became "The $64 Question." He also appeared on Duffy's Tavern in 1944.

Lionel Barrymore - He portrayed the character Doctor Gillespie on the program Doctor Kildare in the 1940s. He also performed in the radio series, Mayor of the Town, and got a bit typecast playing Ebenezer Scrooge on the radio every Xmas from 1934 to1953. He also hosted the AFRS "Concert Hall" Radio Show in he late 1940s.

Brian Beirne -  He actually trade-marked the nick name "Mr. Rock N' Roll."  Beirne was a DJ for KRTH-FM known as K-EARTH 101. After 29 years on air years he retired in 2004.

William Bendix -  His program "The Life of Riley" aired from 1944 through 1951. When it was revised for television "The Life of Riley" ran from 1953 to 1958. His character's tag line "What a revoltin' development" lives on.

Jack Benny - The Jack Benny show ran from 1932 to 1955. It became a television program from 1960 through 1964 on CBS, then NBC for another year. His career requires no further explanation.

Edgar Bergen - A ventriloquist who guested on Rudy Vallée's program in 1936, then a regular bit on the Chase and Sanborn Hour in 1937. That was followed by the Charlie McCarthy Show which lasted 2 years. He jumped to Film and TV from there.

Milton Berle - He made his reputation as a regular on on The Rudy Vallee Hour, and the Gillette Original Community Sing in 1936. The Milton Berle Show only ran a year from 1947 - 1948. Berle became the host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater taking over for Jack Carter.. His reign ran from 1948 to 1955 when it jumped to TV.

Ben Bernie - He was called  The Old Maestro. He broadcast on NBC Blue WJZ-AM starting in 1923. His program ran on CBS through most of the 1930s.  He slowly started to segue into film around 1937 and left radio. His last starring radio role was the "Ben Bernie War Workers" program" which ran from 1941 to 1943.

Rodney Bingenheimer - Rodney has been hosting his own program "Rodney on the ROQ" on KROQ since August of 1976. They'll probably have to tear it from his cold dead hands.

Mel Blanc - Now just famous for his voice work on Warner Bros cartoons, he actually began in radio. In 1927 he began doing voice over the KGW-AM program The Hoot Owls. He jumped to KEX-AM in 1933 to produce his Cobweb And Nuts show which lasted 2 years. He followed that with a spin on the Johnny Murray Show, then The Joe Penner Show, then a big win on the Jack Benny Show. He got his own program "The Mel Blanc Show", which ran from 1946  into 1947. It didn't matter.. he'd already discovered cartoon work. The die was cast.

Ford Bond - Bond was a radio announcer peaking in the mid 1940s. He did Manhattan Merry-Go-Round, Fun At Breakfast, Kraft Music Hall, Easy Aces, and many others. He began on WHAS-AM in Louisville in 1922. He died in 1962 after retiring to the Virgin islands. Can't knock that.

Edward Bowes - He was host of  Major Bowes' Amateur Hour on WHN-AM in 1934. The show ran until 1946 when he retired. He died two months later.

Bill Boyd - A western Swing man he played on air at many stations including WRR-AM,  KTER-AM and KSKY-AM in Dallas and alter WKNE and WPWA. His band The Cowboys Ramblers, had their own popular radio show, "The Bill Boyd Ranch House" around 1947 on WRR.

Eddie Bracken - Another vaudeville man who moved to radio. It was his success in film that landed him his very own "Eddie Bracken Show." It ran for 2 years on CBS 1946 and 1947.

Tom Breneman - Breneman was the host of "Breakfast in Hollywood." It debuted on the Blue Network in 1941, but moved to ABC, NBC and Mutual at various times. It initially launched as "Breakfast on the Boulevard" on KFWB-AM in Los Angeles.  It was so big it had a magazine, he had a restaurant and they made a movie about the program in 1946. It was finally cancelled in 1948 only because he died.

Fanny Brice - She spent most of her career trapped in the role of Baby Snooks. The character first appeared in a skit on The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air. At the age of 60 she was still typecast as a child.

Ray Briem - Ray retired from radio in 2008 after a long career at KABC-AM. As a conservative talk show host. He'd been a long time radio man having even hosted programs for AFRS.

Cecil Brown - Brown was famous as a WWII news commentator. He was hired by CBS in 1940. His career gained ground criticizing Mussolini but lost it criticizing the British. After the war he became a commentator for the Mutual Network.

Bob Burns - He was a regular on the Kraft Music Hall program, and Rudy Vallee's show The Fleischmann Hour starting in 1935. Prior to that he'd only done random appearances on programs like "The Fun Factory." He hosted the Academy Awards in 1938 which improved is cache. His own radio show, The Arkansas Traveler ran from 1941 to 1943 and was followed by  The Bob Burns Show  which ran 1943 to 1947.

Judy Canova - Her career exploded after a 1931 guest spot on the Fleischmann Yeast Hour. She did a series of films, then got her own radio show 1in 1943, The Judy Canova Show. It ran for 12 years. She moved on to TV and had a long career there as well.

Eddie Cantor - See previous post here.

Ken Carpenter - Ken was an NBC Radio Announcer. He was probably best known for announcing Bing Crosby on the Kraft Music Hall radio variety program for 27 years. He started his career in KFI-AM in 1929 as a sports announcer. He stayed with NBC doing sports color until 1942.

Jack Carson - He appeared in 1938 on the Kraft Music Hall while Bing Crosby's was host. He guested several more times and got own CBS radio show, the Jack Carson Show,  in 1943.  The show lasted 4 years. he left to host The Sealtest Village Store program where he stayed until 1948.

Bud Collyer - Bud was Superman on The Adventures of Superman on the Mutual Network in 1940. That iconic work would probably be enough but he also acted on all 3 major networks. He went on to host TV game shows like Beat the Clock and to Tell the Truth.

Jerry Colonna - He had the greatest mustache ever made. He was famous on radio as Bob Hope's zany sidekick. He actually started as a serious trombonist in the CBS house orchestra. He even recorded as a part Raymond Scott's famous Quintette and of course played on the Kraft Music Hall.

Perry Como - Como is most famous for his recording career and his early work hosting television programs. His work on the radio program "Beat the Band" was notable, lasting on NBC radio from 1940 to 1944. Btu it represents the bulk of his radio career.

Spade Cooley - He had his own TV show starting in 1947 but before that he was on radio a bit. He guested in 1946 on Gene Autry's Program "Melody Ranch." Then with his own show "Spade Cooley Time" on KFVD-AM. He went straight from there to KTLA-TV.

Charles Correll - He played the character Andy Brown of Amos & Andy alongside Freeman Gosden. The bit began on WMAQ-AM in 1926 as Sam 'n' Henry and continued on to WGN-AM, where it became Amos and Andy. It became syndicated and continued on in different forms until 1962.

Lou Costello - He was the shorter stouter half of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Bud Abbott. They began in vaudeville individually, then as a team and signed up with the William Morris Agency in 1938. They became a regular feature on The Kate Smith Hour and rapidly moved into film.

Bing Crosby - Bing appears at least 5 other times on this page for launching other careers during his tenure on the Kraft Music Hall from 1935 to 1946. But he'd already been host of the Woodbury Soap Program, the Chesterfield's Music Program, The Cremo Singers and The Radio Singers on CBS back in 1931. his first appearance was probably in 1929 on Old Gold presents the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.

Bob Crosby - Despite am 18-month interruption for WWII the "Bob Crosby Show" ran on NBC and CBS separately from  1943 to 1950. He moved from there to a show called "Club Fifteen" on CBS from 1947 to 1953. From 1952 to 1955 he was a band leader on the Jack Benny Show. That was followed by a half hour Bob Crosby Show that ran on CBS from 1953–1957. He tried a little TV show in Australia in the 1960s but it fizzled.

Milton Cross - See previous post here.

Frank Crumit - Crumit was a vaudeville man. He and his wife Julia Sanderson were a comedy and singing duo in 1928 on CBS as the "Singing Sweethearts" even though they were already divorced. In 1030 they started co-hosting a quiz show called "The Battle of the Sexes", which ran 13 years. they started a new program on WABC-AM, but it was abruptly cut short when Crumit died of  a heart attack in 1943.

Bill Cunningham - This is not the same radio man as right-winger Bill Cunningham in Cincinnati. This is the man who hosted "Meet the Boss" from 1944-1952 carried by Mutual Broadcasting.

Radio On Strike

 It used to happen in this country. People used to band together and go on strike and it was a good thing. In the 1930s it was to stop pay cuts, limit child labor, end company scrip, and so many other inhumane practices of industry in that era. In the 1980s it sort of fizzled after President Regan [R] went to war against the middle class. I was reading a back issue of a trade magazine and found the image below and it got me thinking. These days the only strike that shuts down a radio station is a lightning strike.

My gut feeling was that they were very rare. Strikes are traditionally the tool of people that perform manual labor, blue collar workers. In general, white collar workers don't strike. It's a generalization, but it's fairly accurate. So to that end I have compiled a list of Radio-related strikes and their dates. This is limited to white collar staff: writers, producers, announcers, musicians etc. I have excluded the strikes of TV staff, radio manufacturers, and telegraph operators as those are not strictly radio-related. This is an incomplete list, but I have hopes that readers may make a few additions. I found many of these in the book The Encyclopedia Of Strikes In American History  By Aaron Brenner. Also excluded are the occasions when a union threatened to strike and management made concessions. Those events are poorly recorded, and I am not confident I coulld make a proper list of those.


2011 - AFTRA strike on record labels [here]
2005 - CBC Radio Strike
1982 - AFTRA strike on WINS-AM
1978 - AFTRA strike on advertising agencies
1977 - WBAI Pacifica Radio strike
1974 - WAOK-AM
1974 - AFTRA strike WWDJ
1970 - KZAP-FM staff sit down strike
1968 - KMPX-AM
1967 - AFTRA100 radio station strike
1965 - WSIM-AM, Radio and Television Broadcast Technicians
1962 - KFWB-AM
1958 - CBFT(Radio-Canada CBC) Radio producers strike
1958 - MGA Studio Musicians  (later re-merged into AFM)
1948 - AFM recording  ban
1948 - The Radio Writers' Guild
1947 - WCKY-AM Radio technicians strike  (IBEW)
1944 - NABET engineers at NBC
1942 - AFM recording  ban (2 years)
1941 - ASCAP radio strike
1936 - Marine Radio Operator Strike (MEBA)
1938 - WTCN-AM News Staff
1935 - ARTA strike at Macay Radio & Telegraph Co. 
1921 - Marine Radio Operator Strike (MEBA)

**************UPDATE**************

I  keep this list updated at a static page here

B. Mitchel Reed

Burton Mitchel Reed was the host of the all-night Birdland Jazz Show on 1280 WOV-AM in New York City in 1956. For this razzmatazz, fast jive-talking persona he became famous. But he also was a figure in the burgeoning free-format world of FM radio.

Reed started out doing overnights in Baltimore and picked up the all night Birdland show in 1956. He took over for Symphony Sid who had hosted the program for only a couple years. Reed only stayed about a year himself. (Some sources incorrectly put the show on 710 WOR-AM. (In August of 1959, WOV was sold to Bartell Broadcasters, who changed the call letters to WADO.)

In 1957 he took a job at KFWB in Los Angeles doing evenings. Within a year the station flipped formats to Top 40, it's most popular DJs were known as "The Seven Swinging Gentlemen." The seven also included Bruce Hayes, Al Jarvis, Joe Yocam, Elliot Field, Bill Ballance, and Ted Quillan. More here.

Reed left KFWB for WMCA, moving back home in his home in1963. Two years later Reed returned to LA and returned to KFWB. But then come one of those game-changers. He attended the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and something clicked. He met with Tom Donahue the Program Director of KMPX, the hit it off and then it's owner Metromedia took over KMET Reed became it's PD. Reed programmed it as a 24 hour automated AOR station. Its studio was located on Wilshire Blvd.Reed took over the station in 1969, and stayed until 1971, when he left for a spin on KRLA. But He went back to KMET in 1972 staying on for an additional six years. Donahue died in 1975 at only 46 years old. In 1978, Reed had coronary bypass surgery and shortly thereafter left KMET for KLOS. He stayed at KLOS from 1979 to 1981. He died on March 16, 1983, he was only 56. NY Times obit here.

Bobby Dale

Bobby dale is dead, long live Bobby Dale.He was interviewed on his deathbed in 2001 and from those transcripts, a biography was written by Lou Waters. Bobby talked like a hipster, because he was one. In some ways he was an archetypal hipster embodying what was hep after the word hep went out of fashion. Lou knew Bobby from their time together on 630 KDWB-AM in Minneapolis back in 1960. Lou's own fame came from his time at CNN. The book is spectacular.

He was born Robert Dale Bastiansen on July 27, 1931, in Minneapolis. He left town at 25 for his first radio gig. But he wasn't from San Francisco at all, not even California. Bobby Dale started out in Glendive. The Bay Area Radio Museum says it's Glendive Minnesota. But, there is no Glendive in Minesota. I assume they mean Glendive, Montana. Don't feel bad, other sources also get it wrong, even citing Glendive Missouri. Bobby left Glendive in 1960 for a job at KOIL-AM in Omaha, NE where he replaced 18-year-old Gary Owens. Owens had left for KFWB, as Bobby would soon as well.

Less than a year later KDWB Minneapolis. In 1961, when the talent at 980 KFWB-AM went on strike, Booby flew down to start as a scab. In a stroke of irony, B. Mitchell Reed of KFWB flew to KDWB to take over Bobby's now vacant position. He stayed there until 1963, moving to KRLA in 1964, after a short spin at KEWB. Then he plowed through almost every station on the dial. He was on KFRC in 1966, and KSFO twice. He did a year in 1968 when it was an MOR station and returned in 1971 for another 4 year spin while they were an AC station. In between he tried weekends at KGBS and KSAN.
In the early 1980s he moved to the north side of the bay spinning swing music at 1510 KTIM-AM, in San Rafael, CA, a daytimer. Then he went back to San Francisco to work at KKCY. The station became KOFY in 1986 and he remained on board. He retired from full-time radio in 1990 but still made time to make an occasional appearance on the University of San Francisco campus station, KUSF.

Things went downhill rapidly for Dale. In 1992 he lost his voice. In the exam before an operation to remove nodules from his vocal chords it was discovered that he had diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver and heart problem. He succumbed to liver cancer in 2001, he was 69 years old.

500 dollars

I mentioned Al Jarvis and the Make Believe Ballroom once before in passing. His signifigance as an early disc jockey should not be under-rated. In 1932 Al Jarvis began hosting the Make Believe Ballroom. He was a DJ in a time when record labels still sued to prevent airplay. Jarvis was born in 1909 in Canada, to Russian emigrant parents. Little did they know that he would move to Los Angeles, become Americas first DJ and they the very first to succumb to the allure of payola. So far as I know Jarvis never commented on the payola, but did comment on his early DJ status:

"I was hounding the owner-manager to let me air pop records instead of those electrical transcriptions. By using commercial records, I figured, I woudl nto only have a more diversified program, but I could present some of the world's greatest stars. It was the first time on radio, it was the first time any records were played. "

It was a lie of course. But I think it was well meant. The point of his program was not just that he played records but that it w2as him playing them. In his program the DJ was not just a stiff narrator reading copy. So it is only fitting he be the recipient of the first payola.

It cost $500. In 1935 publicist Charlie Emge paid Al Jarvis $500to air Benny Goodman's records. Goodman was on a cross-country tour and Charlie was trying to stir up some advance interest in the swing band before they got to Los Angeles. The cross-country tour was not doing well. But the advance airplay in Los Angeles led to a stay at the Palomar Ballroom. That gig began on August 21 and is considered the beginning of the Swing Era. The Palomar had a capacity crowd that night and the show was broadcast live on the CBS network. More here.

Emge was unstained by the connection. He was just a writer and publicist at the time, and part owner of Tempo Magazine. By 1946 he was the west coast editor for Down Beat magazine.
KELW later became KFWB. In 1946 Al Jarvis crossed the street to KLAC getting paid an amazing quarter million dollars a year. But the rise of Rock n' Roll undid him, and he moved back to KFWB a couple years later. The Pallomar Ballroom was destroyed by a fire in late 1939.

Cliffie Stone

His father was country musician Herman-the-Hermit a frequent performer on KELW. Cliffie Stone was born Clifford Gilpin Snyder in 1917. He was a radio and TV personality, a recorded musician, and vaudeville comedian among other things. Today he's best known as a country musician who did a series of Square dance recordings for Columbia records.

But it was at Capitol where he rose to success as an A&R man. Stone started work at Capitol Records in 1946 in A&R. He went on to sign Tennessee Ernie Ford, Molly Bee, and Hank Thompson. He knew country music and he knew radio. He got his start playing bass in big bands around California in the early 1930s with Anson Weeks and Freddie Slack. They gigged around Hollywood and Pasadena.

Eventually he scored radio shows as KFUD and KFWB doing hayride shows like Covered Wagon Jubilee, Hollywood barn dance, Hometown Jamboree and Lucky Stars, broadcast out of Los Angeles It started in 1935 when he first got on Covered Wagon Jubilee on KFVD . He was only 18 years old playing bass with the stage name Cliffie Stonehead. ( He later shortened it to Stone. In 1944 Stone started a third show, Dinner Bell Round-Up, on KPAS. At the same time he started his own record production company, Lariat Records. It was that work with his own indie label that got the attention of Capitol. his deal with Capitol was interesting. He signed artists yes, but he also wrote songs and performed as a studio musician. Some of those relationships developed and he also manged some of those same artists such as Kay Starr and Tennessee Ernie Ford. in the 1960s he even developed his own publishing company.

1110 KPAS-AM became KXLA in 1945 with Stone still hosting Dinner Bell Round-Up. In 1948he moved over to host Hometown Jamboree also on KXLA on Saturday nights. A year later he crossed over to TV on KCOP-TV in Pasadena. In 1953 it moved to KTLA-TV, where it ran until its cancellation in 1959. He even booked his dad Herman the Hermit on the programs. The biggest country artists of the era played his radio and television programs: Don Sullivan, Johnny Horton, Ferlin Husky and Molly Bee. Today, 1110 AM in Los Angeles is KDIS a Radio disney outlet. Boring.

He wrote two books but neither was published until after his death. He died of a sudden heart attack on January 17, 1998, at his home in Saugus, CA. the following year Cliffie was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.