Wayland Villiers Radio

Who was Wayland Villiers?  I wouldn't be interested but one of his pamphlets. His 1936 work The Story of Sex, carried the tagline "A New Book By Your Radio Advisor."  Suddenly I had the strange idea this "Professor" might have actually been on the radio. He was and he was talking about sex. Was that even allowed in the 1930s?  Let's start with a short listing of his limited bibliography:

• 1929 - The Dawn of Love (as Thomas Wayland Villiers)
• 1931 - The Law of Nature: A book of sane sex knowledge for red-blooded men and women
• 1935 - Why Marriage Fails: Sex Secrets Revealed
• 1935 - The Truth About Birth Control
• 1936 - The Story of Sex
• 1937 - Nudist Racket Exposed (as Thomas Wayland Villiers)

I am somewhat amazed the man was actually doing this pre-1950. It's clear from multiple sources that Prof Villiers had taken his show on the road.  The book Next Year Country by Craig Miner makes a single direct reference to him lecturing in Kansas. That healthiest specimen referred to below was probably Vivian Vaughn.

"People professed to be shocked by a sex lecture given in Wichita in 1931, in which Professor Wayland Villiers demonstrated "the Law of Nature" with "living girl models," including one said to be the healthiest specimen in America."

There are references to him in Newspapers as well. That same year in the Reading Times he was reported to be broadcasting on WRAW-AM. The Reading Eagle Newspaper called him a "Sex Philosopher." Villiers appeared at the Orpheum Theatre with Princess Signa Serene of Denmark. She was not royalty but a then famous mentalist.

Also in tow was Miss Vivian Vaughn, then recently crowed "Miss New Orleans."  They had a five day engagement demonstrating a program about the necessity of sex education. Showings were segregated by gender: matinee performances at 2:30 PM were for women only, and evening shows at 10:00 PM were for men only. On Friday there was a special 6:00 PM show for "working girls". [sic double entendre.]

Princess Signa Serene and the professor took to the air daily to answer peoples questions. It was a routine they must have done before and one that probably brought them much trouble in certain cities along the way. There are references to Ms. Serene as late as 1937.. but by then Mr. Villiers had long since vanished.

The Alarm Klok Klub

 That this show ever existed at all is baffling, that it ran for 30 years is even more unusual, that there were others just like it is inexplicable. Because of his tenure on the program, it's host, Frank Cope is recognized by some as the nation's first disc jockey. In 1930, KJBS-AM was purportedly running an an all-music format. That sounds non-specific by modern standards, but things were different then. KJBS-AM was an oddly licensed station, with two tower sites.  It wasn't granted authorization to operate full time at 50 kw until 1977. So the Alarm Klok Klub didn't sign on in Hayward until 5:00 AM, but it ran until 8:00 AM.  Like a normal daytime the station signed off at sunset. But then they signed on again from San Francisco at 10:00 PM, and off again at 3:00 AM. [info courtesy of David Kaye] This was to avoid interference with WTAM. More here.

The Author of Raised on Radio, Gerald Nachman grouped the program alongside the Milkman's Matinee, and with other early DJs like Jack Sterling, John Gambling, Al Jarvis, and Peter Potter.Frank Cope  was born in Utah, and had previously worked at KLO-AM, which signed on in 1929. He started on "The Alarm Klok Klub" on San Francisco's KJBS on March 3rd, 1930. The program ran 6 days a week, only sitting out Sundays. Some sources claim that Cope left KJBS in 1952, but I prefer the date given by Bayarearadio.org, coinciding with the sale of KJBS to Argonaut Broadcasting in 1959. Rumor has it that he tried out at KSFO-AM but didn't fit in and moved on to the car business. He died in 1974, he was 72. 

1020 KYW-AM launched a similar program in 1930, no doubt influenced by the Alarm Klok Klub. Theirs was called the "Musical Clock."  It debuted on April 14th, sponsored by the Marshall Field Company.   Sears picked up the sponsorship in 1935. It's host, Miss Halloween Martin, was just 28 years old. She was a DePaul University grad with a little acting experience who was then working at a news paper. She gave the time, temperature and weather every 5 minutes from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM, and spun light classical, pop and jazz. In 1934, when KYW-AM moved to Philadelphia, the "Musical Clock" moved to WBBM-AM.  The show was finally cancelled in 1944, and Martin crossed the street to WCFL-AM.

Chicago had at least two other "clock-type" morning shows concurrent with Martin's. WMBI a Morning Clock program that started no later than the mid 1940s. It was still running in 1986 hosted then by Bob it ran from 6:30 to 8:00 AM. On November 18th 1941, W75C began simulcasting WMBI’s programs on the FM band. they later changed calls to WDLM and they too carried the Morning Clock. According to author Arnold Passman, writer of The Deejays (mandatory reading) there were plenty more. At WBT-AM, Lee Everett was hosting the "Morning Clock" starting in 1934. At about the same time, in New York, John B. Gambling was hosting the "Morning Clock" on WOR-AM. Some of the programs were more zany than others. At WDAE-AM  in Tampa, there was another musical clock program. This one had a time signal on the program which was the sound of a guy grinding his teeth. Ugh.

The Variety Radio Directory of 1938, lists yet more for which I have no other corroborating reference, "Alarm Clock" on KWTN and CJOC, 'The Alarm Clock Club" on CKCK, the "Alarm Clock Frolic" on WPTF, another "Alarm  Clock" on KWOS, the "Alarm Clock Program" on KFJB, "Alarm Clock Revue" on WBRC,  "Alarm Clock Salute" on WNAC, the "Alarm Klock Klub" on KIEV, and a different "Alarm Klock Klub" on KVOG in Salt Lake City. There was even an "Alarm Clock Serenade" on WICC. I'm sure there were even more, but this programming novelty has been dead for decades. In it's place we have the morning zoo, which is less novel but more local.

WCMQ & WDAE Vs. Cuba!

Just a few weeks ago I read that 620 WDAE-AM in Tampa was tearing down their old tower in Tampa Bay. ...and when I say "bay" I really mean bay. WDAE broadcasts from two big Blaw-Knox towers that straddled the Gandy causeway between Tampa and St. Petersburg. It had great line-of sight but all that salt water left the current owners with no choice but to take 'em down.

620 used to be known as WSUN and was (as the marker states) the first radio station in Florida. It's history is very colorful as I am about to get into. the new towers will be shorter but will also run at a higher power. That’s to make up for the shorter and therefore less efficient towers. But in reality, regardless of their license, WDAE will continue using twice as much power, under a long-running STA to mitigate interference from Cuba! A little info here.

They like WCMQ Miami had a little problem with Cuba. Cuba was blasting radio signals at Florida. And of course the US military was blasting VOA at them on AM and shortwave. I don't know who upped the ante but the end result was that we have several station on the same frequency for signal cancellation purposes. As Cubans left Cuba escaping Castro's Socialist revolution certain Miami stations became havens for Cuban expatriates. WCMQ then became a vocal anti-Castro media outlets. Their call sign mimics Havana's own CMQ outlet, providing lots of nostalgic Spanish oldies for ex-Cubans now resettled in the area.

1210 WCMQ used to be audible all the way to D.C. under certain night time conditions. So, if you can receive it in Washington D.C., people across the gulf in Cuba also should also be able to hear it. The distance to D.C. is slightly greater but also is across land. AM signals travel much further across water. Would Cuba try to jam reception? Of course they would!

For most of its history, 1220 WCMQ was a music station with no political programming at all. It began as a daytimer in about 1968 and didn't switch to a talk format until after SBS purchased them. (WCMQ moved to 1210 in 1984) It was not until SBS brought in a strong political commentator and newsman that the station became an Anti-Castro outlet)

This tendency lasts thru to this very day. In 1996 Cuba was decimated by a hurricane. Many charitable group mounted humane relief efforts. WCMQ told their listeners to withhold donations, because they would only help Castro's government. They stated that Castro's government would steal any donations that were meant for the people of Cuba. at the time this put them somewhat at odds with WQBA who was taking the opposite stance. Even this day WCMQ radio host Caridad Roque and Ninoska Perez speak frequently about politics relating to Cuba. Check it out here.

The First Directional Antenna

Directional broadcasts were very desirable in AM radio. Previously if two stations interfered with each other the only solutions were lowering tower heights and lowering the power. Both cut coverage area.

The first Directional broadcast Antenna was designed by Ray Wilmotte. This was for 620 WFLA (dayshare with WSUN) in Tampa back in 1932. It was the right solution for a specific problem. By 1947 there were 646 AM radio stations on air in America, and 39 of them were using directional antennas.

Interestingly enough the whole ordeal had to go to court. When WFLA powered up 620 WTMJ lost coverage. On appeal it was ruled that the earlier coverage area of 620 WTMJ Milwaukee should be restored. Thus the system was installed to avoid a power reduction. Coverage map Here. [WFLA moved to 940 AM in 1941 leaving 620 to WSUN which in turn changed called to WDAE.] The purpose of the WFLA antenna was two fold:

1. Protect the contour of Milwaukee station, WTMJ.

2. Reduce wasted power sent out over the Atlantic ocean. Then redirect it over land.

Its success began a series of conversions. In 1934, 700 WLW-AM, Cincinnati used a directional antenna to protect CFRB Toronto, Ontario, about 375 miles away. The FCC restricted their power output to 50 kW toward the North East.

Other early directional stations include, WOR, WADO and WEAF. All were experimenting with Bell Labs on this approach. None of them have any indications of experiments prior to 1933.

Ray Wilmotte was actually born in Paris and educated at Cambridge University in England. He moved to the U.S. to work to work on blind landing equipment for aircraft. During the second World War he worked on direction finding systems for airports and radar. Later at RCA on the development of communications satellites. In the 1970s he became a full time FCC consultant. There at the age of 78 he directed a UHF task force that developed a high-performance tuner that permitted greater use of the UHF spectrum. He died January 27th 2000 at the age of 98.