Matinee with Bob and Ray

 

 

Somehow I missed the memo on Bob and Ray. They were on the air for 50 years and I completely missed the boat, discovering them only post-mortem, in the form of a beat up paperback with an introduction by Andy Rooney. Bob and Ray were Bob Elliott (1923–2016) and Ray Goulding (1922–1990). My own mother often said "Write if you get work!" as people left the house. It took me decades to realize she was quoting Bob & Ray.

Elliott and Goulding began as radio announcers. Elliott and Goulding were both on 850 WHDH-AM in Boston. Elliot was an announcer and Goulding a DJ with a morning show. (Some biographies switch the roles and describe Elliot as a DJ and Goulding as a newscaster.) The book Bob and Ray: Keener Than Most Persons by David Pollack gives another version where Elliot presented a demo for Back Bay Matinee he based on an AFRS program. The Music Director Ken Wilson put him on air every afternoon from 2:00 to 4:00. Then Wilson paired him with Goulding to improvise banter as a fill-in when Red Sox baseball broadcasts rained out. Elliott and Goulding (not yet known as Bob and Ray) would improvise and joke around with the studio musicians. It was a comedy recipe you see to this day on late night programs; from Johnny Carson through Jimmy Kimmel. The duo started writing skits to make it work.

Their shtick was a slight twist on the old vaudeville routine. It wasn't a matter of which one was the Straight man. They were both the straight man; something Elliott conceded to Mike Sacks, for the book Poking a Dead Frog: Conversations With Today’s Top Comedy Writers.  “We were both sort of straight men reacting against the other.” Every punchline is silly but completely deadpan, prefiguring Stephen Wright but without the irony. Their trademark sign-off was "This is Ray Goulding reminding you to write if you get work"; "Bob Elliott reminding you to hang by your thumbs." 

After a few months WHDH gave them a morning show simply called Bob & Ray in 1946.  The program started as a 15-minute slot and then expanded to half an hour. The show continued to expand. In the fall of 1947, the pair were given a daily half hour at 1:00 PM called Matinee with Bob and Ray. In 1949 WHDH increased power from 5,000 watts to 50,000 watts and wildly expanded it's coverage and the audience for the duo. After 5 years in Boston, they got a 13-week contract with NBC and started a one hour Saturday Night program in 1951. By 1952 they also had an early morning show on WNBC as well. More here.

In 1955 they signed a new contract with WBZ: Matinee with Bob and Ray but by April of  1956 they terminated their taped WBZ program because they were so busy with their network schedule. Alan Dary got the spot. Bob & ray continued to do daily shows for the Mutual network from 1955 to 1957, then CBS from 1959 to 1960, and on New York station WINS. In 1962 they moved to WHN to start an afternoon show and in 1973 WOR doing a 4-hour afternoon drive program.  In their final incarnation they started a program on NPR: The Bob & Ray Public Radio Show. That ran until 1987. They won three Peabody Awards for their radio work and were inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1984 and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1995.

Goulding died in 1990. Born in 1922 he was 68. Many assumed the 67 year old Elliot might retire but instead he became a cast member of Garrison Keillor’s American Radio Company of the Air,  which briefly replaced A Prairie Home Companion on NPR.  Then he started making appearances in movies, and commercials something deeply ironic for a man who had made so many fake advertisements. Ellior once said "By the time we discovered we were introverts, it was too late to do anything about it.”

WAAT-AM in 1922

 

There are two gentlemen pictured here, C.J. Ingram and Frank Bremer and this is a Prohibition joke. It appears in a 1923 issue of Radio News. First— the gag: In 1919 the Eighteenth Amendment passed in 1919 and was ratified by 46 out of 48 states. The Volestead act was then ratified, and the commercial sale of alcohol was banned in the U.S. based on WWI-ear anti-German sentiments, and Christian radicalism. 

Private ownership and consumption of booze were not banned, but some states were more restrictive. Home wine-making became very popular, with some wineries even producing a grape jelly product called "Vine-Glo" and another which was basically a grape brick. [LINK] In these cases as was with a pile of raisins, amateurs could make their own wine. So C.J. and Frank here are soliciting recipes, and apparently following some home fermenting difficulties.

Frank V. Bremer was the founder of WAAT. He appears in the book Airwaves of New York which states that Frank started tinkering with wireless as early as 1910. That year he also organized the Jersey City Wireless Club. He was born in 1894, so he would have been all of 16 years old. But we do have documentation that goes back almost that far, so this is a completely reputable claim. More here.

But I find the written record to be somewhat convoluted. 2IA, first appears in a July 1913 issue of the Department of Commerce Radio Stations report [SOURCE]. But at that time, it was owned by Royce A. Winfred located at 1329 49th street, in Brooklyn, NY and operating at 500 watts. The July 1914 issue is the same. That 1913 issue is literally issue #1 so I don't think we have an authoritative source that goes back further. Some websites claim that in 1914 Frank received both amateur and commercial radio operator's licenses. I've not been able to confirm that, but it fits the time line. More here.

In the July 1915 issue both Bremer and Winfred appear, but Frank is operating 2ARN, a different amateur station. (Starting in 1920 the annual Commerce Department station lists were split into two publications, separating the the Amateur stations.)  In the June 1920 issue of Amateur Radio stations of the United States, 2ARN, is now operated by George A. Bennett, on 40 Argyle place, Arlington, NJ at 18 watts. This is the same in the June 1922 issue. In the June 1923 issue George has moved to Twilight Ave in Keansburg, NJ. Bremer's first appearance with 2IA is in the June 1923 issue. The 1923 the Citizens Call book puts 2IA at 3613 Boulevard in Jersey City, operated by F. V. Bremer, a matching entry.

The station we know as WAAT was originally known was 2IA. Different sources put it's start in 1922, or as late as 1926.  The argument is mostly based in semantics, it goes back much earlier. Airwaves uses the 1926 date for the start of WAAT, but in 1926 Frank was operating a radio shop at 210 Jackson Avenue under the call sign 2IA, his amateur station. The August 1926 Bulletin refers to this station as WKBD in a list of "additions" to the June 1925 list. By September he got the call sign changed to WAAT.

One note on 2IA, The Jersey Review paid to broadcast from Bremer's facilities as early as 1920. There have been claims that this paid program was meets the definition of the first commercial radio program ever. It's plausible. You can easily find references to Bremer's radio operations like the below 1921 issue of Radio News:

The Jersey Review is where we meet C.J. Ingram. The Jersey Review was in publication from 1920 to 1941 when it became the "Jersey Guide." Even the authoritative Directory of New Jersey Newspapers 1765 - 1970 only has question marks for the end of the Jersey Guide. [SOURCE] A 1922 issue of the Radio Dealer names Frank Bremer as the "Radio Editor" of the Jersey Guide.  Mr. C. J. Ingram, was managing editor of the Jersey Review. [SOURCE] Ingram was also the vice president of the Radio Broadcasting Society of America. Though in 1923 they're described as "...thirteen or more small broadcasters." Members included WHN and WAAT at the very least. [The treasurer was C.B. Cooper, executive secretary George Schobel,  and President was John E. O'Connor]

In his autobiography I Have a Lady in the Balcony, George Ansbro puts C.J. Ingram at the Jersey
Journal as the radio Editor around 1932. His column was called the "One Dialer" still hosting a 30 minute Sunday afternoon program on WAAT. In 1935, the book Before The Mike by Ted Husing confirms the same. The November 1933 issue of the Crosley Broadcaster records the name of the program as "Stardust" airing from 12:30 to 1:00 PM. He continued to write the column through at least 1936.

Bremer continued to operate WAAT-AM for decades. They opened a studio in Manhattan in 1927 at 34 W. 28th Street. The station moved to the Douglas Hotel on Hill Street in 1941. Then in 1947, they got into FM radio and 94.7 WAAT began broadcasting. Bremer continued to run the show until 1958 when eh sold the AM and Fm stocks to the National Telefilm Associates. The big mystery in all of this, is the line "GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN" below that comic that started all this. Both Bremer and Ingram were still very much alike, and even still on air in 1923. Prohibition lasted until 1933. I'm not sure what was gone by 1923. Maybe just 2IA being replaced by WAAT.

Radio On The Road

Much is written about the classic novel On the Road, by Jack Kerouac. Virtually every charter in the novel is real, and all of them have their own biographies, and/or autobiographies. The book is rich with literary references to Nietzsche, Arthur Conan Doyle, Schopenhauer, Rimbaud, Dostoevsky, Alain-Fournier, Kafka, Eugene Sue, Jack London, Céline, Proust and Melville to name a few. But the text is also loaded with references to music and radio.

Some of it is onomatopoeic jazz scat like the phrase "ta-tup-EE-da-de-dera-RUP! ta-tup-EE-da-da-dera-RUP!" But innumerable musicians named and unnamed march through the text as well. Geoge Shearing is referred to as a living god, but a similar reverence is held for Lester "Prez" Young, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, And Dizzy Gillespie whom they just call mad. But Lionel Hampton also gets a reference as do Irving Berlin, Wynonie Harris, Roy Eldridge, Duke Ellington, Lucky Millinder, Louis Armstrong, Benny Moten and  Count Basie. Then there are at least five direct references to actual radio programs and/or radio stations in the text:

Part 4, Chapter 1:

"The radio was always on. "Man have you dug that mad Marty Glickman announcing basketball games―up-to-midcourt-bounce-fake-set-shot, swish, two points. Absolutely the greatest announcer I ever heard."

Marty Glickman was a former Olympic athlete turned radio announcer who was famous for his broadcasts of the New York Knicks basketball games,  and both the football games of the New York Jets and New York Giants. In 1939, Glickman graduated from Syracuse University. After his short professional sports career he joined the radio station 1050 WHN-AM in New York City. He took a break for WWII, and returned in 1945 soon becoming the voice of the sports newsreels distributed by Paramount News. On those reels he became the voice of the New York Knicks and New York Giants for over two decades. He became the announcer for the New York Knickerbockers in 1946, the year they were formed. The quote above is contextually in 1949, when Glickman was 32 sports director at WHN and arguably at his peak.

Part 2, Chapter 6:

We were suddenly driving along the blue waters of the Gulf, and at the same time a momentous mad thing began on the radio; it was the Chicken Jazz'n Gumbo disk-jockey show from New Orleans, all mad jazz records, colored records, with the disk-jockey saying, "Don't worry 'bout nothing!"

The city of New Orleans is very real. But that radio program was not... at least not exactly.  However, in 1949 there was a late night “Jam, Jive and Gumbo Show,” on 1230 WJBW-AM hosted by Duke Thil, aka Vernon Winslow More here.

Part 1, Chapter 4:

I was drunk enough to go for anything. And the truck reached the outskirts of Cheyenne, we saw the high red lights of the local radio station, and suddenly we were bucking through a great strange crowd of people that poured on both sidewalks.

Frankly there weren't that many radio towers on the outskirts of Cheyenne in 1947. In fact there was only one:  1240 KFBC-AM signed on in 1940, [SOURCE] Their first local competition, 1370 KVWO-AM didn't sign on until 1952, more here. It was a long time before there was a third station. In that year the population of the whole county was just over 30,000 people.

Part 2, Chapter 8:

"Clint, Texas!" said Dean. He had the radio on to the Clint station. Every fifteen minutes they played a record; the rest of the time it was commercials about a high-school correspondence course. "This program is beamed all over the west." cried Dean excitedly. "Man I used to listen to it day and night in reform school and prison."

Clint, Texas is a mere 25 miles to El Paso, or Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Today there are zero stations using Clint as their city of license. But the same was true in 1949. But 800 XELO-AM in Ciudad Juárez received it's mail at an address of Clint, TX. So musicians like Hank Thompson and Slim Hawkins took orders for their song books there.  This can be heard on a number of extant XELO transcriptions discs. The city of El Paso had all of four stations: KEPO, KROD, KELP, KSET, and KTSM none of which fit the description. The stations use of the Clint zip code comes up in the book Border Radio by Gene Fowler, Ramblin' Man by Ed Cray, and The Roots of Texas Music by Lawrence Clayton. This border blaster was audible clear up into Colorado at 150,000 watts just as Dean describes.

Part 4, Chapter 6:

"Dawn came rapidly in a gray haze revealing dense swamps sunk on both sides, with tall, forlorn, viny trees leaning and bowing over tangled bottoms. We bowled right along the railroad tracks for a while. The strange radio-station antenna of Ciudad Mante appeared ahead as if we were in Nebraska."

This could be a number of stations. The most likely would be short wave station XECMT, on 6090 kHz. In that era Ciudad Mante is estimated to have had a population of about 25,000, more than double Cheyenne. But it had little radio. The UAT radio network came to town in the 1980s, and the Radio Tamaulipas network not at least until the popular advent of FM radio. We must exclude 840 XHEMY-AM as it didn't sign on until 1966; even 1450 XECM-AM is a little late signing on in  November of 1951.

Bebop Hits The Radio

I like Jazz, but I have a particular soft spot for Bebop. As a genre, it was short-lived starting with Coleman Hawkins highlights in the early 1940s and petering out into novel but less atonal work by Sonny Stitt and his peers. Around 1948, at the relative peak of the genre it made the leap to radio— in all it's atonal improvisational glory.

In the book Why Jazz Happened  author Marc Myers quotes Walter Gil Fuller describing how not just jazz but Bebop specially made it into the popular culture.

"The first promoters to successfully present 'bop' were Monte Kay, who produced the nightly concerts here at the Royal Roost, and Symphony Sid, the WMCA all-night disc jockey. In 1945 they sponsored the concert debut of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie at Town Hall and since then have been active in presentation and promotion of be-bop in New York.  Several other disc jockeys have been instrumental in bringing the music to a wider audience: Fred Robbins and Bill Williams of WOV, Leonard Feather of WHN, Willie Bryant and Ray Carroll of WHOM, Jerry Roberts and Bill Cook of WAAT, Woody Woodard of WLIB, and Dan Burley and Fred Barr of WWRL..."

This is your short list of makers and shakers in jazz circa 1950. I've written about a few of them before, namely Symphony Sid, Willie Bryant and Ray Carroll, and Fred Robbins. Those are certainly the bigger of the few names on that short list. Leonard Feather is also famed but more for his jazz writing at this date.Those other names you don't recognizance are all still worth knowing. Bill Cook was actually mentioned in Philip Roth's book, American Pastoral.

"...Bill Cook, the smooth late-night Negro disc jockey of the Jersey station WAAT. Musical Caravan, Bill Cook's show, I ordinarily listened to in my darkened bedroom on Saturday nights. The opening theme was Ellington's "Caravan," very exotic, very sophisticated, Afro-Oriental rhythms, a belly-dancing beat..."

That's all true actually.  William B. Helmreich even re-quotes some of the same passage in his book, The Enduring Community: The Jews of Newark and MetroWest, making the connection between a major Jewish population center and black culture. Cook was actually popular enough he later had a program on WATV-TV called Stairway to Stardom. He started on WAAT-AM in 1947, in 1951 just 3 years later The New York age magazine was claiming that Cook had been the first black DJ in the New York metro. Around the same time in 1948 Jerry Roberts was doing a new midnight show at WAAT titled Top Flight Time. But they were both jazz men on the same station, Roberts often filled in for Cook when he was out. Though Cook was more popular, Roberts has been on WAAT since 1942 hosting his own program Swing Shift.

In 1948 Ebony magazine listed off what they claimed were the only 16 black DJs in America. (This website claims they missed one) On that list was Woody Woodard of WLIB-AM.  But Ebony also claimed in 1986 that Woodard was New York's only Black DJ in 1946!  That certainly predates Cook. In 1947 radio guides show him on a 7:00 AM news program on WLIB so I'll call it at least plausible. Above you can see a picture of two Girl Scouts present an award to Woody Woodard at WLIB in 1947.

Dan Burley wasn't just a DJ, he literally wrote the book on hipsterdom, the Original Handbook of Harlem Jive, published in 1944. He wrote for the Amsterdam News, New York Age, Jet Magazine, and Ebony. It was news when WWRL hired him to do a radio program, the Skiffle Club, in 1947. Then in 1948 he crossed the street to WLIB. But he was out of radio and back to writing by 1949. Also interesting to note he helped propel the Skiffle craze in the UK with his band "Dan Burley and his Skiffle Boys."

PD Fred Bar and SM Edith Dick ran WWRL, they wooed Hal Jackson to the station which is notable enough. But they also brought in Tommy Smalls aka Dr., Jive and many others. In 1946 after Fred returned from WWI and a 31 months at AFRS he started moving in some jazz programming. But he himself was never a jazz DJ.  Fred Barr hosted Gospel Time on WWRL from about 1958 through at least 1964. His connection to bebop was more like Monte Kay's. Without jazz men on both sides of the equation— both events and media, bebop wouldn't have prospered as it did.

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 Amway

Amway is infamous the world over as a direct-sale pyramid scheme. They are not generally known as a media company, but they once dabbled in that market. By once I mean from 1977 to 1983, the experiment lasted over a decade. More here.

It began on September 30th 1977 when Amway bought the Mutual radio Network. MBS had been founded in 1934 and by the late 1940s they were the largest radio network in America at least in terms of the raw number of members. In reality CBS and NBC were the Coke and Pepsi of radio networks. They had the lions share of the market, and most of the powerful stations. To quote Elizabeth McLeod

"Mutual shows were produced by the stations on a cooperative basis, and the stations paid the productions costs and furnished the facilities, not the network. This setup was radically different from that used by the Major Networks, so in that sense, one could call Mutual small."

 MBS kept trying to make itself into a bigger player. One of the biggest mistakes it made was in 1960 selling out to 3M. The adhesive company was a poor fit. 3M didn't damage the company but it left it directionless, and sold it to a group of mixed investors in 1966. Two of the shareholders, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin F. Gilbert bought out the other share holders then sold MBS to Amway and turned a profit in the process.

Before this all Amway had done was underwriting and advertising. To be succinct, they had no idea what they were doing. But they certainly had gumption. About two months after the buy, they announced they were dropping landlines, and moving to satellite distributon via Western Union's Westar I.  The system went live in 1981. They were the first radio network to go to satellite.

Launched in 1973, Westar I was America's first domestic communications satellite. It was designed to operate for 7 years, but was removed from orbit in 1983 and replaced with Westar II. While the plans continued, Amway expanded MBS. They bought purchased WCFL in 1979 in 1980, Amway purchased WHN in New York and added affiliates. They peaked at 950, less than ABC, but more than NBC or CBS.  Amway may have been novices, but they were aggressive novices.

But being a novice has a downside.  Despite all these very exciting changes and expansions, Amway was taking a bath on the project. The move to satellite cost them 10 million dollars. When they dabbled in changing programming they experienced epic fail. they changed slots wrecking the ratings of highly rated show, change line ups, and tried to take shows on the road for no reason whatsoever. One of their few successes was the Larry King show on WIOD but that was probably because for the most part, they left Larry alone. For the most part, what they touched, they destroyed.

In 1984 they sold off WCFL to Statewide Broadcasting.  That same year they did a re-org and fired a number of executives and laid off over 20 Mutual staff. In September 1985 they sold the whole enchilada to Westwood One. The only thing they held back was their satellite services division and up-link facility. Amway went back to what they knew, they started making and selling satellite dishes.  But even that still had the stink of failure on it and they sold off the division was in 1989.

Chez Show and the Copacabana

The Copacabana Lounge first opened November 10th, 1940. The club was located at 10 East 60th Street in NYC. The owner officially was Monte Proser but the club was in bed with mob boss Frank Costello. Costello installed Jules Podell as his man inside the business. Eventually Podell was the name on the lease.

Jack's broadcasting career began a decade earlier at WMCA-AM where he delivered a radio version of a Broadway gossip column he wrote for a New York theatrical publication. Variety claims a plug in an Ed Sullivan column landed him this gig.

But the Copa gig began in 1947. Eigen had a program on WHN cut a deal with Copa boss Jules Podell to do a radio program. It was to be broadcast live from The Copacabana Lounge, one of New York's busiest nightclubs. Podell made arrangements with 1010 WINS-AM to carry it. The whole program was done with 2 turntables, 2 microphones and 2 phone lines. The program ran midnight to four AM, seven days a week. It debuted April 22nd, 1947. Eigen's theme song was "Jack, Jack, Jack" performed by the five DeMarco Sisters. (Interesting to note that in 1944 the club had a no blacks policy, banning African-Americans from the venue and thus the radio show). More here. Fred Allen regularly mentioned Eigen on his broadcasts, adding to his reputation beyond Manhattan. More here.

The program ended in 1950. The Copa started a new show that diminished the role of the disc jockey. New Host Johnny McKnight started in October of 1950 and the new show "Meet me at the Copa" via WVNJ-AM in New Jersey. By Then WINS had backed out and Eigns program was on WMGM. n Chicago Eigen's did a program called "Chez Show" on 670 WMAQ-AM. It was love from the Chez Paree restaurant was was 30 minutes long and ran 6 nights a week. It was similar to his Copa program and began sometime in 1951. More here.

He worked a year in St. Louis radio. Then returned to Chicago in 1960 to resume The Jack Eigen Show on WMAQ. He stayed there until at least 1966. he relocated to Florida in 1971 where he continued to broadcast on local stations. I wish I could say witch ones. He died in Fort Lauderdale in1983. Not bad for a kid from Brooklyn who started out as a pin setter in a bowling alley.

Johannes Steel radio commentator

Johannes Steel, a newspaperman and radio commentator whose career was marked by controversy. He was pro-labor, and some called him a communist. Ironically, he self-identified as an Eisenhower republican. He is an interesting newscaster in WWI so interesting in fact you'll see marked differences between his listing on the German Wikipedia page and the English one. To American history he was a crank. A commie, a pro-union loud-mouth. To the Germans he was a Jew, a socialist that fled Germany when the Nazis took power to fling stones at them from afar.

In 1940 Sam Romer wrote a memo to Sidney Hertzberg about anti-war network commentators. Johannes Steel was listed as an "anti-interventionist." His commentary was listed as 7:45 PM daily on WMCA. Of course in Romers thoroughness most of the WMCA staff was listed including: Burnett Hershey, Sidney Mosley and Bruce Oliver were all listed as well. The inclusion is dubious as steel was notoriously anti-Nazi. His 15 minute program was sponsored by the Monarch Wine Company and Simon Akerman clothes.

It was programming like that which put WMCA on the chopping block with the FCC. they fell on the wrong side of the fairness doctrine. I find it interesting that conservatives rail against it today in hyperbole, but in the past they used it to railroad liberals. In 1939 they were even accused of treason. More here.

"Last week station WMCA, New York City, was asked to show cause why its license should not be revoked for violations of the federal communications act of 1934. The Manhattan station allegedly picked up, decoded and broadcast messages by German and British governments to their respective forces. Officials of the station denied the charge but will have to prove the denial in a public hearing in Washington..."

Steel escaped Germany knowing that his membership in the SPD could have led to his demise. He went to France and eventually America where he later became a citizen. He became the foreign editor of The New York Post and a columnist for the Daily Compass. He did news commentary on the Mutual Radio Network. In 1939 he began on air commentaries at WMCA. Sometimes this is listed in his biographies at WHN, but the WHN calls only came into use in 1962. In 1948 he was fired, probably because the Red Channels report tied 34 commie connections to him; more than any other broadcaster. He attribute the firing to pressure from the Catholic Church. In 1949 he took a job commenting for WLIB.

Later in his life he wrote a syndicated financial column in The Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. He died in 1988, at 80 years old.

Bob & Ray

In their March 24th post, The Probe (an MP3 Blog) reminded me recently of the greatness of Bob & Ray. Thank you Phil Milstein.

Go there download the shows and then read this post. You're just not going to understand what I mean when I use the word "madcap" or "zany." They were an institution. They are probably the only comedy duo to work on every major radio network: ABC, CBS, NBC, and even NPR. They were unstoppable.

Bob Elliot & Ray Goulding met at 850 WHDH-AM in Boston. Bob was a DJ and Ray was a newscaster. Elliot actually arrived at the station first, during WWII, left when he was draftee and returned after his discharge. Bob returned as a morning man, and then Ray got hired as an afternoon guy. They hit it off and visited each others programs.

Soon WHDH picked up the Red Sox franchise. They started doing improv when the games rained out. They never stopped.
The banter was popular enough that they scored their own program in 1946 "Matinee with Bob & Ray." It was more of the improve they'd been honing. They created characters on the spot, hundreds of them. Some returned, many did not. Goulding voiced most of the female characters in a forced falsetto. Bob handled the dullards and they split the rest down the middle. Goulding even recorded a novelty song as a fictional female character for RCA/Victor. they even learned to start scripting and hired a few writers.

In 1951 NBC brought them to New York City to do a daily 15-minute TV program They did five-minute sketches on NBC's Monitor in 1956, their national breakthrough. Then in 1959 started doing a daily program for CBS. In 1962 they went back to radio to do afternoons on 1050 WHN-AM. Then even a brief swing on Broadway.

In 1982 they took on the last great network audience National Public radio. Their listeners are more educated, more savvy and accustomed to pristine production. The Bob & Ray Public Radio Show ran until 1987, tacking final years onto a 40-year career. Goulding died in 1990, and they were inducted into the Radio hall of Fame in 1995.

TV on The Radio, Part Two

It was many moons ago that I posted on the obscure topic of FM radio stations operating on the TV band. But it was an AM station that first broadcast a visual image.

It was August 13th in the year 1928. 1010 WRNY-AM in Coytesville NJ becomes the commercial licensed radio station to transmit a television image. It was a 1.5 square inch image of Mrs. John Geloso enlarged by a magnifying glass to about three inches so it could be viewed by 500 persons at Philosophy Hall at NYU.

At the time technological limitations forced WRNY broadcast the sight and sound alternately rather than simultaneously. Viewers would first see an image and then a few seconds later they would hear the voice. The performances took place for 5 minutes every hour and were designed to lure the radio audience into buying "televisor" sets from the Pilot Electric Co. The Pilot Electric Co. was owned by Mr. John Geloso, his wife's image was the first picture seen over radio. Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing Co presented daily 5 minute programs including cooking lessons, physical fitness instruction, concerts and calendars of events.

By 1929 sold WRNY for $100,000 to the Aviation Radio Station Inc., a company associated with the Curtiss Aircraft Corp. they used it to promote aviation (duh) and interestingly enough Emelia Earhart delivered a few on air speeches from their studios. The depression cut the legs out from under them and to continue they began a dayshare operation with WHN. The original WRNY was shut down when changed when Aviation Radio Station sold it to WHN-AM who scuttled it to end their day/share agreement in 1934.The WRNY calls now reside on 1350 in Rome NY on a sport talker. Charles Francis Jenkins was the first American to demonstrate television technology. His first successful transmission was 19 May 1922. The first public demonstration was on October 3rd in 1922 using the Naval station NOF in Washington, D.C. but, let me remind you These were still pictures not moving pictures, a cousin to what we think of as "television."

Other early test TV stations include 3XN Whippany NJ, W2XBS New York NY, W9XAA Chicago IL, W3XK Washington DC, W2XBU Beacon NY, W2XBV New York NY, W2XBW Bound Brook NJ, W2XAV East Pittsburgh PA, W4XA White Haven TN, W6XC Los Angeles CA and others Of course some of these test stations later became commercially licensed W9XAA became WCFL and one of those became WGN-AM I think.

The First Radio Commercial

 During the "broadcasting boom" of 1922, most radio programming was commercial-free. Most stations were amateur, those that weren't were typically used as a promotion platform. It was then, that people began wondering how to pay for all this. Early on "scrambled" broadcasts were even considered to create a subscriber base. [where do we see that now?] In early 1922, AT&T began promoting the controversial idea of using advertising to finance programming. 

"It is inconceivable that we should allow

so great a possibility for service

to be drowned in advertising chatter."

-Herbert Hoover, (1922 then Secretary of Commerce)

 Initially AT&T claimed it had a patent on the idea of radio advertising. They attempted to establish a monopoly over radio advertising. AT&T claimed that 479 of the then 500 radio station in America were violating their "patent." The first test case was a 1924 lawsuit against WHN-AM. In the end everyone just paid AT&T a damn fee.

There was one example prior to this. On the subscription-based wire service Budapest Telefon Hirmondó, which began operation in 1893, received money for reading short commercials. They were 12 seconds long.

It was in 1922 that 660 WEAF-AM was paid to air a ten- minute speech about the Queensborough Corporation, a real-estate concern. It was the first radio commercial. By 1923 WEAF was selling airtime direct to sponsors. Amateur stations immediately began complaining about the commercialization of the airwaves. Actual text here of the ad here:
http://earlyradiohistory.us/1922haw.htm

There if of course some evidence that other stations had previously sold airtime to commercial buyers. These are amateur stations so these are more akin to underwriting.

1. Jersey City, NJ amateur station, 2IA, to the Jersey Review in May, 1920, charging $35 for twice-a-week broadcasts. This station was also reportedly rented out, for $50, to a second newspaper, the Jersey Journal, for a one-hour New Year's broadcast on January 1, 1922.
2. Medford Hillside, MA in 1921 station, 1XE reportedly received money for reading stories from the Little Folk's Magazine and Youth's Companion.