Old Radio

Today we recognize one of the great twentieth-century American poets, T.S. Eliot.  The Nobel Prize winner is well-known for his opus " The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ," and his 434-line epic " The Waste Land ." In 1954, already a very established literary figure, Eliot appeared on the NBC program Anthology , reading from " The Waste Land ."  His works " Four Quartets ," and " Murder In the Cathedral " were adapted by Orson Welles ' high-quality program The Columbia Workshop . The world of the literary and the popular needn't be exclusive, and in the golden age of radio, they weren't.  A happy birthday to Thomas Stearns Eliot.

The persona Phil Harris created on the radio was one who was easy to like. He was a happy-go-lucky hep cat who never met a bottle or a pretty girl that he didn't like. By reputation, he made acquaintances with plenty of both. Most of all, the radio Phil Harris was easy to like because he was a fundamentally happy fellow, as willing to laugh at himself as he was to laugh at those around him. When your boss is Jack Benny , of course, there is plenty around you to laugh at. Phil is best remembered as one of Benny's many “second bananas”, although he had a relatively successful career beyond the Jack Benny Program. He was never quite a superstar, but that seems to have been just alright with him. On June 24, 1904, Wonga Philip Harris was born to circus performers Harry and Dollie Harris in Linton, Indiana. Harry, a circus band leader, taught the lad to play several instruments and gave his son his first gig, playing drums under the big top. The boy played in movie houses...

The 1990s industrial rock band Rage Against the Machine might not have meant their name to be an homage to the classic radio gem X Minus One , but the phrase does do a good job of summing up the show's common story lines. On this revival of Dimension X , men fight computers and robots and are attacked by alien star fleets. Today, 1955, marks the first time radio listeners got to hear the famous lines, "Countdown for blast off...three, two, X Minus One !" NBC launched (get the pun?) the series, with Don Pardo announcing as only he can. Wendell Holmes, Ken Williams, and Luis Van Wooten starred in "No Contact" in which a space ship made a voyage toward a planet called Volta in a future time known as 1987. Sources radiogoldindex.com otrcat.com

James Kern Kyser was born June 18, 1905 and became one of the most notable bandleaders of the 30’s and 40’s. He...oh wait, you may know him by his other name, Kay Kyser ...went onto become of the most respected and admired radio personalities of his day. Because of his energy and enthusiasm while in college, Kyser was asked to head up a band whose leader was moving on to other pursuits. As the new bandleader, Kay Kyser discovered his talent lay more in the announcing end of leading then trying to perform an instrument. Kyser would record a couple of hit pieces for Victor before becoming nationally acclaimed. As the band toured the country, Kay’s benchmark of turning playing music into quiz time for the audience, earned the band the name of the Kollege of Musical Knowledge . And as the “The Ol’ Perfessor”, Kyser would use his position to query and encourage the audience into dancing with phrases like, “C’mon chilluns, let’s dance”. By the late 30’s and in through the 40’s, the Koll...

If you are a guitarist and know what a “lick” or a “trill” is, than you undoubtedly know Les Paul . Les Paul , born in 1915, is the world’s most renown guitarist to date and influenced the work of many of the big names of today. In fact, Les Paul had an influence on guitars as the inventor of the full-body electric guitar. His playing style formula surpassed the guitarists of the day and drove towards innovations, such as the overlay of sound upon sound. In 1934, Paul got involved in radio with an interest in piano, but that changed and he became fascinated with the arena of the guitar. His jazz style drove him to form a band and he got a gig on Fred Waring ’s Pennsylvanians radio program. During the 1940’s Paul had opportunity to perform with some of the big names like Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole  People were becoming more familiar with the music man and his variations on the traditional way of play. What was not lost was that Les Paul stepped out from the norm and...

The Oscar Award winning actress (Best Actress, "Driving Miss Daisy") Jessica Tandy was born on this day in 1909.  She reached adulthood and began her acting career in a world that was becoming familiar with broadcast radio, and she thrived in this new medium. Those of you with the sharpest memories might recall her work on the NBC sustaining program " The Marriage ," on which she played the wife of the character played by Hume Cronyn, her real-life second husband. She also turned in sterling performances on The Lux Radio Theatre (as an intermission guest on "Presenting Lily Mars"), The Columbia Workshop (on "The Trojan Women"), and Great Plays (on "The Tempest"). A happy birthday to someone who thrilled audiences half a century before becoming Miss Daisy!

Richard Bernard “Red” Skelton came to be on July 18, 1913. This comedy genius made performing a part of his early years. If anything could be said suggest what began Skelton’s interest in performing it would have been his newspaper hawking days as a young boy. Red liked to patter off his “papers for sale” repeatedly until someone came by to buy his tabloid.  He was a classic buffoon inspired by his teens spent as a circus clown. By way of vaudeville and the stage, Skelton continued his artistry for undermining the ticket bone of Americans due his sixth sense for timing and ad-lib. As he grew, many of character creations (like Freddy the Freeloader) would make-up much of Skelton’s anthology of comic performance. Red Skelton made his appearance nationwide in films in 1932 when he came to Hollywood. After a couple of films, he made his entrance into radio 1937. he was such a hit from his first appearance on the Rudy Vallee Show , that he was asked to come back twice more to perfo...

William (Bill) Gargan was born July 17, 1905. He would become one of America's most prolific choices for playing the tough private detective. Whether it was on the screen or radio, Gargan made an impression of the tough Irishman. Gargan’s on stage and screen work, in a way, resembled his activities in true life. After he finished school, Gargan dealt with bootleg whiskey during the Prohibition years.  Later he got a job with a detective agency which may have added color to his years as a performer of law and crime. Truth of that fact played into one of his most popular portrayals, as Martin Kane, Private Eye . This ran from 1949-1951 on both radio and television. NBC radio brought gargan over to a similar radio detective from 1951-1955. This character was Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator .  In the Craig persona he narrated much of the radio series, adding extra color to the program. The names may have changed but his performances of the tough determined detecti...

Early American baseball never had quite the voice it did in announcer Bill Stern . Born on July 1, 1907, Bill Stern would lead a life of sportscasting and baseball announcing that very few in his genre ever eclipsed. By 1988, 17 years after his passing in 1971, Bill Stern would be inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame . Stern started doing on-air broadcasting in 1925 for a Rochester, New York radio station. in 1937, Stern went to work for NBC doing boxing commentating on the Colgate Sports Newsreel . As one of the big names in radio sportscasting, Stern developed a theme of making on-air stories that were never authenticated in any form. He would give the acknowledgement that whether the stories were true or not; “might be actual, may be mythical, but definitely interesting.” A car accident in 1935 caused Bill Stern to have one leg amputated; but, it never stopped him from his on-air work. He had opportunity to be the on-air sports commentator for NBC Newsreels....

March 14: Happy Birthday, Les Brown Les Brown and his Band Renown were the centerpieces of The Les Brown Show . This NBC series treated listeners to performances of such favorites as "Just a Gigolo," "Shine On Harvest Moon," and "Moonlight in Vermont." The show was one of several sponsored by the Navy Recruitment Office as a PR and morale-boosting endeavor. Along these lines, the inimitable Brown himself embarked on many USO tours. He also recorded (with band member Doris Day on lead vocals) "Sentimental Journey," which would become an anthem for soldiers coming home. If you're like me you'll spend this day commemorating Brown's verse by thinking up rhymes like " Les Brown and his Band Go to Town," and " Les Brown's Band Wears the Crown."

Born July 25, 1898, Al Pearce would early on become a name to remember...both musically and comically. The man who eventually penned the catchphrase, “Nobody home, I hope, I hope, I hope,” as a nervous door to door salesman, came to be one of the early on favorites to reach America at home. Pearce began his work history as a real estate salesman; but also did sang on-air for a glee club in San Francisco in 1928. He would later change over to comedy for KFRC in the Bay area, doing a sketch as a nervous door-to-door salesman...Elmer Blurt. 1928 was a busy year as Al Pearce began the Happy Go Lucky Hour for KFRC as Pearce and his gang grew in popularity as a musical-comedy hour. In 1932, the program moved over to a new network, Blue Network, airing Saturday evenings and twice weekday evenings. By the mid-30’s, his program brought on-board talents such as Arlene Harris and Morey Amsterdam. Pepsodent came along as a new sponsor and the show continued strong on NBC . His program bounced...

July 9, 1878 was the entrance of Hans von Kaltenborn , or better known as HV Kaltenborn . This American radio commentator had the intellectual mind and the voice for diction. He was destined to be a top choice for radio news reporting. Growing up in Wisconsin, Kaltenborn planned on a career in news reporting starting out as a newspaper reporter. His ability to retain information and keen understanding for world affairs would profit him greatly in the years to come. CBS radio was keen to bring kaltenborn aboard as a radio reporter covering Europe and the Far East. Besides reporting the news, he would offer commentary and analysis to the situations; making him one of the first in his field. One radio historian said this of Kaltenborn, “Kaltenborn was known as a commentator who never read from a script. His "talks" were extemporaneous created from notes he had previously written.” In 1940, he moved over to NBC and in 1948 had one of his first gaffes in reporting. Kaltenb...

Alice Faye was born on this day in 1915, and took a somewhat circuitous path to eminence in the universe of old time radio . She started in vaudeville and went on to a brief but very successful film career . Her leap to radio came from very personal circumstances. After ending her first marriage in 1940, Faye began a romantic relationship with radio icon Phil Harris . We know Harris has the hipster bandleader of The Jack Benny Show. After Faye married Harris, she joined him in his radio career. It began with their collaboration on the music show The Fitch Bandwagon , which aired on NBC. That show evolved into a sitcom and was re-named The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show . Their real-life marriage and family was re-created--to perhaps some small degree of realism--on the show, with actors playing equivalents or their two young daughters. The couple remained married until Harris's 1995 death. Faye died three years later. We salute this talented actress and songstress.

March 13: Happy Birthday, Sammy Kaye Let's swing and sway with Sammy Kaye . The winsome sax player, clarinetist and bandleader was born on this day, 1910. Sammy Kaye  won over audiences with such feature and "so you want to lead a band," which let audience members hop on stage and do just that. He was one of the most famous bandleaders of the golden era of radio. Kaye hosted NBC's Sunday Serenade and Sammy Kaye 's Chrysler Showroom . The latter was a fifteen-minute program that ran in the latter half of 1949. This show was all about Sammy and the boys playing popular songs of the day, including requests. Examples are "Snuggled On Your Shoulder," "Five Foot Two," "Kiss Me Sweet," and "Candy Kisses." A happy birthday to Sammy Kaye !

February 6: Happy Birthday, Ronald Reagan Inventing the cotton gin was one of the only things Ronald Reagan didn't do. The actor, governor, and president actually began his career as a radio announcer. It all began for Dutch Reagan in 1932 when WOC from Davenport, Iowa needed someone to call the Iowa-Minnesota homecoming football game. He moved on to WHO , a Des Moines NBC affiliate. Known for sprinkling some humor into his presidential communiques, Reagan honed his comic style, in addition to his television appearances, on the radio. As he became a relatively big name on the tube, he began, as many TV stars did, appearing on some of the big radio shows. His appearance on Lux Radio Theatre teamed him future wife Jane Wyman for an adaptation of Nobody Lives Forever. The Gipper also guested on The Bing Crosby Show, The Burns and Allen Show , Suspense , and Colgate Sports Newsreel . Later, The Great Communicator would broadcast many presidential speeches .  Rea...

December 26: Happy Birthday, Steve Allen Born December 26th, 1921, Steve Allen was an American television personality, actor, and comedian best known for the Steve Allen Show . Allen was born in New York City, but grew up on the south side of Chicago with his mother’s Irish Catholic family. His first radio job came in Phoenix, Arizona on station KOY. After his job as an announcer for KFAC in Los Angeles, Allen moved to Mutual Broadcasting System in 1946, where he starred in a five-nights-a-week comedy show, Smile Time, with Wendell Noble. Allen moved again, this time to CBS radio, where he hosted an hour long talk show. His popularity skyrocketed, and audiences were often standing room only. In 1950, Allen’s program replaced Our Miss Brooks , exposing him to a national audience for the first time in his career. Making the leap to TV, Allen helped to create the Tonight Show with Sylvester “Pat” Weaver. Several years later, NBC offered him his own prime time slot that would com...

December 14: Happy Birthday, Spike Jones! Spike Jones was born December of 1911, but that is not all that there is about this talent of early radio. Besides he being an accomplished bandleader, Jones also inspired a satirical approach to his music by incorporating sound effect into the score. Spike Jones and His City Slickers  were hugely renowned as the king of music jocularity. By adding cowbells and catcalls, Jones developed a musical blend and comedy routine that shook the rafters of wherever their venue. His group was especially big during the 1940’s and 50’s. Lindley “Spike” Jones gained his famous nickname because he resembled a railroad spike as a lanky and skinny individual. The sound effect addition came as a result of his youth when he was taught the “art” of pots and pans as added noise makers. He performed on Bing Crosby ;’s first recording of White Christmas. Spike gained a radio following when he performed , The Chase and Sanborn Program, for NBC . As Edgar Be...