Monday September the 8th  

ON THIS DAY in 1897
the original Jimmie Rodgers was born.
  
He was nicknamed "the Singing Brakeman" and "the Blue Yodeler" and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.   He died before his 36th birthday, from tuberculosis.

On this day in 1921, one of the founding members of BBC Radio's "The Goon Show," singer and comic actor Harry Secombe was born in Wales.  In a bit of a "strange" ... four years later to the very day fellow "Goon" Peter Sellers was born.

On this day in 1922,  Emmy Award-winning actor & comedian Sid Caesar was born in Yonkers, NY.  
  Your Show of Shows [1951], and Caesar's Hour [1956], both for NBC, provided some of the choicest humour of early TV.

On this day in 1932, singer Patsy Cline was born Virginia Petterson Hensley.  The Country Music Hall of Famer was  killed in a plane crash Mar 5, 1963, at the age of 30.

On this day in 1935, The Hoboken Four, featuring Frank Sinatra as lead singer, appeared on Major Bowes Amateur Hour on WOR radio. The group won the competition held at the Capitol Theatre in New York City.

On this day in 1937, Canadian broadcaster Barbara Frum was born Barbara Rosberg at Niagara Falls, New York.
  
Frum is best known for her award winning interviews from 1971-81 on CBC Radio's As It Happens, and her work on CBC TV's The Journal news feature program from Jan. 1982 until her death from leukemia in 1992.

On this day in 1941, Harry James and his orchestra recorded Miserlou for Columbia Records.

On this day in 1944, slapstick comedian Ed Wynn resumed his radio career after seven years off the air. Wynn starred in Happy Island on the NBC Blue network.

On this day in 1946, CBC News executive/producer Mark Starowicz was born in England.

From 1970 to '79, he was a producer for CBC Radio. From '82 to '92, he was the executive producer of CBC Television's The Journal. Since 1992, he is an executive documentary producer for the CBC. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2004.

On this day in 1951, Tony Bennett's first hit song "Because of You" topped the charts and stayed there for 10 weeks.

On this day in 1952, CBC's first English-language TV station, CBLT in Toronto started operations... two days after Montreal's French-language station.

On this day in 1954, disc jockey Alan Freed

left Cleveland, Ohio to go to New York City and station WINS, where he would introduce the term "rock 'n' roll" to radio.

On this day in 1956, Harry Belafonte's album "Calypso," went to #1 & stayed there  for 31 weeks.


On this day in 1957, singer Jackie Wilson released his first solo single "Reet Petite."

In 1962, "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett made its debut on the charts.

On this day in 1966, NBC-TV headed into "Space: the final frontier."  The first episode of Star Trek, titled, The Man Trap, starring Montreal-born William Shatner, was seen on the network.  

Also this day in 1966, "That Girl" starring Marlo Thomas debuted on ABC-TV.


On this day in 1969, the voice of Superman on radio.. and TV game show host Clayton "Bud" Collyer (Beat the Clock, To Tell the Truth), died at 61.

A young Bud is pictured center behind the Mutual microphone, Superman announcer Jackson Beck is on the left, with Joan Alexander(Lois Lane) on the right.  

On this day in 1974, Ottawa singer Paul Anka's hit single 'You're) Having My Baby' remained at #1 on the Billboard pop charts for another week.

In 1975, Montreal-born William Shatner starred in his first post-Star Trek TV show Barbary Coast, an ABC western premiering this night with Doug McClure and Richard Kiel. It lasted until January.

On this day in 1976, Seattle rock band Heart's debut album 'Dreamboat Annie' went gold in the US.  The album was recorded on Vancouver's Mushroom label, and contained the singles 'Magic Man' (Billboard #9) and 'Crazy on You.'

On this day in 1990, Jon Bon Jovi's Blaze of Glory hit number one on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 singles list.

The song, from the album of the same name, was the theme song from the movie Young Guns II and earned the singer an Academy Award nomination for Best Song.

On this day in 1991, guitarist Steve Clark of Def Leppard was found dead in the living room of his home in London. He was 30. A coroner found Clark died after a night of heavy drinking combined with drug use.

In 1992, actress Mary Tyler Moore got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1997, the television show "Ally McBeal"

starring Calista Flockhart debuted on Fox.

In 1998, the first episode of "Pokémon" aired on TV.

On this day in 2002, singer Gordon Lightfoot was rushed to the hospital suffering from a weakened blood vessel in his abdomen. He spent three months in the hospital.

On this day in 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America, the music industry's largest trade group, filed 261 copyright lawsuits across the country against Internet users for trading songs online.

On this day in 2004, on ''60 Minutes Wednesday'' Dan Rather aired a report questioning President George W. Bush's National Guard service.  However, CBS News ended up apologizing for a ''mistake in judgment'' after memos featured in the report were challenged as forgeries.
.

Today's Birthdays:

Early TV comedian Sid Caesar is 86.

Ventriloquist Willie Tyler (with Lester) is 68.

Actor Alan Feinstein (Santa Barbara, Falcon Crest, General Hospital) is 67.

CBC TV News executive Mark Starowicz is 62.

Guitarist Will Lee (Late Show with David Letterman) is 56.

Actress Heather Thomas (Lee Majors' The Fall Guy) is 51.

Singer Aimee Mann is 48.

Bassist David Steele of Fine Young Cannibals is 48.

Singer Neko Case is 38.

Actor David Arquette (In Case of Emergency, Pelswick, The Outsiders) is 37.

Actor Henry Thomas (Nightmares & Dreamscapes) is 37.

Actor Martin Freeman (BBC's The Office, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy) is 37.

Drummer Richard Hughes of Keane is 33.

Actor Larenz Tate (Family Matters, The Royal Family) is 33.

R & B singer Pink is 29.

Actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas(Home Improvement, Smallville) is 27.


Chart Toppers - September 8

1951
Because of You - Tony Bennett
Come on-a My House - Rosemary Clooney
I Get Ideas - Tony Martin
Always Late (With Your Kisses) - Lefty Frizzell

1960
It’s Now or Never - Elvis Presley
The Twist - Chubby Checker
Volare - Bobby Rydell
Alabam - Cowboy Copas

1969
Honky Tonk Women - The Rolling Stones
Sugar, Sugar - The Archies
Green River - Creedence Clearwater Revival
A Boy Named Sue - Johnny Cash

1978
Grease - Frankie Valli
Boogie Oogie Oogie - A Taste of Honey
Hot Blooded - Foreigner
Blue Skies - Willie Nelson

1987
La Bamba - Los Lobos
I Just Can’t Stop Loving You - Michael Jackson with Siedah Garrett
Only in My Dreams - Debbie Gibson
She’s Too Good to Be True - Exile

1996
Macarena (bayside boys mix) - Los Del Rio
I Love You Always Forever - Donna Lewis
Twisted - Keith Sweat
She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart - Tim McGraw

2005
We Belong Together - Mariah Carey
Listen To Your Heart - D.H.T.
Pon De Replay - Rihanna
Mississippi Girl - Faith Hill