Thursday September the 11th

ON THIS DAY in 1888,
what is one of the oldest surviving recordings in the world was recorded by Canadian Governor General Baron Stanley of Preston
                                      
at the Toronto Industrial Exhibition (now the Canadian National Exhibition). It's a message of greeting to the U-S president and people.

In 1909, actress Anne Seymour was born in New York City.  She had leading roles in radio soaps The Story of Mary Marlin, Woman of America, Whispering Streets and (briefly) Portia Faces Life.  On TV she was a cast member of The Tim Conway Show and Empire.

On this day in 1917, actor Henderson Forsythe was born in Macon, Missouri. He was best known as Dr. David Stewart on the soap opera As the World Turns, a role he played for 32 years.   Here he is seen in his Tony-winning role in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."

On this day in 1928, WGY Schenectady presented the world's first TV drama, "The Queens Messenger," using the experimental mechanical scanning method of telecasting.

On this day in 1945, Ernest Tubb recorded It Just Doesn't Matter Now and Love Turns to Hate on the Decca label. Thus Tubb became the second artist to have made a commercial record in Nashville.        
                                                                                

On this day in 1954, the Miss America Pageant was televised-- live coast-to-coast -- for the first time. Bob Russell was the host. Miss California, and future TV star Lee Meriwether
                                                  
was crowned Miss America by a panel of judges that included movie queen Grace Kelly.

On this day in 1959, announcer & actor Paul Douglas died of a heart attack at 52.

He was heard announcing many dance band remotes on the radio for Chesterfield cigarettes, the consumption of which may have hastened his death.   Douglas appeared as an actor in early TV dramas like Playhouse 90 & Studio One.

On this day in 1962, Ringo Starr replaced drummer Pete Best with the Beatles.
He joined John, Paul, George and Andy to record Love Me Do at Abbey Road, London, England. "Who's Andy?" you ask. Andy White, that's who, recruited as drummer for this session. "Then, what did Ringo do?" you ask. He handled the tambourine, that's what. It took 17 takes to complete Love Me Do to everyone's satisfaction.
P.S. I Love You was recorded the same day, with Andy on drums again, and Ringo manning the maracas this time.

On this day in 1963, "The Great White Wonder" first appeared in a record store in Los Angeles, selling for $6.50.  The "bootleg" of Bob Dylan songs is believed to be the first bootleg album.

On this day in 1964, the last of the Friday Night Fights was seen on free, home TV. Veteran Don Dunphy handled the blow-by-blow for Gillette as he had (first on radio) for 23 years.  A short time later boxing went to closed-circuit TV in theatres and to cable and pay-per-view TV.

On this day in 1965, the Beatles' "Help!" album went #1 on American radio and stayed there for for 9 weeks.

On this day in 1966, character actor Charlie Cantor died at 68 of a heart attack.  In radio he played the dimwitted Finnegan on Duffy's Tavern; on TV he was featured regularly on the Jack Benny Show & the Colgate Comedy Hour, among others.

Also in 1966, the Canadian newsmagazine "W-5" launched on CTV and is still seen today, although not in the prominent Sunday night spot it occupied for many years.

On this day in 1967, "All You Need Is Love" by the Beatles was certified as a million seller.

Also this day in 1967, the Carol Burnett Show premiered on CBS.
                                                                              

Still in 1967, Bobbie Gentry

was awarded a gold record for "Ode to Billie Joe,'' a song about a teenage suicide. Gentry cut the tune in half an hour at the Capitol Records studio in Los Angeles. Its success made her an instant star. "Ode to Billie Joe,'' a film based on the events in Gentry's song, was made in 1976.

"Would you believe?" it was this day in 1970 that the final episode of the Get Smart series on CBS-TV was aired. The show, featuring dimwitted, secret agent Maxwell Smart, played by Don Adams,
                                                                                                         
and his sidekick, Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon), aired on NBC in 1965 before moving to CBS.

Also this day in 1970, actor Chester Morris died at 69 of a barbiturate overdose.
He starred on network radio on Boston Blackie & Rogue's Gallery;  he guest starred on all the early TV drama anthologies, and was the lead in the 1960 series, Diagnosis: Unknown.

On this day in 1971, the song "Go Away Little Girl" by Donny Osmond topped the charts and stayed there for 3 weeks.

In 1972, at 7 am "Canada A.M." launched on CTV as Canada's national  morning information program. At one time one of the co-hosts was the present day BC finance minister Carole Taylor.

On this day in 1974,  "Little House On The Prairie" made its television debut on NBC.


On this day in 1977, TV sitcom history was made as Rhoda (Valerie Harper) got divorced from Joe.

On this day in 1984, Barbra Mandrell and her two children were seriously injured in a car crash in Tennessee. The driver of the other car was killed.

On this day in 1987, Toronto-born Lorne Greene died at age 72.
                                                                                  
Before his break-out role as Pa Ben Cartwright on NBC's Bonanza, Greene was known in Canada as the Voice of Doom for his nightly wartime CBC radio newscasts.

Also this day in 1987 CBS went black for six minutes after anchorman Dan Rather walked off the set of ''The CBS Evening News'' because a tennis tournament being carried by the network ran overtime.

On this day in 1993, Mariah Carey's album Music Box reached #1 on U.K. album charts, while a single from that album, Dreamlover, was hitting #1 on U.S. singles charts, where it would remain for 8 weeks.

On this day in 1994, actress Jessica Tandy died of ovarian cancer at the age of 85.
As well as appearing in all the early TV drama anthologies (Studio one, Kraft TV Theatre, Alcoa Playhouse) she also starred (with Ontario-born husband Hume Cronyn) in the earliest sitcom produced in color, 1954's "The Marriage."(NBC)


On this day 1995 "Runaway" by Janet Jackson became the first single by a woman to make its debut in the top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100.

                                                                  
In 1996, Winnipeg's legendary Top 40 frequency of 630 KHz went silent forever, and the CKRC call letters disappeared, as the last step in an AM to FM flip for CKRC-AM into CFWW-FM at 99.9 MHz.

Also in 1996, the Recording Industry Association of America announced that Alanis Morissette's
                                                                                      
"Jagged Little Pill'' had tied Whitney Houston's self-title debut as the best-selling album by a female artist in the U-S.

Also in 1996, David Bowie's single "Telling Lies" debuted on the Internet months before it was released to radio stations and music stores.

On this day in 1997, John Lee Hooker received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On this day in 2001, in the single worst act of terrorism committed on U.S. soil, nearly 3,000 people died when two hijacked jetliners crashed into New York's World Trade Center, causing the twin towers to fall, and silencing four FM and nine TV stations.

In 2002, death claimed actress Kim Hunter (Playhouse 90, Edge of Night, etc.) at age 79.

On this day in 2003, actor John Ritter (8 Simple Rules, Three's Company) died at age 54, of a rare heart problem he never knew he had.



Today's Birthdays:  

Actor Earl Holliman (Police Woman, Thorn Birds, Delta) is 80.

Singer-actress Lola Falana(The New Bill Cosby Show, Ben Vereen-Comin' at Ya) is 66.

Drummer Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead is 65.

Guitarist Leo Kottke is 63.

Guitarist Tommy Shaw of Styx is 55.

TV sports reporter Lesley Visser is 55.

Actor Reed Birney (From the Earth to the Moon, Another World) is 54.

Singer-songwriter Diane Warren is 52.

Drummer Jon Moss of Culture Club is 51.

Actress Roxann Dawson (Star Trek: Voyager) is 50.

Actor Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls) is 50.

Actress Virginia Madsen (Frasier, American Dreams) is 47.

Actress Kristy McNichol (Empty Nest, Family) is 46.

Musician Moby is 43.

Singer Harry Connick Jr. is 41.

Actress Laura Wright (Guiding Light) is 38.

Singer Brad Fischetti of LFO is 33.

Guitarist Jon Buckland of Coldplay is 31.

Rapper Ludacris is 31.

Actor Ryan Slattery (Undressed, Go Fish, The Corner) is 30.

Actor Tyler Hoechlin (Seventh Heaven) is 21.


Chart Toppers - Sept. 11

1945
Till the End of Time - Perry Como
On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe - Johnny Mercer
If I Loved You - Perry Como
You Two Timed Me One Time Too Often - Tex Ritter

1954
Sh-Boom - The Crew Cuts
Hey There - Rosemary Clooney
The High and the Mighty - Victor Young
I Don’t Hurt Anymore - Hank Snow

1963
My Boyfriend’s Back - The Angels
If I Had a Hammer - Trini Lopez
Blue Velvet - Bobby Vinton
Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash

1972
Alone Again (Naturally) - Gilbert O’Sullivan
Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me - Mac Davis
Back Stabbers - O’Jays
Woman (Sensuous Woman) - Don Gibson

1981
Endless Love - Diana Ross & Lionel Richie
Slow Hand (facts) - Pointer Sisters
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around - Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Older Women - Ronnie McDowell

1990
Blaze of Glory - Jon Bon Jovi
Release Me - Wilson Phillips
Do Me! - Bell Biv DeVoe
Jukebox in My Mind - Alabama

1999
Genie in a Bottle - Christina Aguilera
Bailamos - Enrique Iglesias
Someday - Sugar Ray
Single White Female - Chely Wright