Columns

It’s the birthday of Barbara Walters (she’s 90!), Michael Douglas (& his wife), Ian Tyson, Mark Hamill and Heather Locklear. It’s the date XM satellite radio was launched, and saw the debut of Veronica’s Closet on NBC-TV. Rosemary Clooney had a #1 hit in ‘Hey There;’ The Partridge Family (pictured) and a Beatles cartoon series debuted on ABC; Queen was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live; and Elvis Presley performed on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. A host of celebrities left us on Sept. 25th, including Andy Williams, Don Adams, Walter Pidgeon, announcer Art Gilmore, and Seattle radio icon Jerry Kay. Details and ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

Kevin Getz (pictured) is the swing announcer at 102.1 The Edge in Toronto. He recently came out with a brand new album. What makes the album unique is that it is a spoken word album full of his radio breaks. The collection of audio is an attempt to make his audio more durable, sustainable, marketable, and less disposable. In this episode, Kevin and I talked a lot about how breaks are put together, but what happens after that break is aired. He admits he is a hoarder and that he keeps everything he airs on hard drives.

It’a the date of birth for Seattle radio legend Pat O’Day (pictured), Jim Henson of the Muppets, Canadian Phil Hartman, Fox Business anchor Lou Dobbs, sportscaster Jim McKay, and Three’s Company’s Audra Lindley. Making their series debut on ABC were The Odd Couple, The Donna Reed Show, The Mod Squad, Growing Pains and The Love Boat. Judy Garland made her TV debut in a Ford special on CBS; 60 Minutes, The Munsters and Petticoat Junction also had their premieres on CBS; and in Canada the CTV National News debuted in a late night quarter hour format. Elvis Presley appeared on the televised Louisiana Hayride on KRKH Shreveport; …and one of the great announcers of bigtime US radio, Harlow Wilcox, took his final breath. ALL the milestones for Sept. 24th INSIDE.

TV stars Jason Alexander and Chi McBride were born on this date, along with Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Julio Iglesias and John Coltrane. Hank Williams made his final recordings, ‘That’ll Be the Day’ by Buddy Holly & the Crickets was #1, Pay-TV got started with the Rocky Marciano/Jersey Joe Walcott fight; Matlock (pictured) and Marcus Welby MD debuted on ABC, and two Ken Burns epics (The Civil War and The War) debuted on PBS. Leaving this ‘vale of tears’ Sept. 23rd were Canadians Henry Champ and Chief Dan George, actors Cliff Arquette and Mary Frann, country music’s Jimmy Wakely and broadcaster Bill Ballance. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

It’s the date that brought us Meryl Streep, Debby Boone, Joni James, Bonnie Hunt, Martha Scott and CBS newsman Richard C. Hottelet. Maverick, Lost and (pictured) Fulll House debuted on ABC-TV; Friends, Baywatch and Man From Uncle had their premieres on NBC Television; the Everly Brothers performed together for the first time in 10 years; The Supremes recorded their next smash ‘I Hear a Symphony,’ and Bob Dylan played Carnegie Hall… Meantime, CIVT became Vancouver’s newest station, a UHF license that would be viewed by most on cable channel 9. Obits include music makers Irving Berlin, Harry Warren and Eddie Fisher; actors George C. Scott, Gordon Jump, Edward Albert and Jackie Burroughs; and Laugh-In’s Dan Rowan. ALL the milestones for Sept. 22nd INSIDE.

Born this date were Bill Murray, Fannie Flagg, Ricki Lake, Cheryl Hines, Jerry Bruckheimer, Bill Kurtis, and the late Canadian performers Leonard Cohen, Tommy Common, and Air Farce’s John Morgan. Kelowna’s CHBC-TV signed on, Monday Night Football and NYPD Blue debuted on ABC TV, Bing Crosby taped his Philco Radio Time in Vancouver, Raymond Burr (pictured) starred for the 1st time as Perry Mason on CBS-TV, The Jack Paar Show debuted in prime time on NBC-TV, and John & Yoko guested on ABC-TV’s late night Dick Cavett Show. Checking out permanently were Walter Brennan, Arthur Godfrey singer Lu Ann Simms, Canadian bandleader Johnny Burt, televangelist Rex Humbard, and Old Time Radio’s Rye Billsbury. Details and ALL the Sept. 21st milestones INSIDE.

Sept. 20th brought us Sophia Loren, Gogi Grant, Gary Cole, orchestra leader Frank Devol, Northern Exposure’s Peg Phillips (Photo) and Leah Pinsent. The Calgary station now known as City TV signed on, while Vancouver’s CKLG 73 ended 29 years of rock music and switched fulltime to talk. Jimmy Stewart debuted a radio western ‘The Six-Shooter’ on NBC,; the ‘Bill Cosby Show’ began its popular 8-year run on NBC-TV, while ‘You’ll Never Get Rich’ with Phil Silvers, and the original ‘Hawaii Five-Oh’ had their premieres on CBS-TV. ALL the milestones for Sept. 20th INSIDE.

It’s the birthday of Joan Lunden, Don Harron (pictured), Sylvia Tyson, James Lipton, Adam West, Mama Cass Elliott, and Brook Benton. The early radio soap opera ‘Just Plain Bill’ debuted on a regional CBS network; ’The Mary Tyler Moore Show’, ‘Search for Tomorrow’ and ‘Judging Amy” had their premieres on CBS Television. ‘M*A*S*H’ aired its finale to a record viewership on CBS-TV, while ‘ER’ played its first episode on NBC-TV. Canada’s Giselle MacKenzie became host and featured singer on NBC-TV’s ‘Your Hit Parade’; Max Weinberg debuted as drummer in Springsteen’s E St. Band; and Frank Sinatra and Paul Newman were costars on NBC-TV’s live production of ‘Our Town.’ ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

Robert Blake, Jason Sudeikis, Jack Warden, Jada Pinkett Smith, Fred Willard, Frankie Avalon, James Marsden and June Foray all were born on this date. ‘Roving Mike’ began its 50 year run on CKNW, Victoria’s CKDA moved up the dial to 1220 and doubled its power to 10,000 watts… CBS radio came into being with an initial 16 stations,… ‘Toast of the Town’ on CBS-TV became ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’… and ‘Wagon Train’ began its 8 year run on NBC-TV. Ken Burns opened his 18.5 hour documentary ‘Baseball’ on PBS… ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ and ‘Get Smart’ debuted the same evening on NBC-TV… and the sitcom based on a rock radio station, ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ had its premiere on CBS-TV. Details and ALL the Sept. 18th milestones INSIDE.

It’s the date of birth for John Ritter, Kyle Chandler, Jerry Colonna, Hank Williams, Bill Black and Anne Bancroft… ABC debuted the TV series ‘Home Improvement’, ‘Spin City’, ‘The Fugitive’ and ‘Battestar Gallactica’; CBS premieres on Sept. 17th included ‘M*A*S*H’, ‘Bewitched’, ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ and ‘The Smothers Brothers Show’; while NBC-TV showcased the first episodes of ‘MacMillan & Wife’, ‘The Perry Como Show’ (pictured), and ‘Car 54 Where Are You’… ..and on CBS David Letterman hosted the first late-night TV talk show since the 9/11 terrorist attacks 6 days earlier. ALL the milestones for Sept. 17th will be found INSIDE.