Columns

It’s the date of birth of pioneer sportscaster Ted Husing ,, Chick Hearn of the LA Lakers, the music world’s Jimi Hendrix, Jack Kane and Eddie Rabbitt, Howdy Doody’s ‘Buffalo Bob’ Smith, and Bill Nye the Science Guy. Robert O Smith, (Pictured) Radio’s drama anthology ‘First Nighter’ debuted on NBC; CBS Radio cancelled ‘Have Gun Will Travel’; singer Frankie Avalon guest starred on ABC-TV’s ‘It Takes a Thief’; the same network introduced us to a young Tom Hanks in episode one of ‘Bosom Buddies,’ while episode 200 of ‘The Waltons’ aired on CBS-TV. Bowing out Nov. 27th were actor John Carradine, and singers Joe Jones and Al Alberts. Details and ALL the milestones for the date INSID

Happy Birthday to Dick Smothers, Judy Woodruff, Estelle Parsons, Richard Masur, Sean Young and Joe Walsh of The Eagles. On this date 72 years ago ‘Meet the Press’ made its TV debut on NBC; 22 years ago today Victoria got its own CBC Radio station at 90.5 MHz; George Harrison and Paul Simon sang as a duet on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, and six years later to the day, 7-year old Drew Barrymore hosted the show. CBS-TV aired the 100th episode of ‘Green Acres’; 12 years later it broadcast ‘M*A*S*H*’ episode #200. ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ featured headliners the Dave Clark Five, Bobby Vinton and Dick Cavett, and U2 was profiled on ’60 Minutes.’ Obits include Canadian broadcasters Chuck Davis and Tom Rivers, and the ‘first lady’ of radio, Cathy Lewis ALL the milestones for Nov. 20th INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Mary Hart, Bonnie Raitt, Alfre Woodard, Rickie Lee Jones and Vancouver-born CTV journalist Craig Oliver. Red Robinson retired from daily broadcasting on C-ISL 650; Vancouver’s CBU-FM began programming separately from its AM counterpart; Kelowna got a new radio station as CKIQ 1150 signed on; ‘Days of Our Lives’ debuted on NBC-TV; and the late night talk show ‘Conan’ had its premiere on TBS and CTV. Glenn Miller’s Orchestra recorded the big band classic ‘String of Pearls’, Johnny Mathis appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show singing ‘Misty’, and singer Ricky Nelson (pictured) appeared in a dramatic role on CBS-TV daytime. ALL the milestones for Nov. 8th INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Joni Mitchell, Buck Martinez and New Zealand’s talented Lorde. Also born Nov. 7th were the late musicians Al Hirt, Joe Bushkin, Red Ingle and Phil Spitalny. Vancouver’s CKLG began airing a syndicated ‘History of Rock & Roll’ which won them a ratings book; radio’s first sci-fi show ‘Buck Rogers in the 25th Century’ debuted on CBS; the weekly medical melodrama ‘Dr. Christian’ began its 17-year run on CBS radio; the Righteous Brothers, Peggy Lee, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass were performing guests on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show; NBC-TV began the first airing of ‘Gone With the Wind’ over two nights; and Studio One began its decade-long run featuring anthology drama weekly on CBS-TV. Leaving us this date were Steve McQueen, Maverick’s Jack Kelly, Northern Exposure’s Peg Phillips, (pictured) and Clyde Gilmour of the CBC’s Gilmour’s Albums. Details and ALL the milestones for Nov. 7th are found INSIDE.

Happy Birthday to Bryan Adams, Elke Sommer, Art Garfunkel, Tatum O’Neal and Sam Rockwell. The comic strip ‘The Gumps’ debuted as a series on CBS radio; ‘The Big Show’ debuted as a Sunday night 90-minute radio spectacular on NBC; Vancouver’s CKNW increased power from 1,000 watts to 5,000 at 1320 kc; the ‘Nat King Cole Show’ debuted on NBC-TV; Tom Jones guested on the soundtrack of Fox-TV’s ‘The Simpsons’; and Kenny Rogers and The First Edition made their TV debut on CBS-TV’s ‘Smothers Bros. Comedy Hour.’ Those bowing off the world stage Nov. 5th include Fred MacMurray, Johnny Horton, Bobby Hadfield of the Righteous Bothers, Bobby Nunn and Billy Guy of ‘The Coasters’ (16 years apart); bandleader Guy Lombardo, and career Canadian broadcasters Norm Marshall and Sid Boyling. ALL the milestones for the date are found INSIDE.

It’s the day that gave us Burt Lancaster, David Schwimmer, Paul Ford, Jay Black, k.d. lang, and early West Coast newscaster Sam Hayes. The early radio soap opera Myrt & Marge (pictured) debuted on CBS; the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was created; CFGP brought 100 watts of local radio service to Grande Prairie Alta, and years later on this date, CFCW signed on with 250 watts in Camrose. CBC-TV experimented unsuccessfully with a 9 pm newscast, Ted Danson’s ‘Becker’ debuted on CBS-TV, and NBC-TV aired the 100th episode of ‘Third Rock from the Sun.’ Three veteran TV character actors left us on this date, Leonard Stone, Sid Melton and vocalist Paul Frees. ALL the milestones for Nov. 2nd INSIDE.

It’s the date of birth of broadcasters Dan Rather and Jane Pauley, singers Dale Evans and Ethel Waters, actors Michael Landon, Barbara Bel Geddes, Ken Wahl and John Candy, and rapper Vanilla Ice. Vancouver’s CHAN-TV (now Global) signed on for the first time; NBC televised ‘Carmen’ as the first opera ever aired ‘in living color’; the 100th episode of ‘The Odd Couple’ was seen on ABC; and Alice Cooper hosted ‘The Monstrous Munster Mash’ marathon on superstation WGN. Bing Crosby’s ‘White Xmas’ began an 11 week run at #1; the Rolling Stones played Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto; and Barry McGuire sang ‘Eve of Destruction’ on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show. ALL the milestones for Oct. 31st INSIDE.

Erin Trafford is a co-founder of Story Studio Network, a full service content branding and podcast experience for brands she co-founded with her dad Dave Trafford, who is a radio mainstay in the Greater Toronto Area

It’s a birthday for Marion Ross, Helen Reddy, James Carville and Katy Perry; also for the late ANNIS STUKUS (pictured), Bobby Gimby, Minnie Pearl and Leo G. Carroll. The longrunnning radio soap opera “Stella Dallas” debuted on New York’s WEAF; Ed Sullivan introduced The Rolling Stones to North American TV audiences; ‘Newhart’ premiered on CBS-TV; the 200th episode of ‘Cheers’ aired on NBC-TV; and Rick Nelson played a dramatic role on ABC-TV’s ‘Streets of San Francisco.’ Obits for Oct. 25th include Vincent Price, Roger Miller, Richard Harris, Mildred Natwick, Forrest Tucker and early radio balladeer Morton Downey, ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

Before Jennifer got started in radio, she was an actor. She later enrolled at BCIT, found her way to Astral owned The Bear, which has now been shifted to the Bounce cluster of Bell properties.