ON THIS DAY in 1907
actor Alan Reed was born Herbert Theodore (‘Teddy’) Bergman in New York City. He was a strong, burly presence on film and TV but he would be better remembered for his equally strong, distinctive voice. His OTR work involved featured roles on Abie’s Irish Rose; as the “Allen’s Alley” resident poet Falstaff Openshaw on Fred Allen‘s NBC Radio show, as Officer Clancey on the NBC Radio show Duffy’s Tavern; as Shrevey the driver on several years of The Shadow; as Chester Riley’s boss on NBC Radio’s The Life of Riley, and as Italian immigrant Pasquale in Life with Luigi on CBS Radio. He is perhaps best remembered as the voice of Fred Flinstone in the ABC-TV cartoon series. He suffered a fatal heart attack June 14 1977 at age 69.
In 1908, veteran golden-voiced announcer Andre Baruch was born in France. He tried to begin his career as a pianist for NBC Radio but got into the wrong line of applicants; he was in the announcers’ line and was hired on the spot. Over an almost 60 year career he announced for such OTR programs as The American Album of Familiar Music, The Fred Waring Show, The Kate Smith Show, The Shadow, Your Hit Parade and The United States Steel Hour. Fulfilling a 20-year dream, in 1954 he was named to the Brooklyn Dodgers broadcast team, for whom he worked for two years on WMGM radio and WOR-TV. He died Sept. 15 1991 at age 83.
In 1920 , the first U.S. commercial radio station, 8MK Detroit (which later became WWJ), began daily broadcasting. Today it is an All-News station with 50,000 watts at 950 kHZ.
In 1924, singer Jim Reeves was born. He was he first country singer to crossover into the pop market. (1960 No.2 single ‘He’ll Have To Go’). Reeves was killed at age 39 in a plane crash on 31st July 1964, when the single engine aircraft flying from Arkansas to Nashville crashed in thick fog.
In 1925, WJR-AM in Detroit began radio transmissions.
In 1930, Dumont‘s first ever TV broadcast for home reception ocurred in New York City.
In 1931, singer Paul Rotbi of The Platters was born. They had the No.1 Billboard single ‘Smoke Gets In Your Eyes’. He died of cancer on 1st February 1989 at age 57.
In 1939, Orrin Tucker’s orchestra recorded Oh, Johnny, Oh, Johnny, Oh!, on Columbia Records.
In 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill went on radio to praise the Royal Air Force, who were battling to keep England from total annhialation by the Luftwaffe : “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”
In 1942, singer/song-writer Isaac Hayes was born.
Grammy and Academy Award-winning singer, song-writer: Theme from Shaft [1970]; score: Shaft; w/David Porter: Soul Man, Hold on I’m Coming; actor: Tough Guys, Truck Turner. He died of a devastating stroke Aug 10, 2008, ten days short of his 66th birthday.
In 1947, Eddy Arnold recorded ‘Anytime,’ a future country chart topper and Top 20 pop single on RCA Victor.
In 1955, Winnipeg’s Gisele MacKenzie had her only Top 10 Billboard hit with ‘Hard to Get.’
Also in 1955, Chuck Berry debuted on the national music charts with the #1 R & B hit record, ‘Maybelline.’
Still in 1955, Bo Diddley made his first appearance at the Apollo Theater in New York City.
In 1961, Prince George (BC) TV station CKPG-TV signed on Channel 2 as a CBC affiliate.
In 1962, Abbotsford radio station CFVR signed on with 250 watts on 1240 KHz. The “FVR” stood for Fraser Valley Radio. At first there were just five hours of daily local programming; the rest was a simulcast of CHWK Chilliwack.
Also in 1962, the 4 Seasons released the single “Sherry”.
In 1964, Shirley Bassey 
recorded her soon-to-be smash hit “Goldfinger” in London.
In 1965, The Rolling Stones released “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” in the UK, almost three months after it had been released in North America.
In 1966, The Beatles, touring North America for what would be the last time, were forced to cancel and reschedule their performance in Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. Heavy rain (and no cover provided) made electrocution a virtual certainty if The Beatles had attempted to perform.
Also in 1966, The Temptations released “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep.”
In 1967, the New York Times reported about a noise reduction system for album and tape recording developed by technicians R. and D.W. Dolby. The Elektra Records’ subsidiary, Checkmate Records became the first label to use the new Dolby process in its productions.
In 1968, singer Bobby Darin, still traumatized by the recent assassination of his good friend, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, disposed of his music publishing and production company, TM Music, for $1.3 million in stock.
In 1969, Frank Zappa temporarily disbanded the Mothers of Invention after an eight-day tour of Canada, because as he put it, he was tired of “people who clap for all the wrong reasons.” Others believed the perfectionist in Zappa was unhappy with some members’ lack of performance effort.
Also in 1969, after finishing ‘I Want You, (She’s So Heavy)’, The Beatles worked on the running order for the Abbey Road album. This would prove to be the last time all four Beatles were together in a recording studio.
Still in 1969, Andy Williams received a gold record for his hit album ‘Happy Heart’ on Columbia Records.
In 1971, on the second night of a North American tour, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Seattle Centre Coliseum.
In 1974, Ottawa native Paul Anka (with Odia Coates) had a Billboard #1 Pop Hit with ‘(You’re) Having My Baby’; his last #1 had been ‘Lonely Boy’ in 1959. The 15 year gap was the longest recorded period between top singles for one performer.
In 1976, Gordon Lightfoot released his soon-to-be hit single, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, from his album Summertime Dream, about an ore carrier which sank on Lake Superior. It would reach #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1977, Best of My Love, by The Emotions, topped the Billboard pop singles chart. It had a number-one run of five weeks.
Also in 1977, Barbra Streisand topped the Adult Contemporary chart for a fourth week with “My Heart Belongs to Me”.
In 1981, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band gave a benefit concert for Vietnam vets in L.A.
In 1983, the Vancouver band Loverboy had a Billboard #11 Pop Hit with Hot Girls In Love.
In 1985, the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit was “Power of Love” by Huey Lewis & the News. The million-selling single, featured in the hit film “Back to the Future,” was the band’s first No. 1 song.
In 1987, singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham quit Fleetwood Mac after refusing to take part in a tour to help promote the group’s latest album, “Tango In The Night.”
In 1988, Steve Winwood went to No.1 on the Billboard album chart with ‘Roll With It’.
In 1989, the first episode of the teen sitcom “Saved By The Bell” aired on NBC. It was a Saturday morning favorite for 4 seasons.
In 1990, Aerosmith appeared at the Marquee Club in London. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page joined the band on stage for a blues jam.
In 1992, Moffat sold off its broadcast empire, as CHED-AM and CKNG-FM Edmonton went to WIC (now Corus), with Winnipeg’s CKY-AM and CITI-FM going to Rogers, CFXX-AM (formerly CKXL) Calgary and CHAB-AM Moose Jaw to Golden West, while Vancouver’s CKLG-AM and CFOX-FM were sold to Shaw. Winnipeg’s CKY-TV later was purchased by CTV Globemedia.
Also in 1992, a Texas doctor filed a $35m lawsuit against the Southwest Bell phone company. He alleged that his wife died because he could not reach 911 due to all lines being jammed by demand for Garth Brooks concert tickets.
In 1993, Bob Dylan was the opening act for Santana in Portland, Oregon.
In 1994, “I’ll Make Love To You” by Boyz II Men took over the top spot on the R&B chart.
In 1996, rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg settled out of court with the Woldemariam family in a wrongful death suit which the family brought against the rapper three years earlier. Twenty-year-old Phillip Woldemariam was shot and killed by Snoop Doggy Dogg’s bodyguard from the back of a moving car, which the rapper himself drove. The pair claimed the shooting occurred in self-defense.
Also in 1996, guitarist Carlos Santana was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 1997, a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 65 in Alabama was renamed the “Hank Williams Memorial Lost Highway,” dedicated to the memory of the late country music legend.
In 1999, Blues Traveler bassist Bobby Sheehan was found dead in bed at his New Orleans home, after an accidental overdose of heroin, cocaine and valium. Sheehan, who had recently begun work on a solo project, was aged just 31.
In 2000, Bon Jovi brought down the curtain on the 28-year career of London’s Wembley Stadium as a live music venue. The show was the group’s fifth at the 80,000-seat venue.
Also in 2000, Janet Jackson went to No.1 on the Billboard pop singles chart with ‘Doesn’t Really Matter,’ while Nelly started a five week run at No.1 on the album chart with ‘Country Grammar’.
In 2001, actress Kim Stanley whose work on Broadway prepared her for many roles in the live TV drama anthologies of the ’50’s & ’60’s (e.g. Playhouse 90, Kraft Theatre, Goodyear Playhouse) lost her battle with uterine cancer at age 76.
In 2004, an English husband named Bryan Adams as the ‘other man’ in his divorce papers, after years spent trying to cope with his wife’s obsession with the singer. Rob Tinsley said he had to live with a 6 ft. cut-out of Adams which stood at the foot of the bed, and posters of the Canadian rocker on the bedroom walls.
In 2007, The Eagles released their last single to make the charts. “How Long”.
In 2008, Roseanne Cash, the daughter of late country star Johnny Cash called the use of her father’s name to endorse a US presidential candidate ‘appalling’. Country star John Rich implied Mr Cash would have backed Republican hopeful John McCain while appearing at a rally in Florida. Writing on her website, Roseanne called the remarks ‘presumptuous’. ‘Even I would not presume to say publicly what I ‘know’ he thought or felt,’ she added.
Also in 2008, in a Los Angeles court, ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from his drug-related arrest while filming a Dr. Drew reality TV series the previous month. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to community service.
In 2009, keyboard player and guitarist Larry Knechtel, who was a studio musician on such classic recordings as Bridge Over Troubled Water, Mother And Child Reunion, Rockin’ Pneumonia-Boogie Woogie Flu, MacArthur Park, Up Up And Away, Mr. Tambourine Man and Good Vibrations, and who was a member of the 1970’s group Bread, suffered a fatal heart attack at age 69.
In 2011, singer Ross Barbour, the last surviving original member of the 1940’s and 50’s group The Four Freshmen, succumbed to lung cancer at age 82.
Also in 2011, Iranian/American Reza Badiyi, who set a record for directing the most hours of episodic TV (more than 400), died at age 81. His credits included Mission: Impossible, The Rockford Files, Baretta, Mannix, Starsky and Hutch, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Incredible Hulk, Cagney & Lacey, Falcon Crest, In the Heat of the Night, Baywatch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Get Smart, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Still in 2011, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra celebrated the 80th birthday of the Abbey Road recording studios by playing a gig featuring their cover versions of Pink Floyd classics at West London’s Chiswick House.
In 2012, pioneering comedienne Phyllis Diller, known for her self-deprecating humor, and her hopeless fictitious husband Fang, died peacefully in her sleep from natural causes at age 95.
Also in 2012, daytime serial actress Virginia Dwyer, who had a running role on the first 12 years of NBC-TV’s Another World , died at age 92. Earlier she had repeated appearances in the TV “soaps” Road of Life, The Secret Storm, Young Dr. Malone, Guiding Light, and As the World Turns.
In 2013, Marian McPartland, the genteel Englishwoman who became a fixture of the American jazz scene as a pianist and, later in life, hosted the immensely popular NPR show “Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz,” died at age 95.
Also in 2013, TV & film director Ted Post, who directed Clint Eastwood on CBS-TV’s Rawhide, who also helmed 56 episodes of CBS-TV’s Gunsmoke, 90 installments of ABC’s primetime soap Peyton Place and the pilot episode for the famed CBS cop show Cagney & Lacey, died at age 95.
In 2015, actress Melody Patterson, who played the feisty cowgirl Wrangler Jane in ABC-TV’s 1960’s comic western “F Troop,” died in a Missouri nursing home of multiple organ failure at age 66.
Also in 2015, legendary Chicago weatherman and television icon Harry Volkman died of respiratory failure at age 89. One of the first TV weathermen in US history Volkman was a popular and beloved fixture on four Chicago stations for more than 45 years.
In 2016, New York pianist and composer Irving Fields, whose latin-infused hits included Miami Beach Rhumba, Managua Nicaragua and Chantez Chantez, died at age 101. Many years earlier his refusal to move to Los Angeles for his own TV series led to a huge star-making break for another charismatic piano player, Liberace.
Also in 2016, in Kingston, Ontario, the Tragically Hip gave their final concert, which was televised across Canada by the CBC.
in 2017, Jerry Lewis, American comedian, actor, singer, director, producer, screenwriter and humanitarian, died of heart-related issues at age 91. At first he was partnered with Dean Martin, with whom he starred on NBC radio & in early TV series. Nicknamed the “King of Comedy” he is best known by recent generations for hosting a Labor Day weekend telethon in aid of Muscular Dystrophy, for 44 years. Jerry Lewis died August 20, 2017
In 2018, with their postseason playoff hopes sinking faster than the setting sun behind the Olympic Mountains, the Seattle Mariners honored one of the city’s legendary bands with a special “Alice In Chains Night” at Safeco Field. The group was promoting their sixth album, “Rainier Fog.”
Also in 2018, the Recording Industry Association of America proclaimed that The Eagles’ album — “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” — now certified 38x platinum, was the best-selling album of all-time. Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller,” at 33x platinum, came in second.
Today’s Birthdays
Former news anchor Connie Chung is 77.
Actor Connie Chung (Fresh Off the Boat, Reaper, Twin Peaks) is 76.
Trombone player Jimmy Pankow of Chicago is 76.
Actor John Noble (Sleepy Hollow, Elementary, Fringe) is 75.
Singer Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) is 75.
Actor Patrick Kilpatrick (Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman) is 74.
Singer Rudy Gatlin of the Gatlin Brothers is 71.
Singer/songwriter John Hiatt is 71.
Actor/director Peter Horton (Thirty Something, Geena Davis Show, Grey’s Anatomy) is 70.
“Today” show weatherman Al Roker is 69.
Actor Jay Acovone (Beauty & the Beast, General Hospital, Stargate:SG-1) is 68.
Actress Joan Allen (Without Warning: The James Brady Story, Evergreen, Georgia O’Keefe) is 67.
Actress Phyllis Lyons (All My Children) is 63.
Actor James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Smallville) is 61.
Actor Geoffrey Blake {Any Day Now, Renegade) is 61.
Actress Justina Vail (Seven Days, General Hospital) is 60.
Actor Markus Flanagan (Unfabulous, Rogues of LA) is 59.
Rapper KRS-One is 58.
Actor David Rees Snell (The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, Last Resort) is 57.
Actor Colin Cunningham (Falling Skies, Living in Your Car, The Collector) is 57.
Miss USA-1988/actress Courtney Gibbs (All My Children) is 57.
Actor Billy Gardell (Sun Records, Mike & Molly, My Name is Earl, Yes Dear) is 54.
Singer Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit is 53.
Actor Jonathan Ke Quan (Head of the Class, Together We Stand) is 52.
Guitarist Brad Avery of Third Day is 52.
Actor Bill Watterson (Second Chance Charlie, The Squirrel King) is 50.
Actor Drew Waters (Friday Night Lights, Inspector Mom) is 50.
Actress Amy Adams (The Office, Dr. Vegas) is 49.
Actor Misha Collins (Supernatural, 24) is 49.
Singer Monique Powell of Save Ferris is 48.
Actress Kristen Miller (Work in Progress, She Spies, USA High) is 47.
Actor Noah Bean (Nikita, Damages) is 45.
Actress Rileah Vanderbilt (Team Unicorn) is 44.
Model/TV personality Kimberly Stewart (Stewarts & Hamiltons, Living with … Kimberly Stewart) is 44.
Actor Corey Carrier (The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles) is 43.
Surrey B.C.-born actress Ali Liebert (Bomb Girls) is 42.
Actor Michael Rady (Intelligence 2014, Emily Owens M.D., Melrose Place ’09, Swingtown) is 42.
Actor Ben Barnes (Westworld) is 42.
Victoria-born actress Meghan Ory (Once Upon a Time, True Justice) is 41.
Actor Jamil Walker Smith (SGU Stargate Universe, Hey Arnold!) is 41.
Winnipeg-born actress Jennifer Pudavick (Mohawk Girls, Workin’ Moms, The Pinkertons) is 41.
Actor Andrew Garfield (Red Riding: In the Year of our Lord x 3) is 40.
Actor Brant Daugherty (Pretty Little Liars) is 38.
Actress Nikki SooHoo (Miss 2059) is 35.
Singer-actress/TV personality Demi Lovato (The X Factor, Sonny with a Chance, Camp Rock) is 31.
Actor/voicist Tony Terraciano (Blue Bloods, Chuggington) is 23.
Actor Christopher Paul Richards (TV’s The Kids Are Alright, Me Myself & I, Billions) is 20.
Chart Toppers – August 20th
1947
Peg o’ My Heart – The Harmonicats
I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder – Eddy Howard
Across the Alley from the Alamo – The Mills Brothers
Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) – Tex Williams
1955
Rock Around the Clock – Bill Haley & His Comets
Hard to Get – Gisele MacKenzie
The Yellow Rose of Texas – Mitch Miller
I Don’t Care – Webb Pierce
1963
Fingertips – Pt 2 – Little Stevie Wonder
Blowin’ in the Wind – Peter, Paul & Mary
Judy’s Turn to Cry – Lesley Gore
Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash
1971
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart – The Bee Gees
Mr. Big Stuff – Jean Knight
Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver
I’m Just Me – Charley Pride
1979
Good Times – Chic
My Sharona – The Knack
The Main Event/Fight – Barbra Streisand
Coca Cola Cowboy – Mel Tillis
1987
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – U2
Who’s That Girl – Madonna
Luka – Suzanne Vega
A Long Line of Love – Michael Martin Murphey
1995
Waterfalls – TLC
Kiss from a Rose – Seal
Boombastic/Summer Time – Shaggy (featuring Rayvon)
You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone – Brooks & Dunn
2004
Pieces of Me – Ashlee Simpson
Leave (Get Out) – JoJo
Turn Me On – Kevin Lyttle
Somebody – Reba McEntire
Today in Broadcast History compiled by Ron Robinson
