Columns

IT WAS JUNE 20th … when American Bandstand celebrated its 20th anniversary with a 90-minute prime time ABC-TV special. Paul Anka, Neil Diamond, Frankie Avalon, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Little Richard, Three Dog Night, and Cheech & Chong were among the performers appearing…. When the last of the original CBC-TV-produced Don Messer’s Jubilee shows aired, following a Saturday night hockey game… When “Price is Right” model Janice Pennington was knocked out when she was struck by a TV camera during a taping of the show at CBS Television City in L.A.… …and when Howard Stern (pictured) began his 30-minute TV show, a digest version of his morning radio show, on the E! cable network. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE

IT WAS JUNE 19th … when Gillette became the first-ever network TV sponsor on NBC-TV’s coverage of the Billy Conn-Joe Lewis heavyweight boxing match,… When the Goodson-Todman game show ‘I’ve Got a Secret’ with Garry Moore as host (pictured), debuted on CBS-TV… When at the height of the folk music boom, the Kingston Trio debuted their own weekday show on CBS Radio… and when Roberta Flack hosted her ABC-TV musical special, “Roberta Flack… The First Time Ever,” with The Blossoms and Seals & Crofts as guests. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS JUNE 18th .. when ‘The Adventures of Ellery Queen’ debuted on CBS radio in a 60-minute format for the first six months … When the adult western ‘Gunsmoke” wrapped its 9-year run on CBS radio… When the luminescent Nanette Fabray (pictured) made her final appearance as co-star of NBC-TV’s ‘Caesar’s Hour’… When Vancouver’s CKNW AM 980 launched the Western Information Network .. .. and when Dan Rather’s final report for CBS aired on the network’s feature weekend news magazine ‘Sunday Morning.’ ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE

IT WAS JUNE 17th ..when NBC’s WNBT-TV, channel 4 in New York City, was granted the first construction permit to operate a commercial TV station in the United States… When ‘Suspense,’ radio’s outstanding theatre of thrills, began its 20-year run on CBS… When Seattle’s KOL-FM 94.1 switched from automated background music to “Progressive Rock”… When Vancouver’s CKWX (now News1130) moved to new studios at 2440 Ash Street… ..and when “The Discovery Channel” first appeared on U.S. cable systems. First program was “Iceberg Alley.” ALL the milestones for June 17th INSIDE.

IT WAS JUNE 16th .. when the first network TV news aired in the US on Dumont’s “News from Washington”… When the great Dave Garroway was fired as host of NBC-TV's 'Today Show'.... When the sitcom ‘My Little Margie’ debuted on CBS-TV… When the Vancouver-filmed TV series 'The Dead Zone" debuted on the USA cable channel ... When “The Dean Martin Summer Show” featuring the comedy team of Rowan & Martin, debuted on NBC-TV… ..and when the CRTC authorized the XM & Sirius satellite subscription-based radio/music services for Canadian consumers. ALL the milestones for the date

This is year three of the pandemic. Three years of being stuck in our houses. When was the last time you went for a walk with your friends? One of the nest things that came out of the pandemic was reconnecting with the simople act of going for a walk.

IT WAS JUNE 15th .. when the first-ever radio broadcast of live music took place from Chelmsford, England, featuring Australian soprano Dame Nellie Melba… When the rural TV comedy/musical show “Hee Haw” with Roy Clark, Buck Owens & Canadian Don Harron, premiered on CBS… When Rev. David Mainse broadcast the first “100 Huntley Street” program out of its studios at the said address in downtown Toronto… ..and when 83-year-old Bob Barker’s final appearance as emcee of CBS TV’s”The Price Is Right” aired. He had hosted the game show for 35 years! ALL the milestones for June 15th INSIDE.

IT WAS JUNE 14th … when a U.S. President was heard on the radio for the first time. President Warren G. Harding dedicated the Francis Scott Key Memorial and was heard on Baltimore’s WEAR … When “The Happy Gang” troupe of musicians, led by Bert Pearl, made their first broadcast on station CRCT, the C-B-C flagship station in Toronto. It became a NATIONAL listening habit 4 months later… When after 12 years Harold Peary played the role of 'The Great Gildersleeve' on NBC radio for the last time … When Toronto's CHUM Radio published its final hit music chart ... ..and when NBC-TV’s action-adventure series “A Team,” aired for the last time. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS JUNE 13th … when the Rolling Stones made an appearance on ABC-TV’s “Hollywood Palace,” during their first tour of North America …. When John Lennon made his last TV appearance on an ABC-TV salute to UK entertainment mogul Sir Lew Grade that had been taped in April…. When NBC’ late night TV host Tom Snyder interviewed serial killer Charles Manson on what has since become the most famous edition of his “Tomorrow” Show… ..and when Garrison Keilor (pictured), host and storyteller on the award-winning US public radio series, A Prairie Home Companion, left the show and its delightful shores of Lake Wobegon for Denmark where he intended to spend his time writing (he returned to the U.S… and the program … two years later). ALL the milestones for June 13th INSIDE.

IT WAS JUNE 12th … when pioneer Toronto radio station CFCA had its Grand Opening. Foster Hewitt broadcast his first hockey game on CFCA eight months later…. When Pittsburgh’s KDKA became the first 50,000 watt radio station… When the Sunday night TV extravaganza that would be must-see family viewing for the next twenty years, “Toast of the Town,” (later the Ed Sullivan Show), made its debut on CBS… ..and when the early TV comedy hit “Mr Peepers” starring Wally Cox with Tony Randall, aired for the last time on NBC. ALL the milestones for June 12th INSIDE.