The voice of Dean Stewart carries us through
this classic station break, presumed to be from late 1949;
note the station ID as "KCBS, San Jose," which would date
the recording from after April 3, 1949, when call letters
were changed from KQW, but before January 1, 1951, when
KCBS' official city of license became San Francisco. (The
KCBS transmitter was moved from Alviso to Novato on August
9, 1951.)
At 4:30 a.m., Dallas Townsend wraps up a CBS
News update on John Glenn's impending launch into Earth
orbit, then Ken Ackerman returns to the KCBS microphone in
the Palace Hotel to host Flight 2764 of American Airlines'
"Music Till Dawn," featuring light classical music
punctuated with the program's signature theme song, "That's
All" by Sy Mann and his orchestra.
Scott Beach and Fred Goerner host this brief
segment of KCBS' signature weekday program, with John
Glenn's historic spaceflight at the top of the news for the
afternoon. This recording begins with Dallas Townsend's
sign-off from CBS Radio's mobile news desk at Cape
Canaveral, followed by network news on the hour reported by
Prescott Robinson.
The pursuit of an Ambrose Bierce short story
turns into a tale of personal courtesy as Mr. King describes
his encounter with a considerate Yellow Cab driver on the
streets of the city.
A brief fragment from the first Seals hockey
broadcast of the season, featuring Roy Storey and Don Klein,
complete with a fumbled opening. Typewritten notes on the
tape box label, reprinted verbatim here, read "Man at Cow
Palace (Klein) who was to take to go-ahead over the phone,
laid the fone down and proceeded to give instructions and
check level while on air. I shouted time after time to
go-ahead. The[y] finally did after 45 sec of foregoing."
A backstage interview conducted by Mr. Rose
with Paul McCartney and George Harrison of The Beatles,
notable for the considerably thoughtful and mature line of
questioning — especially in light of the timbre of other
contemporary interviews of the band by mainstream reporters.
The location of the interview was not noted on the tape box
(Mr. Rose closes the interview with "This is Hilly Rose, CBS
News, San Francisco"), but if the date on the box is the
true recording date, The Beatles were actually appearing in
concert in Houston, Texas, on August 19; they would not
arrive to play in San Francisco until August 31.
A brief but timeless moment from the daily
roundup of closing stocks and latest headlines on KCBS,
reported by Dick Leonard. The key moment arrives quickly as
Dick details how late action on the New York market brought
about good gains among — well, it should have brought about
good gains among the blue chip stocks...
Rolfe Peterson and Helen Bentley host this
short excerpt from the late morning edition of the program,
highlighted by the selection of a winner in the station's
"Second Honeymoon" contest.
A short segment of the long-running late
evening program, hosted by Craig Harrison (air name of
Harrison Wooley), which led into "Music Till Dawn." Harrison also presided over KCBS' popular
weekday "Housewives Protective League" show for
many years, taking over from Ken Ackerman.
Wasserman (1938-1979), also a noted film and
music critic and "On The Town" columnist for the
San
Francisco Chronicle, adds a personal coda to a caller's
comments about "Up With People" and the Moral
Rearmament
movement.
In
this seven p.m. segment, Chet Casselman (photo, right)
interviews the legendary voice artist Paul Frees
(1920-1986), who is heard by phone from his home in Tiburon.
Later, Chet talks with veteran Motorola engineer Andy
Affrunti, author of "A
Personal Journal: 50 Years at Motorola." A business news
update with Don Wiegandt and local spot ads by Al Hart and
Tom Campbell also highlight the broadcast.
Casselman, who was most noted for his work at KSFO locally,
also worked at KMPC in Los Angeles and KFBK in Sacramento. A
founding member of
Broadcast Legends, he passed away in 2004 from cancer at
the age of 79.
Frank Knight (air name of Frank Dale Leber)
wraps up the week's top news headlines in five segments —
one for each day of the week — with reporting assistance
from the KCBS news team and the CBS Radio network. This
recording, direct from the original production tape reel,
was part of Mr. Knight's personal archive.
To celebrate its silver anniversary as
Newsradio 74, KCBS welcomes the legendary Dave McElhatton
back to the morning news desk, joining current anchors Al
Hart and Lois Melkonian for a special commemorative
broadcast. Also heard are Bill Lynch with CBS network news
on the hour, Steve Bitker
with sports, Ron Lyons on traffic, Don Wiegandt with
financial news, and a commentary by Charles Osgood.
The familiar voices of Ron Reynolds and
Charles Osgood help put KCBS to bed for the evening. Through
the 1990s, KCBS would routinely shut down overnight on
Sundays (actually early Monday mornings) to perform
maintenance on the station's transmitter at Black Point,
Novato.
— Exhibit includes text and
audio.
— Audio presentation only.
— Fair-to-poor audio quality.
— Edited (scoped) aircheck.
FK — Courtesy of Frank D. Leber.
KA — Courtesy of Ken
Ackerman.
Real Player (free
download) is required to play these exhibits.
Special thanks
to Rose Leber for the donation of
original recordings from the estate of her husband,
Frank D. Leber (Frank Knight of KCBS)
THE BAY AREA RADIO MUSEUM IS A
CALIFORNIA NON-PROFIT CORPORATION
DEDICATED TO PRESERVING AND HONORING THE HISTORY OF
RADIO BROADCASTING IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
A MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING OF THE BROADCAST &
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MUSEUM OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CONSORTIUM,
THE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS,
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR STATE AND LOCAL HISTORY,
AND THE ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTING HISTORICAL SOCIETIES
— Exhibit includes text and
audio.
KA
In
this seven p.m. segment, Chet Casselman (photo, right)
interviews the legendary voice artist Paul Frees
(1920-1986), who is heard by phone from his home in Tiburon.
Later, Chet talks with veteran Motorola engineer Andy
Affrunti, author of "
— Fair-to-poor audio quality.
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