June 14: Happy Birthday Cliff Edwards

What did Disney’s Jiminy Cricket and Cliff Edwards have in common? The answer is that they were one in the same. Born in 1895 in Hannibal Missouri, Edwards would eventually become the voice of the famous conscience of Pinocchio in 1940. Cliff Edwards spent an incredible part of his career as a voice actor for varied formats. He was also a singer of many of the popular hits of the day, such as “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby” and “Singin in the Rain”. Edwards, or “Ukelele Ike”, became involved accompanying himself with the ukelele and was involved with the Ziegfeld follies. He turned that smallish string instrument into a popular item during the 1920’s. Throughout his few decades of working in entertainment, Clifton Edwards would appear in a number of movies as a character actor and a few Broadway performances. One of his friends of the day was the very creative Buster Keaton. Mr Keaton worked with Edwards in a few of his major motion pictures of the day. In 1932, Clifton Edwards got his first shot at national radio with CBS. Before he gained popularity for television with his 3 times a week variety show, named after him; Edwards spent a number of years hosting radio programs. He was married three times and unfortunately spent most of his fortune paying alimony. Sadly, Cliff Edwards passed away in 1971 with very little fanfare or public notice. Walt Disney Studios payed for his headstone that adorns his gravesite to this day.

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1946 Great Crepitation Fart Contest

Not for the faint of heart, here is the remarkable 1946 Crepitation (Fart) Contest (part of the 1946 News Broadcasts Collection ). You'll enjoy the fart-off between champion Englishman Lord Windsmear, and challenger, Australian Paul Boomer who had stowed aboard a cabbage freighter. The hilarious comedy recording was apparently created a spoof by two Canadian radio sportscasters in 1946, but this 15 minute recording definitely has some gems in it. Apparently they made several copies, but it was not for distribution. The recording was copied again and again on disc and reel to reel tape. It was distributed underground and played in dark rooms and back alleys around the world. If you cannot see the audio controls, your browser does not support the audio element This recording is available with many other delightful treats on Random Rarities #7 available on MP3 CD , Audio CD , and instant download .

January 27, 1948: Wire Recording introduced the 'Wireway'

January 27, 1948: The first magnetic tape recorder was introduced by Wire Recording Corporation of America. ‘Wire Way,’ as it was called, had an integrated oscillator and was sold for $149.50 at the time.

October 28, 1922: The First National Radio Broadcast of College Football

October 28, 1922: A collegiate football game was aired by WEAF in New York City, coast to coast for the first time on this day. The football radio broadcast saw Princeton matched against the University of Chicago. They played at Stagg Field in the Windy City with the of score 21-8 in Princeton's favor. The broadcast was transmitted via phone line to New York City where it was then transmitted by radio. The first football game ever broadcast on the radio was witnessed by 32,000 fans. The game was an important moment in history of broadcast because for the first time AT&T, the owner of WEAF, introduced advertising. In addition, college football games in the 1920s generally were aired without charge for airing rights even as the radio station collected funds from advertising that they aired during the games. The WEAF broadcast of the game was one of the most important moment that affected development of radio and college sports. It was apart of the nationalization of foo

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