September 28: Happy Birthday, Ed Sullivan

We all know Ed Sullivan's catch phrases, his mannerisms, the big stars that appeared on his television show.  But as with most public figures, there's more to him than the standout facts, the signature iconography.

Sullivan was, as many know, a newspaper columnist before getting into television broadcasting.  Yet his range of media extended even further--his early career also developed on the airwaves.

His radio life began with some reporting; he produced a couple of shows still known to history, as catalogued by radiogoldindex.com.  An early one was Ed Sullivan: Your Mennen Reporter.  It aired on May 22, 1944, and included several "did you know" segments on miscellaneous topics, one of them being the quality of the teeth of people of various racial groups.

Ed Sullivan's Diary went out over the air in 1945, with no exact date known.  There seem to have been three programs, and Jo Stafford, Tommy Dorsey, and Barry Wood were involved.

We salute Ed Sullivan, born today, 1901.

March 28: Happy Birthday, Paul Whiteman

March 28: Happy Birthday, Paul Whiteman

Paul Whiteman was a Jazz bandleader who brought his genre of music to a million or so listeners who may not have otherwise enjoyed it. He was commercially successful and panned by critics, who felt he wasn't playing "real" jazz. To this minor controversy, he added fuel by calling himself "The King of Jazz."

It's worth a mention that his band had room for such great musicians as Red Nichols, Tommy Dorsey, and Eddie Lambert.

A couple of decades into his disputed run as "King of Jazz," Whiteman was tapped to host the radio show Kraft Music Program, which he faithfully did from '33 to '35. He then performed on the Chesterfield Hour and finally Paul Whiteman Presents.

We radio devotees owe Whiteman an additional debt due to the fact that he worked as ABC radio's music director for several years. He capped his radio career by hosting, from Philadelphia, Paul Whiteman's TV Teen Club.

November 19: Happy Birthday Tommy Dorsey!

November 19: Happy Birthday Tommy Dorsey!

Tommy Dorsey was a hero of the Swing Era. The trumpeter and bandleader was also a radio host and, with his orchestra, a regular guest or performer on countless radio programs.

He and his orchestra were regulars on Jack Pearl's "Raleigh-Kool Program" and "Fame and Fortune." Dorsey hosted his own program, "The Tommy Dorsey Show," in the Summer of 1946, while also hosting a few Summer replacements, "Tommy Dorsey's Playshop," and "Endorsed By Dorsey." His orchestra's signature tune was "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You."

Dorsey was born in Shendendoah, PA in 1905, the younger brother of Jimmy, with whom he would begin his music career. He first married at age 17, and embarked on his third and final marriage in 1948, at the age of 43.

Sadly, "the sentimental gentleman of swing," died at 46, choking to death in his sleep while sedated by sleeping pills.