it-registrationsstlmediahistory

 

Between the hours of 3 and 7 p.m. and again between 10 and 11 p.m., Ed Bonner’s voice reaches out to five million people in seven states. To say the least, he’s very grateful for their loyalty and for the confidence that his listeners have placed in him.

States Ed in his own words: – “Having gained their confidence they are not afraid to speak their minds to me, telling me what they like or dislike, telling me what they would like to hear and that which they do not like. I have always tried to program with one thing in my mind. Give the listeners the music they like without getting on their nerves. Now you may say, what about the sponsors? I believe that the sponsor is interested in reaching a contented audience, an audience receptive to his message. Thus his message, like the music, should not get on the listeners’ nerves. I think that I have found a middle of the road, where the two parties concerned are happy. The reason I think that way is that I am booked solid commercially and that my listening audience is still growing!”

DJ’s Responsibilities
And Ed Bonner has much more to say: – “But there is much more to it than that. A disc jockey as well as a radio station has community responsibilities and those that neglect that responsibility are failing their job. A DJ who believes his job is finished as soon as he gets off the air is missing the boat. He must remember that his audience, at one time or another, would like to meet him, talk with him and promote with him. He is the voice that is closest to young America and a naturally strong voice to them and in their behalf.

“During my five years in this area I have made hundreds of appearances. I have become a lecturer, master of ceremonies, talent judge and so on. To say the least, I am very proud because of the honors the community has bestowed upon me.”
E.B. was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and his career had taken him from coast to coast when he landed in St. Louis on April 30, 1951. In a short span of five years, he has endeared himself to legions of listeners in the KXOK area, not only with his music shows over KXOK, but also his never-failing effort to take an active part in the community he serves. Attending banquets, proms, crowning high school and college queens and assisting in community fund drives are only a part of his daily routine.
Bonner’s shows are heard over KXOK Monday through Saturday, with a special Saturday stanza from 9 a.m. to noon, and are rated among the high spots of the KXOK broadcast day.

The Beginning
How did E.B. get his start? When he first got out of high school in Burbank, California, he wanted to be a fireman. So after taking the fire department’s examination and making the highest grade in his group, Ed did become a fireman. Of course, he slept through his first alarm and didn’t even realize it until the next morning when the Captain told him, but that didn’t cool his enthusiasm. Ed continued to put out fires and fall off roofs and even now, years later, when he hears a fire siren, he still has to hold onto his desk to keep from chasing the engines, in little-boy style.

While a fireman, Ed Bonner studied radio in his spare time. He attended radio school in Beverly Hills, liked it, quit his fire department and got his first radio job in Idaho Falls, Idaho. But having been raised in California, Ed didn’t like the cold climate that Idaho offered. So he left for warmer climates and to pursue another dream – pro baseball. Playing shortstop for a Chicago Cubs farm team that season was “great fun but no future” and he soon realized that his “first love” really was radio – so back he went to stay! The only interruption since that time was the 27 months E.B. spent on active overseas duty in the Navy.
Spells Block

Ed recently did a pinch-hit for Martin Block over WABC Radio, New York for a week which started July 15. He was chosen to replace the vacationing Block from among the top flight disc jockeys throughout the nation. Following the stint on the Martin Block “Make Believe Ballroom” Bonner stayed in New York to film a sequence in a movie dealing with music, records and modern music.

When radio and public permit. E.B. spends what spare time that is allotted him with his lovely wife Jean and their two youngsters Debbie and Rick at their home in Kirkwood, Missouri.

(Originally published in Deejay Magazine, September 1957)

 

The days of the large, live hillbilly radio shows are long gone, but these shows, which had their formatic roots in Vaudeville, were the true forerunners of television’s variety programs.

As early as 1931, KMOX had a regular, early morning program, full of talented people and led by Harry “Pappy” Cheshire. For 90 minutes each week, different acts paraded before the microphone in the cavernous KMOX studios. Each musician or group had a different sound, and Pappy, as the emcee, would weave it all together joking with members of the acts.

At least one of those acts was unique because of the age, and the experience, of the star. Little Georgie Goebel had come to St. Louis as a teenager after appearing for several years on the WLS National Barn Dance in Chicago. As was the case with all performers, Little Georgie was working on his image as he gained show business experience.

In a later interview, he credited his work at KMOX with helping his with his comedic timing.

He didn’t really hit the “big time” until after the end of World War II, and he dropped a letter in his surname along the way.

Gobel’s guitar remained an integral part of his act, but he is remembered for his stand-up comedy.

When it came to life in the early 1920s, radio became a medium for the masses with what is now called “block programming” – specific shows aimed at specific audience segments. For decades, farmers were a huge block, and two men in St. Louis became celebrities during their respective reigns on the radio.

Charley Stookey, who was the host of The Farm Folks Hour on KMOX, recalled the tough task of pitching an early program idea: “When I suggested a program starting at 5:30 a.m. to the manager of KMOX in the fall of 1932, he asked if I thought anyone would listen at that unearthly hour.”

Writing for The Greater St. Louis Magazine in 1969, Stookey told of a program that first aired October 3, 1932. It lasted 90 minutes a day, from 5:30 – 7:00 a.m. and was beamed to farmers. Music was provided by station organist Ken Wright and the Ozark Mountaineers. The rural audience was quick to respond, and they remained loyal. “During December 1934,” he wrote, “[the show] drew 50,282 pieces of mail, an all-time record for KMOX.”

Charley Stookey took himself seriously as a radio personality, and he bounced among several stations here, including KXOK, KWK and KSTL. His focus was entertainment, and wherever he worked, he was quick to generate publicity for himself and his program. But he would also maintain a high visibility in the farming community, and his work was often heard on the Columbia Country Journal, which was broadcast by the CBS Network.

Unlike Stookey, Ted Mangner knew a lot about farming. His 24-year career as KMOX Farm Director began in 1944, and there was less emphasis on entertainment and more emphasis on reporting farm news and information. Under his oversight, the early morning program became known as the Country Journal.

He owned a farm near Salem, Il., and a press release from the station said he “tries many of the newest methods on his own acreage.”

Mangner was truly a hands-on farm broadcast, reportedly traveling over 25,000 miles some years to seek out and report stories of interest to farmers. Kay Marshall, who was his assistant at one point, remembers returning from her lunch breaks and finding Mangner napping in the office to catch up on sleep after hosting the early morning show. By the time she returned he was ready to go back to work planning the next day’s program.

Farm programming has faded from the major stations, but in its heyday, it was a major producer of advertiser income.

(Reprinted with permission of the St. Louis Journalism Review. Originally published 03/10)

 

Robert Hyland, the late general manager of KMOX, was famous for his on-air auditions of talent, bringing people into St. Louis for a one-time shot at membership on his elite staff. History shows he was simply following in the tradition of the station’s founders, known as the “Voice of St. Louis, Incorporated.”

After putting the station on the air in late 1925, the group of investors held a competition to find their chief announcer. They were riding on a huge wave of public interest in the fledgling station, generated, in part, by vast amounts of coverage given its development by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. This was no coincidence, since the newspaper was one of the “Voice of St. Louis” members. The paper even provided the station with Associated Press news dispatches so a regular, nightly news broadcast could be aired.

The 17 local businessmen who formed the Voice of St. Louis, Inc., made up one of the panels that sat in judgement of the candidates for the chief announcer’s position. There was also a special committee of monitors listed in one news article, although no details was given regarding their identity or function. Candidates for the job were given several opportunities to appear on the station to be heard by the judges and the public.

The winner was George Junkin, an announcer for the S.W. Strauss Company’s radio station in Chicago, WSWS. Junkin had been in St. Charles visiting his in-laws during the tests and was invited back to KMOX to be heard again shortly after the judges heard his first effort. His quoted reaction, published in the Globe-Democrat, has all the qualities of a PR man’s best efforts: “‘I consider KMOX one of the five leading broadcasters in America,’ he said following his appointment yesterday. ‘Its financial condition, its management, personnel, equipment, facilities and program material place it easily within this group. It has all that is necessary to build into a popular presentation of programs of the air.’” It’s notable that his assessment of the station as “one of the five leading broadcasters in America” came after the station had been on the air a mere three months.

His previous employer is quoted in the same article as saying Junkin was “a reader of unusual ability, a former motion picture actor, and a professional director of theaters.” Rounding out a flawless resume, Mr. Junkin was a veteran of the war (World War I) in which he served as a flying instructor, had served on the faculties of three institutions of higher learning, and had been a farmer in Colorado.

He and his wife, Martha, moved to St. Louis 13 years after they were married here. Their son, George, Jr., was four years old at the time. The move was a good one professionally for Junkin. Within a year of his appointment as chief announcer, he was elevated to the position of managing director of KMOX and later became secretary of the Voice of St. Louis, Inc.

(Reprinted with permission of the St. Louis Journalism Review. Originally published 2/1999)

by Catherine Snodgrass

Radio listeners are familiar with WIL’s 2 o’clock Police Releases, a feature that has been heard for several years and has never lost its interest appeal. The broadcasts are from Headquarters, bringing news which Police Chief Gerk feels is of value to the public. This includes information about “missing persons” and “stolen machines.”

Nightly, Mr. Fixit answers the hundred and one questions about taxes, laws and public affairs. But still Mr. L.A. Benson, president and general manager of Radio Station WIL was not satisfied. He felt that WIL could be of further service to the people of St. Louis. He noted the increasing accident and casualty list and decided that WIL could be of assistance in helping to curb this growing menace. He knew that as the radio reached into the homes it was the best means of educating the entire family, and the quickest and most impressive lesson would be to present the actual happenings of the Traffic Court over the air.

Immediately, Mr. Benson began to formulate plans and make arrangements. Mayor Bernard Dickmann was in full accord with this new Safety Campaign. Police Chief Gerk lent his assistance and judge James P. Finnigan obligingly agreed top allow the broadcasts to be made from his court.

Several microphones were placed at vantage points in Police Court No. 1, one before Judge Finnigan, another on the witness stand and still another for the Prosecuting Attorney.

Elmer Miller, the remote operator, arranged his amplifiers, power packs, faders and mixer control, etc. A test was made. It was satisfactory, and so one of the most interesting, yet one of the most difficult broadcasts ever attempted in St. Louis was put on the air by WIL last Wednesday at ten o’clock. Judge Joseph Dickmann made the keynote speech on the opening day.

(Originally published in Radio and Entertainment 9/24/1933)

For the Shumate Brothers, it wasn’t a stage mother but a stage father who did all the pushing. The push moved them through the Chautauqua circuit to a radio station in Iowa and finally to KMOX. After consulting with a music professional, the elder Shumate decided saxophones were the key to his boys’ future. In 1922 you could find the four of them playing local dances around their home town of Forest City, Mo. Several years later, after their Chautauqua work took them through 40 states, an appearance offer came from radio station KMA in Shenandoah, Iowa. As 1928 came to an end the station manager there hired them.

Radio in the ‘20s was still struggling to achieve its identity, looking for the right programs to attract an audience, so a regular musical act was valuable to any station. But being a radio star sometimes had its drawbacks. KMA was one of two major radio stations in Iowa owned by seed companies, in this case the May Seed Company, which used the station to promote its product throughout the Midwest. When musical talent signed on at the station, they were usually expected to work in the plant next door to the studios packaging seeds when they weren’t on the air. It was apparently an acceptable arrangement for the Shumate Brothers, who were on KMA for several years.

In 1931, they caught a break with an offer to join the KMOX music staff where their instrumental prowess and their singing and entertainment abilities made them a perfect fit for the local radio powerhouse.

At KMOX, there was no time for factory work. All four brothers were kept busy with other duties in addition to their musical on-air work.

Don, the eldest also played trombone with the station’s musical groups. Lewis was drafted into singing the theme song for the Uncle Remus Show and he played the character Ollie on the Country School Show. Paul wrote scripts and played Henry Spickelmeyer on Country School in addition to playing trumpet when needed in the bands. Ray, the youngest, also played trumpet and was the character Mickey on the Country School.

The group was known as “The Four Irishmen” on the Uncle Dick Slack show on KMOX and they were also called upon to sing 15 minutes’ worth of hymns each morning at 6:00 on the station.

Ray was also asked to join the 10-piece KMOX orchestra. In a 1998 interview, he told the St. Louis Review, “One day I played a solo, not on purpose, on the whole CBS Network. When everybody finished,” he said, “I was one note behind.

“Afterward the director looked around for the guilty, but nobody told on me. When I got into the group the fellows told me, ‘If you make a mistake, don’t look at the director,’ and I never did.”

The Shumates’ gig at KMOX was beneficial in one other way. Ray met his wife Marie there. She was a singer with the Harmonettes.

(Reprinted with permission of the St. Louis Journalism Review. Originally published 10/09)

By Meryl Friedel
Delving into the past of radio artists reveals  that most of them reached their present high spots on the air firmament through lucky breaks or a series of them, or by hanging around until someone noticed them.

That’s usually the case, but the four gifted Shumate brothers were different, as they are different as entertainers. They were forced into radio against their will. Imagine anyone not wanting to be starred in radio! But that was in 1928, when successful stage artists were still a bit shy of this radio thing. And there were extenuating circumstances.

The boys had just come home (Forest City, Missouri) for Christmas vacation, and the day before Christmas, their booking office called and said they must go over to KMA immediately to broadcast that week. There was much objecting, cussing and discussing, but finally, like good troupers, they did as told, and they’ve been in radio ever since. They’ve been with KMOX for over six months.

Their radio success was inevitable, for rarely does one find four young men who are, each in his own right, such versatile entertainers. And more rarely, they are brothers, harmoniously and equally gifted.

Their first appearance in public as entertainers was while the three older brothers, Donald, Lewis and Paul, were in high school as leaders of the high school orchestra. After high school , with Raymond already developed into as talented a musician as his older brothers, the four boys, with two of them still wearing short pants, engaged for a vaudeville tour. That was nine years ago. From then to now, they’ve consistently been headline entertainers.

Donald, the oldest brother, plays both the saxophone and trombone. He is five feet ten inches tall, with blue eyes and dark brown hair, happily married and the father of two children.

Lewis, next oldest, plays sax and trombone. He is five feet eleven inches tall, with greenish gray eyes and black hair. He too is married and has one child.

Paul, third son of the proud Mr. and Mrs. Shumate – they should be proud with such unusually gifted sons – plays sax and trumpet and is very popular as the stuttering Henry Spickelmeyer. He is five feet ten inches tall, has green eyes and black hair and is also the father of one child.

Raymond, youngest of this talented quartet of brothers, also plays the sax and trumpet. He is five feet eleven inches tall, has blue eyes and brown hair and is the only unmarried one of the four.

All the boys sing, both individually and as a quartet, as KMOX listeners have found to their satisfaction. And besides their marvelous musical talents, these versatile brothers write and act comedy skits that have made them as famous for humorous programs as for their music.

Too bad there isn’t space to tell you more of these four who are still young enough to have a tremendous future ahead of them, although they are already veterans in the world of entertainment, are interesting people who have had an interesting career that makes one wish to go on and on about them.

(Originally published in Radio and Entertainment 8/6/1933).