Topic: Nostalgia TV Lloyd Thaxton (May 31, 1927- October 5, 2008) was an American writer, producer and television host best known for his syndicated pop music television program of the 1960s, The Lloyd Thaxton Show, which began as a local show on KCOP Los Angeles in 1961. Thaxton died at his Studio City, California, home. He was 81. He died of multiple myeloma at his home, said his wife, Barbara. He had been diagnosed with the disease in May.
Merv Griffin on Freddy Martin Show Now Playing: radio remote and TV kinescope Topic: Nostalgia TV
Frederick Alfred (Freddy) Martin (December 9, 1906 – September 30, 1983) was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist. Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Raised largely in an orphanage and with various relatives, Martin started out playing drums, then switched to C-melody saxophone and later tenor saxophone, the latter the one he would be identified with. Early on, he had intended to become a journalist. He had hoped that he would earn enough money from his musical work to enter Ohio State. But instead, he wound up becoming an accomplished musician. Martin led his own band while he was in high school, then played in various local bands. After working on a ships band, Martin joined the Mason-Dixon band, then joined Arnold Johnson and Jack Albin. It was with Albin's "Hotel Pennsylvania Music" that he made his first recordings, for Columbia's Velvet Tone label in 1930...MORE Wiki Bio
Topic: Nostalgia TV 5 AUGUST 1957 - "American Bandstand," hosted by Dick Clark, started its network television run following years as WFIL-TV 6 Bandstand in Philadelphia, PA. American Bandstand was a television show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, hosted from 1957 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer. The show featured teenagers dancing to Top 40-type music introduced by Clark; at least one popular musical act - over the decades, running the gamut from Jerry Lee Lewis to Run DMC - would usually appear in-person to lip-sync one of their latest singles...MORE Wikipedia
Topic: Nostalgia TV Ed Ames (born Edmund Dantes Urick on July 9, 1927) is an American popular singer and actor. He is best known for his Pop and Adult Contemporary hits of the 1960s like "When the Snow is on the Roses" and the perennial "My Cup Runneth Over." He also was originally part of a popular singing group of 1950s called The Ames Brothers.
Topic: Nostalgia TV 6 JULY 1953 - "Name That Tune" premiered on television Name That Tune was a television game show that put two contestants against each other to test their knowledge of songs. Continued to 1959 on NBC and CBS in prime time. The first hosts were Red Benson and later Bill Cullen, but George DeWitt became most identified with the show. DeWitt could sing well, which was vital to the show's success; Benson and Cullen did not possess such talents. Richard Hayes also emceed a local edition from 1970 to 1971. However, the best-remembered syndicated version aired once a week (expanded to twice a week for its final season) from 1974 to 1981, with host Tom Kennedy [photo]. Another version aired weekdays during 1984 and 1985, hosted by Jim Lange; this version was heavily re-run on cable TV for almost a decade. The orchestra was conducted by Bob Alberti (1974-1976), Tommy Oliver (1976-1979, and the entire run of the Lange version), and Stan Worth (1979-1981); a second band, Dan Sawyer and the Sound System, was also featured from 1978 to 1981. These versions were both titled "The $100,000 Name That Tune". NBC also aired two versions of Name That Tune in the 1970s. The first, hosted by Dennis James, ran from July 29, 1974 until January 3, 1975. MORE Wiki Notes | IMAGES
Happy Birthday USA....and MITCH MILLER Now Playing: "Sing Along With Mitch" Topic: Nostalgia TV Mitchell William Miller (born July 4, 1911) is an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive. He was one of the most influential figures in American popular music during the 1950s and early 1960s, both as the head of Artists & Repertoire at Columbia Records and as a best-selling recording artist. In the 1960s Miller became a household name with his television show Sing Along with Mitch, a community-sing program featuring him and a male chorale. Miller currently resides in New York City and continues to be a guest-conductor for many renowned orchestras. ON THE WEB | IMAGES | SHOP: MITCH MILLER
Lawrence Welk TV Premiere Topic: Nostalgia TV 2 JULY 1955 - "The Lawrence Welk Show" premiered on ABC television. One of television's most enduring musical series, The Lawrence Welk Show, was first seen on network TV as a summer replacement program in 1955. Although the critics were not impressed, Mr. Welk's show went on to last an astonishing 27 years. His format was simple: easy-listening music, what he referred to as "champagne music," and a "family" of wholesome musicians, singers, and dancers. The show ran on ABC for the first 16 years and was known in the early years as The Dodge Dancing Party in 1958 by Plymouth autos. ABC canceled the show in 1971, not because of lack of popularity, but because it was "too old" to please advertisers. ABC's cancellation did little to stop Welk, who lined up more than 200 independent stations for a successful syndicated network of his own. MORE | ON THE WEB | IMAGES | SHOP Lawrence Welk
Topic: Nostalgia TV 20 JUNE 1948 - The variety series "Toast of the Town," hosted by Ed Sullivan, debuted on TV; it became "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1955. The Ed Sullivan Show was an American television variety show that ran from June 20, 1948 to June 6, 1971, and was hosted by entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It ran on CBS every Sunday night at 8 p.m., and is one of the few shows to have been run in the same time slot, weekly on the same day of the week, and on the same network, for more than two decades. Virtually every type of entertainment appeared on the show; opera singers, rock stars, songwriters, comedians, ballet dancers, and circus acts were regularly featured. The format was essentially the same as vaudeville, and although vaudeville had died a generation earlier, Sullivan presented many ex-vaudevillians on his show. The show was originally titled Toast of the Town ON THE WEB | The Ed Sullivan Show | IMAGES | SHOP Ed Sullivan Toast of the Town
Lloyd Thaxton (May 31, 1927- October 5, 2008) was an American writer, producer and television host best known for his syndicated pop music television program of the 1960s, The Lloyd Thaxton Show, which began as a local show on KCOP Los Angeles in 1961. Thaxton died at his Studio City, California, home. He was 81. He died of multiple myeloma at his home, said his wife, Barbara. He had been diagnosed with the disease in May. 
5 AUGUST 1957 - "American Bandstand," hosted by Dick Clark, started its network television run following years as WFIL-TV 6 Bandstand in Philadelphia, PA.
6 JULY 1953 - "Name That Tune" premiered on television
Mitchell William Miller (born July 4, 1911) is an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive. He was one of the most influential figures in American popular music during the 1950s and early 1960s, both as the head of Artists & Repertoire at Columbia Records and as a best-selling recording artist. In the 1960s Miller became a household name with his television show Sing Along with Mitch, a community-sing program featuring him and a male chorale. Miller currently resides in New York City and continues to be a guest-conductor for many renowned orchestras. ON THE WEB | IMAGES | SHOP: MITCH MILLER 
2 JULY 1955 - "The Lawrence Welk Show" premiered on ABC television.
20 JUNE 1948 - The variety series "Toast of the Town," hosted by Ed Sullivan, debuted on TV; it became "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1955.