Week of March 13, 1958

throughout the revolt-torn country, only to see his

entire 22-member Cabinet walk out. Batista

immediately names a new Cabinet.

Cuban rebel leader Fidel Castro issues a 22-point

ultimatum from his mountain headquarters for

President Fulgencio Batista to resign by April 5. In

the letter, Castro said a “fight to the finish” would

be launched by his guerrilla fighters and by a band

of roving terrorists everywhere, beginning on that date.

24 persons die in a flash fire in a textile building on Broadway in New York City,

near Hudson Street. The blaze began when a textile-drying oven exploded. After

the blaze was extinguished hours later, fireman actually found two persons alive

in the burned building. One was a woman who had taken refuge in a metal box.

Water from streaming hoses kept the box cool, keeping her alive. The other - a

man, hugging the floor, had shielded himself from the flames and smoke.

The Supreme Court rules unanimously that “ordinary and necessary expenses”

of operating an illegal bookmaking business may be deducted for Federal income

tax purposes.

In Monaco - a 21-gun salute sounds at

the arrival of a baby boy - heir to the

Kelly.

Joyce Greller, sitting in the audience in

the Broadway play “Look Back In Anger,”

climbs from the audience to the stage

and slaps the male star, Kenneth Haigh,

across the face. It was the third act with

Haigh sitting and reading a paper,

settling down with a woman, that’s not

his wife. Greller later said after she calmed down: “I’d just had a fight a few days

ago with a boy friend and this thing on the stage reminded me of all the rotten

men I’ve known.”

Week of March 13, 1958

Dr John Francis Maloney - a New York physician. The actress

said her husband drank to excess and stayed away from home

several nights a week.

Just over a week away from entering the Army, Elvis Presley

(22) says he doesn’t know what duties he’ll have when he’s

inducted: “I haven’t talked to anyone about it. I’ll do what they ask.”

Philadelphia dance show “Bandstand” went national last

August, does a lot of television. The show airs from 3:00

to 3:30 and 4 to 5pm eastern on ABC, but he also does an

hour-long local version over WFIL-TV (Channel 6) from

2:30 to 3:00p, and 3:30 to 4:00p - for a grand total of two-

and-a-half hours each weekday afternoon. As if that

weren’t enough, Clark drives to New York for a half-hour

version of the program on Monday Nights. “A small part of

my mail - about 1%, comes from people who don’t like the

present trend in popular music. If you don’t like it, there’s

not much anybody can do about it. It’s like trying to

change someone’s taste in salad dressing. Some prefer Roquefort; others can’t

stand it.” Clark resides in Drexel Hill, PA with his wife and their one-year-old son,

Richard.

If you’re looking to buy television commercial time - heads up - “For the first time

in TV network history - a guaranteed maximum cost per thousand of $2.50 and

your potential is even better. Higher ratings will result in even lower cost per

thousand! On America’s Dynamic new NTA Film Network ...now carried on 63

television stations, reaching 84.4% of U.S. TV homes. The dates - March 30th -

June 22nd ... The program: “The 20th Century Fox Hour” - top quality dramatic

Columbus Circle, New York, 19, N.Y.

At the mart - Ajax Cleanser - 14oz can - .12 ... General Electric Light Bulbs - 100

watt - .23 each ... Bananas - 2lbs for .29 ... Sliced Bacon - 1pound - .69

Week of March 13, 1958

Wednesday Night Television - CBS -I

Love Lucy, Big Record, The Millionaire,

I’ve Got A Secret, Circle Theater ... NBC

- Wagon Train, Father Knows Best, Kraft

Theater, This Is Your Life, Code 3 ...

ABC - Disneyland, Tombstone Territory,

Ozzie and Harriet, Betty White Show,

Boxing

Father Knows Best - Betty gets some

help as a college friend helps her campaign to save a campus hangout from

destruction.

The Millionaire - Michael Anthony delivers a $1 million check to a medical student

whose finance is interested in another. Martin Milner, Joyce Meadows and Peter

Hansen star.

Disneyland - “Magic and Music” - Hans Conried and the Freddy Martin Orchestra

in a live-action cartoon musical.

Nielsen top TV shows -

Gunsmoke (CBS) - 45.1

Wells Fargo (NBC) - 39.2

Have Gun, Will Travel (CBS) - 37.0

Danny Thomas Show (CBS) - 36.1

Restless Gun (NBC) - 35.9

I’ve Got A Secret (CBS) - 34.1

Wyatt Earp (ABC) - 33.5

Wagon Train (NBC) - 33.1

Jerry Lewis (NBC) - 33.1

General Electric Theatre (CBS) - 32.5

Esso Golden Playhouse

Highway patrol

State Trooper

The Honeymooners

Silent Service

Grand Ole Opry

Death Valley Days

Stars John Payne

Sheriff of Cochise

Week of March 13, 1958

Casey Jones

Cisco Kid

Annie Oakley

Men of Annapolis

Boots & Saddles

Popeye cartoons

Code 3

The Whirlybirds

Harbor Command

Crusader

26 Men

Decoy

Dr. Christian

Television news -

Cartoon maker Max Fleischer has begun production

new Koko (first ones were created in 1917) should be

out soon. The originals are being shown on television.

KTLA (channel 5) becomes the first television station

with a news helicopter. It’s able to transmit both sound

and picture without ground connections in regular

hourly on-the-spot telecasts from sites of immediate

news importance. Regular airings of these remote

broadcasts will be scheduled hourly from 7pm to 11pm

with cut-ins ranging from two to five minutes. KTAL is adding at least two

additional news commentators and four remote crew workers to handle the

increased slate of news coverage.

NBC-TV’s “Today” will devote the entire week of April 7 to a study of America’s

teenagers. Titled “The Threshold Years,” the series of five programs will cover

teens from the aspects of “Teenagers & Authority,” Teenage Mores & Customs,”

“Teenagers & Religion,” “Self-Expression and Communication” and “The

Teenager and His Future.”

Week of March 13, 1958

Don’t miss “The Adventures of Tugboat

Annie” available in syndication.

MGM is making available Tom & Jerry

(movie theater) cartoons plus new

footage of Bert Lahr, who will be seen as

“Leo, the Wonderful Lion.” Larry Harmon

is producer-writer of the show.

Jackie Gleason’s “The Honeymooners”

is setting some sort of trend. When the

series ran on CBS-TV during the 1955-1956 season, it garnered mediocre

ratings. But in syndication, its ratings are huge. Now CBS Film Sales, syndicators

of “The Honeymooners” want to try the same with something called “Colonel

Flack” a pilot of which has been lying dormant.

“Leave It To Beaver” is moving to Wednesday nights (from Fridays) on CBS-TV

as a consequence of slicing of “The Big Record” music series to a half-hour.

Rock ‘n’ roll TV - A local “Bandstand” program will debut in Boston next month

as WBZ-TV will air a show hosted by WORL DJ Dave Maynard. It’s Maynard’s

first television show and will air 1:30-2:30pm on Saturdays

official spokesman for Gulf Oil in all its television and

radio commercials. Red is a New York Yankees

announcer.

Radio - There’s a new station in the New York area

- WVIP (1310) in Mt. Kisco. The 1,000-watt station

went on the air last October and is already in the

black. The station uses its call letters wisely,

stressing its Very Important Programming serving

Very Influential People for “variety, information and

pleasure all day.” WVIP is co-owned by Martin

Stone, who worked on such TV shows as Howdy Doody, Gaby Hayes and Super

Circus. The other owner is E. Monroe O’Flyn - a sort of real estate baron in the

area. The station plays easy music with local news. WVIP has taped station

breaks voiced by the likes of Perry Como, Nat King Cole, Gabby Hayes, Patti

Page and others.

Week of March 13, 1958

Interesting - WOR radio in New York is going to carry the games of the

Philadelphia Phillies, but is having a hard time getting sponsors. They’re

committed to broadcasting 78 games.

WNEW radio in New York becomes the last of the NY independent stations to

drop live musicians from the staff. The station still does a few live music shows

and would like to hire musicians on a spot basis.

Disc Jockey convention in Kansas City - The gist is that

owners of radio stations are restricting the DJ’s to tighter

formats or “formula radio.” About 1,000 DJ’s attended the

two-day conference. The other high point - the fight against

rock ‘n’ roll and all other music programming aimed at the

blasted the deejays in a speech titled “The Great Abdication”

made the case against the current rock ‘n’ roll programming

accent: “To say you’ve grossly mishandled this great, fat

money-maker - radio - would be understating the case.

Some of you have made the man who killed the goose that

laid the golden egg look like Bernard Baruch.”

Miller continued - “You carefully built yourself into the monarchs of radio and

abdicated - abdicated your programming to the corner record shop: to the eight

to 14-year-olds; to the pre-shave crowd what makes up 12% of the country’s

population and zero percent of it s buying power, once you eliminate the pony tail

ribbons, Popsicles and peanut brittle.”

Top-40 and rock ‘n’ roll are doing good things to WINS-New York. For the first

time in its history, the station is #1, beating champ WNEW for the whole day,

getting 12 and 14 Pulse shares.

WISN radio in Milwaukee drops rock ‘n’ roll after 5 hours. The station reported

over 600 phone calls after the station flipped to top-40. Some of the calls were

from advertisers. Now they’re back to MOR/standards.

Singer Frank Sinatra has purchased three radio stations. They are - KJR/Seattle,

KNEW/Spokane and KXL/Portland.

Jim Backus and Merv Griffin get the ABC radio axe as the network shuts down its

experiment of “live” entertainment.

Week of March 13, 1958

Music - MGM Records has set-up a subsidiary label to

handle new rock ‘n’ roll acts. The new outlet will be known

as Orbit Records. First two releases are - “A Teenage

Quarrel” by the Wanderers and “Remember” by the Velours.

after pleading guilty to narcotic charges in Philadelphia.

The singer and her husband-manager Louis McKay Jr.

were arrested two years ago. “I’m definitely off drugs,”

said the singer.

Some top albums this week in 1958:

Concert Encores - Mantovani

Goodnight Dear Lord - Johnny Mathis

At Carnegie Hall - The Weavers

Favorite Ballads - Pete Seeger

Vamps The Roaring 20’s - Eydie Gorme

The Music Man - Original Cast

West Side Story - Original Cast

My Fair Lady - Original Cast

Sings Rodgers & Hart - Ella Fitzgerald

Oh Captain! - Original Cast

Calypso - Harry Belafonte

Come Fly With Me - Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra Story - (Columbia Records)

Jamaica - Original Cast

South Pacific - Soundtrack

Pop music this week in 1958

TEQUILA - The Champs

SWEET LITTLE SIXTEEN - Chuck Berry

ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE TO STAY - Danny &

The Juniors

WHO’S SORRY NOW - Connie Francis

CATCH A FALLING STAR - Perry Como

MAYBE BABY - The Crickets (featuring Buddy

Holly)

OH JULIE - The Crescendos

26 MILES (Santa Catalina) - The Four Preps

Week of March 13, 1958

GOOD GOLLY, MISS MOLLY - Little Richard

LAZY MARY - Lou Monte

OH-OH, I’M FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN -

Jimmie Rodgers

BREATHLESS - Jerry Lee Lewis

DON’T - Elvis Presley

A WONDERFUL TIME UP THERE - Pat

Boone

ARE YOU SINCERE - Andy Williams

SO TOUGH - The Original Casuals

GET A JOB - The Silhouettes

IT’S TOO SOON TO KNOW - Pat Boone

DINNER WITH DRAC (Part 1) - John

Zacherle

SHORT SHORTS - The Royal Teens

WE BELONG TOGETHER - Robert &

Johnny

LA DEE DAH - Billy & Lillie

At the movies -

Orson Welles, Lee Remick, Angela Lansbury

Bailey, Claire Kelly

Cobb, Albert Salmi, Richard Basehart

Tamblyn, Terry Moore, Hope Lange

Week of March 13, 1958