Beatles 50th Sullivan Anniversary Count Down…16 Days

Who is this man and why is he on stage with The Beatles? That answer in a moment, but first the scene must be set. It was only last year that I discovered that the Beatles third Sullivan appearance on February 23 was in fact, the first time they had ever played in America. That performance of two song sets with two different stage sets was taped in the early afternoon of February 9 before they performed two live sets with two different stage sets. But none of this almost happened! That day George Harrison had the flu and a fever of 103. Sullivan’s doctor was nursing him at the hotel while The Beatles road manager, Neal Aspernall stood in for George at the day’s first (closed to the public) dress rehearsal where the audio and camera blocking would be worked out. Just before the 3PM taping, Harrison arrived and and got a quick half song walk through just in time.

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‘The Night That Changed America’

This Sunday night, Ken Ehrlich will produce the Grammy Awards show and the next night, he’ll do the same for the Grammy’s tribute to The Beatles. That show will air on CBS February 9 at 8PM to mark the 50th anniversary of the band’s first appearance on Ed Sullivan. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will attend, but no one knows if they will play together. The Eurythmics will reunite for the show which will also feature John Mayer, Keith Urban, Maroon 5, Alicia Keys and John Legend. I’m sure there will be some surprise guests as presenters as some of the original footage will be used. Stay tuned for more.

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65 Years Ago This Month, RCA Introduces The 45 RMP

In January of 1949, RCA rolled out the “single”, a 7 inch record that played at 45 rpm. This was in retaliation to the CBS 33 1/3 rpm “long play” albums that were introduced the year before. Prior to these developments in ’48 and ’49, records were played at 78 rpm on thick shellac compound disc and could hold only about five minutes per side. The CBS albums were much better fidelity and held almost thirty minutes per side but with all those songs, cost more. RCA was producing LPs too, but had to pay CBS for the technology, so, they introduced the 45 in hopes that their popularity would force CBS to enter the 45 market and owe RCA. Eventually they just shared the 33 and 45 technology. At the link below is RCA’s first ever 45 release which is an introduction to the library of 45s that would be available soon. There is no “first artist on 45” as the first selections were released at the same time which included several genres of music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebRx7FN6vlc

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Beatles 50th Sullivan Anniversary Count Down…17 Days

The photo on the left was taken from the control room during the dress rehearsal for the February 9 live show. Most of the screaming girl footage was shot during this very long rehearsal and inserted via videotape into the live broadcast. Remember, The Beatles had already taped the February 23 show earlier this same day and all the audio settings had been worked out in the days first rehearsal (closed to the public) and worked well in the taping at 3, BUT…during the lunch break (3:30 -4:30) someone in maintenance wiped off the grease pencil marks on the audio board! The day’s second dress rehearsal lasted well over an hour as The Beatles asked for playbacks of the first session to compare the sound. Candy Cushing and others that were there have told me that there was quite a bit of back and forth with the band as they worked out the audio problems. Sullivan also did some back and forth with the audience during the long lulls and this is when the famous shot of him in a Beatle wig was taken.

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One Of My All Time Favorite Photos

I’ve had this 8 x 10 glossy photo since 1966. Starting at age 14 (’64) I would write to NBC, CBS and ABC asking for photos of the cameras in action. Mrs. Katheryn S. Cole at NBC was gracious enough to always reply with big packs of photos like these. Only in the last year or so have I come to know the name of one of the cameramen from posts here by his daughter. Manning the TK41 at the bottom is long time NBC cameraman Don Mulvaney who was also one of NBC’s first portable camera operators starting with the 1952 political conventions. This shot is on the set of ‘The Mitch Miller Show’ from NBC Brooklyn. Don’s camera is mounted on the electric RCA TD 9 pedestal. The center camera is mounted on a McAlister crab dolly and the top camera is mounted on a Chapman crane, but it not an Electra (like in 8H) as the seat is different. Notice under the crane camera the wedge between the cradle head and camera that tilts it down about 30 degrees. This is done to give more flexibility to tilt down because without it, the camera would always be at the forward end of the pan head track and unable to tilt down and farther. Notice also the boom cable goes to a ceiling port in order to eliminate as many floor cables as possible. FYI, the sleeveless guy is one of the dancers in a medley of country songs.

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The First Television News Footage? Quite Likely…

In 1933, the Don Lee owned experimental station in Los Angeles, W6XAO is reported to have acquired film shot the afternoon of March 10, 1933 of the Long Beach earthquake. It was almost 6PM local time when it hit, but using rapid processing film development (where the negative is shown with reverse polarity to make it appear as a positive print) they were able to get it on the air that night. These were the days of mechanical TV and only a few sets even existed, but this is an important event because even network television news shows which started after WWII used newsreel footage acquired from outside sources. The early local television stations were the pioneers in news film because, unlike the networks, there were no big newsreel companies that they could rely on for images of local news events. Thanks to EarlyTelevison.org for the photo.

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Beatles 50th Sullivan Anniversary Count Down…18 Days

February 9, 1964 was The Beatles debut on American television but it was more than just a performance…it was a turning point for a country that was still in shock over the assassination of President Kennedy just a few short months before. We’ll count down till the celebration with photos and back stories that I hope you’ll share. In the photo below, we see Ed Sullivan conversing with the control room during rehearsal. There were actually four performances on February 9th….a 12 noon dress rehearsal and a 2 o’clock taping of two sets of songs that would air February 23rd. Then there was the 5 o’clock dress rehearsal for the 8 o’clock live show. There were three audiences that day as the noon rehearsal was closed. 50,000 ticket requests came in but only three audiences of 700 were able to be there live. Notice in this photo, Ed has a spare Q card lashed to the boom stand…he also reads from a paper toll teleprompter on the front of Camera 1, but just to make sure he doesn’t flub is intro, he had it put in two places. It was quite a day.

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55 Years Ago Today, “Alfalfa” Died

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And The Color Race Is ON!

Believe it or not, In April of 1954 Westinghouse began selling the first home color television set. They beat RCA by several weeks and RCA rushed the CT 100 into production on March 25. During the color wars between CBS and RCA over the compatible color systems, manufacturers were reluctant to commit to building sets till the dust had settled, and when it did, the RCA Dot Sequential system had beaten out the CBS Field Sequential system. Many radio and TV manufacturers had been a part of the NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) and already knew the technical specs and were ready to go in early 1954. The Westinghouse set sold for $1295. RCA’s CT-100 sold for $1000, but by August RCA had dropped the price to $495. GE sold its 15 inch set for $1,000, and Sylvania’s cost $1,150. Emerson rented color sets for $200 for the first month and $75/month thereafter. All of these were 15″ screens but in ’55, RCA came out with the 21″ color screen and even though they lost money on every set, they recalled the 15″ sets and swapped them for the 21″ models at no cost. In the long run, RCA made mega millions on color television. When RCA was sold to GE in the 80s, GE paid $6.2 Billion but there was $2 Billion in the bank so GE got RCA/NBC for $4.2 Billion.

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Remember Your First Color TV Set?

This RCA model is the one our family had and we got it in 1964. What do your remember about your first color set?

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NBC Radio’s First Day & The First Network Stars

NBC was America’s first radio network and the inaugural program was broadcast on sixteen stations on November 15, 1926. The show originated from NYC, Chicago and Independence Kansas. The “official” part of the broadcast came from New York’s WEAF where Sarnoff and other leaders of RCA, Westinghouse and GE spoke. The new National Broadcasting Company was divided in ownership among RCA (50 percent), General Electric (30 percent), and Westinghouse (20 percent). From Chicago, the popular vaudeville comic team Lewis Fields (L) and Joe Weber (R) did their act, and in Kansas, columnist and all around “fun poker” Will Rogers spoke for a while. Both Rogers and Fields & Weber became regulars and were the first ever network stars. Tomorrow, the Red, Blue, Gold, Orange and other networks of NBC Radio.

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RCA Color Projection Television

In October of 1951, RCA demonstrated it’s first color projection unit at The Colonial Theater. The guests saw an RCA color film on the unit and a live feed from NBC Studio 3H (where the live “coffin” color cameras were being tested). The projected images made a picture that was 9 by 12 feet. This photo is from a few years later and is being installed at NBC’s newest color studio at The Ziegfeld Theater, which would become the home of Perry Como. This new unit made a picture that was 18 by 28 and projected it’s image on a screen above the stage so the audiences on the main floor and in the balcony could see the shots being taken by the 4 TK41s. This unit has a 42 inch mirror, a 26 inch lens and uses 80,000 volts. There was also a black and white version and several were in use in New York’s television theaters including CBS Studio 50 (Ed Sullivan), and NBC’s properties like The International (Show Of Shows) and Hudson Theaters (Tonight With Steve Allan). In 1951, several dozen of the monochrome projectors were in use across the country in cities that were part of the Theater Television Network that carried occasional live, closed circuit programs like prize fights, races and other special interest events.

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Exclusive Video Coming Tomorrow!

14 minutes of ABC film showing the preparations to broadcast the opening of Disneyland with 29 cameras, July 17, 1955. Here are some screen shots of what’s coming!

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The Granddaddy Of Color Studios…The Colonial Theater

I had given up finding a photo of the theater’s face when NBC and RCA owned it, but thanks to Lytle Hoover, we finally have it. This is where the fist production models of the RCA TK40 went into service in March of 1953. The first several months, there was only testing via closed circuit, but on August 30, 1953, the first publicly announced experimental broadcast in compatible color TV of a network program was presented by NBC of “St. George and the Dragon” on the ‘Kukla, Fran, and Ollie Show’. NBC/RCA had owned the building for several years and had done black and white shows from here and in October 1951, RCA had exhibited a color TV receiver-projector here which provided color pictures on a 9 x 12 foot theater screen. In late ’52, RCA/NBC began the process of making the theater into the first all color television studio. The second NBC colorcasts came from this studio on October 31, 1953 and was a one hour presentation the opera “Carmen”. The third colorcast was the November 22, 1953 ‘Colgate Comedy Hour’, with Donald O’Connor (the first commercial colorcast). By the way…these colorcasts were only viewed in color by closed circuit. The color burst was removed before being broadcast, and the programs were seen by the general public only in black in white. Only 28 TK40s were made as by late 1954, the TK41 had taken it’s place with with significantly reduced rack space, tube count, and power requirements. Thanks to Lytle Hoover and Ed Reitan for their research and help.

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I Wonder How This Worked Out?

Below, we see an RCA TK30 owned by CBS being mounted in a Bell helicopter. I don’t know what they are shooting, but if the helicopter goes up more than a couple of hundred feet, there will be big problems for all. Notice this is a cabled camera and not a microwave wireless unit. Hopefully this was after 1956 when video tape became available. Can you imagine doing this for a live shot?

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First Airborne Color and First Live Use Of Color Video Tape

There are several elements to this story, so let’s start with the mystery of the camera itself. Yesterday our friend Lytle Hoover, of RCA’s Broadcast Division in Camden, sent the photo on the left to several television camera collectors. We were trying to identify the RCA color camera in the helicopter and after a few back and forths, Lytle found the rare photo on the right. The right photo is of an early version of the RCA color medical camera and is probably the prototype and probably built in late 1956. In late 1957, several units of the final design were in use at teaching hospitals. Those color medical cameras looked like large TK11s, complete with the side handles but no viewfinders. They were called RCA TK45s but are not to be confused the the TK45A studio camera that came along in 1973. Now, on the next part…where it was used. Newspaper reports describing the upcoming color coverage of the 1958 Rose Parade by NBC mentioned a color camera that would broadcast overhead shots from a helicopter. An aerial color shot would be a first. The other fist was the use of color video tape for the first time in a live broadcast. Now, judges pick the winning floats before hand, but back then, the judges voted on the best floats as they came by the reviewing stand. NBC taped the parades floats so they would be able to play back images of the winners after the parade when the judges made their awards.

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