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BLAST FROM THE PAST: A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF RADIO’S FIRST 75 YEARS
by B. Eric Rhoads (Streamline Publishing, Inc., 472 pages, $39.95). Rhoads takes readers on a visual journey through the development of radio, beginning with the first commercial radio broadcast on November 2, 1920, when KDKA in Pittsburgh announced the results of the Warren G. Harding-James M. Cox presidential election. The author traces the progress of the medium through the Great Depression, when radio provided the only entertainment many could afford; the 1940s, when all networks cooperated to provide star-filled programs that could be sent to the soldiers serving overseas during World War II; the lean ’50s, when television eclipsed radio in popularity, threatening its demise; the “payola” scandal of the 1960s, when deejays were accused of taking bribes in exchange for playing certain records on the air; the perfection of new forms of “Top 40” stations during the 1970s and ’80s, which brought a new generation of listeners their favorite “pop” music; and the more recent development of “talk radio” that has made national celebrities of such hosts as Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy. More than nine hundred rare photographs complement the text and provide the reader with a unique look at the annals of radio. Available only by calling 800-226-7857.