The Payola scandal reaches a new level of public prominence
and legal gravity on this day 1960, when President Eisenhower
called it an issue of public morality and the FCC proposed a
new law making involvement in Payola a criminal act.

What exactly was Payola? During the hearings conducted by Congressman Oren Harris (D-Arkansas) and his powerful
Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight—fresh off its inquiry
into quiz-show rigging—the term was sometimes used as a
blanket reference to a range of corrupt practices in the radio
and recording industries.

   
Albert James "Alan" Freed 
(December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965)        

      
      
     
In 1960, payola was made illegal. In December 1962, after
being charged on multiple counts of commercial bribery, 
Freed pled guilty to two counts of commercial bribery,
fined three hundred dollars and was given a suspended 
sentence.

SANDY KOZEL

Dick Clark (Richard Wagstaff Clark)
(November 30, 1929 – April 18, 2012)

The original ABC network debut of American Bandstand began
on this day in 1957 and continued until 1987.

Richard (Dick) Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929 – April 18, 2012)

Television, rock and roll and teenagers. In the late 1950s, when television and
rock and roll were new and when the biggest generation in American history
was just about to enter its teens, it took a bit of originality to see the potential power in this now-obvious combination. The man who saw that potential more clearly than any other was a 26-year-old native of upstate New York named
Dick Clark, who transformed himself and a local Philadelphia television
program into two of the most culturally significant forces of the early rock-
and-roll era. His iconic show, American Bandstand, began broadcasting
nationally on this day in 1957, beaming images of clean-cut, average
teenagers dancing to the not-so-clean-cut Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Whole Lotta
Shakin’ Goin’ On” to 67 ABC affiliates across the nation.

The show that evolved into American Bandstand began on Philadephia’s
WFIL-TV in 1952, a few years before the popular ascension of rock and
roll. Hosted by local radio personality Bob Horn (below).

Donald Loyd "Bob" Horn
(February 20, 1916 – July 31, 1966)

Toni Tennille and Daryl Dragon. 

Daryl Frank Dragon (August 27, 1942 – January 2, 2019)

(AP) – Daryl Dragon, the cap-wearing "Captain" of pop band The Captain
and Tennille, has died.

Dragon passed away on Wednesday of renal failure at a hospice in
Prescott, Arizona, according to spokesman Harlan Boll. Toni Tennille, 
Dragon’s ex-wife and longtime musical partner, was by his side.

SANDY KOZEL

It was on this day in 1962.

Actress Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jeane Mortenson)
(June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962)

On Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor on this day in 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid.

On this day in 1957, American Bandstand made its network debut on ABC-TV. The show was hosted by Dick Clark. Until this day the show
had been a local show in Philadelphia since 1952.

From left: singer Paul Anka and Bandstand host Dick Clark