Once upon a time there was a fantastic new technology that pulled sounds from the air and let people hear distant voices and music right in their living room. It was a wonder called radio, and everyone had to get one. Today's scramble for the latest gadget does not compare to the amazing boom created by the first commercial radio broadcasts of the 1920's.
The first radio station to air a news program was 8MK, produced by the Detroit News in August 1920. In 1922 the call sign was changed to WWJ and the station expanded its programs to include a small orchestra called the Detroit News Orchestra, the first radio orchestra in the United States, if not also the world. Most were musicians who also played in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and their leader was Otto E. Krueger, the flutist seated in the center.
This large 8"x10" press photo from the archives of the Detroit News has a stamped date of FEB 23, 1926 on the back with an incomplete list of the musicians' names. No doubt a studio portrait shot by a staff photographer of the Detroit News.
But the photo was actually taken in 1922.
The new medium of the wireless radio was more than just the opportunity for communication of ideas. There was a vast potential for profit, and everyone wanted a stake in it. In 1922 there were already 67 Stations owned by universities, publishers, electric companies, and other business corporations.
Many of the stations had powerful transmitters that allowed their AM signal to be heard across the continent. But the receivers were only little crystal sets or the new improved vacuum tube models. Sound was only monophonic and getting a clear frequency reception could be a daunting task. For more than you will ever need to know about radio history go here: Early Radio History
But programing was challenging because most of the public didn't yet own a radio, or even have electricity in their home. The first stations had to create both content and a market, and musical performances seemed a good attraction, but what kind of music to play? Detroit was becoming a major center for American art and industry, and the Detroit Symphony had just been established in 1914, so talented professional musicians like Otto Krueger were given the challenge of creating a new kind of Concert of the Air.
The next photo was probably taken about the same time and shows the WWJ sound studio with its single microphone on the right. The newspaper was quite proud of its efforts in radio and in 1922 produced a book WWJ - The Detroit News, a history of the radiophone describing its many innovations in broadcasting. It includes a description of the Detroit News Orchestra on page 21 with brief biographies of the musicians.
- Otto E. Krueger - conductor and flautist
- Maurice Warner - concertmeister
- Herman Goldstein - first violin
- LeRoy Hancock - first violin
- Armand Hebert - second violin
- V. P. Coffey - viola and piano, composer
- Frederick Broeder - cello
- Eugene W. Braunsdorf - bass
- Thomas J. Byrne - oboe
- R. M. Arey - clarinet
- Vincenzo Pezzi - bassoon
- Albert Stagliano - French horn
- Edward Clarke - French horn
- Floyd O'Hara - trumpet
- Max Smith - trombone
- Arthur Cooper - xylophone and percussion instruments
The next photo comes from 1925 and shows a smaller ensemble of ten musicians. The back lists the musicians as:
standing l-r: Carl Chase, Fred Lauer, Otto Krueger, Eugene Bronstarff (sic);
seated l-r: Maurice Warner, Roy Hancock, Lawrence Manzer, Valbert P. Coffey, Marius Fossenkemper, Frederick Broeder.
They seem to have given up on the white tie and tails, or maybe this is just rehearsal dress.
Radio Broadcast, a monthly magazine in the same DIY style as Popular Mechanics, published a picture of the Detroit News Orchestra in 1924. It had articles titled: Man Made Static - What Is That Scratching Sound? and Why You Should Have A Wavemeter.
Braunsdorf also doubled on sousaphone, perhaps because low brass on the AM band made for a stronger bass.
I was unable to find out when the Detroit News Orchestra stopped playing on WWJ, though a station with these call letters continues in Detroit today.
By 1926, many radio stations were struggling with the high cost of producing programs and also maintaining the transmitting equipment. This brought about the consolidation of stations under the major corporations like NBC and CBS. And then there was the Great Depression, which undoubtedly had a major impact in ending many radio concerts. But more probable is that the public demand for light classical music changed and popular music became the big fashion. Look at my earlier post on another Detroit News photo showing a WWJ radio band from 1929 - The Gypsy Barons
My contribution to Sepia Saturday
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