So what did NBC Radio’s weekend-long Monitor sound like? Like nothing ever heard before, or since, on network radio. Each weekend the program featured a kaleidoscope of news, music, comedy, sports, variety, remotes, live interviews and taped snippets.
During its nearly 20-year run, Monitor was on the air for 20,000 hours. Below are nearly 30 hours from 1955-1966, in chronological order. Monitor hours from later years are on separate “Sounds” pages you can access from the Index.
The Monitor hosts you’ll hear, below, are (in alphabetical order) Mel Allen, Morgan Beatty, Frank Blair, Ted Bond, David Brinkley, Hugh Downs, Dave Garroway, Ben Grauer, Peter Hackes, Monty Hall, Bill Hayes, Walter Kiernan, Jim Lowe, Frank McGee, Barry Nelson, Gene Rayburn, Peter Roberts, John Cameron Swayze and Bob Wilson, plus Pat Weaver, in a closed-circuit announcement about Monitor.
**1955**
Pat Weaver’s 1955 Closed-Circuit announcement about “Monitor” — April 1
Time: about 40 minutes
On Friday, April 1, 1955, Sylvester L. “Pat” Weaver — NBC’s president — went on his radio network’s closed-circuit line to announce to affiliates that a radically new program concept would soon debut on NBC Radio. That, of course, was “Monitor” — and this is rare audio of the announcement about the program that would become network radio’s greatest endeavor. (Courtesy of Gene Garnes Sr.)
Monitor 1955 Closed-Circuit “Practice” Hour — May 2
Time: one hour
Fasten your seatbelts — this is an amazing hour (2-3 p.m. ET) from Wednesday, May 2, 1955. It was a closed-circuit (meant to be heard by NBC Radio affiliate-station employes, not by an over-the-air audience) Monitor “practice” hour. It’s Monitor one month before the program premiered on NBC Radio. You’ll hear John Cameron Swayze, Frank Gallop, Bob & Ray, Tedi Thurman (later, “Miss Monitor”), John Chancellor and numerous special reports, music and sounds. It’s Monitor like you’ve never heard it before.
Here’s the Beacon in MP3 format (courtesy of Steve Rood, formerly of KNBR Radio in San Francisco)
Monitor Themes
Here you go, Monitor fans — virtually every theme the program used, over its many years on the air!
The first few minutes of Monitor on its first day on the air, Sunday, June 12, 1955
Time: about 20 minutes
Here it is — the first moments, ever, of what would turn out to be network radio’s greatest program, on Sunday, June 12th, 1955, at 4 p.m. ET. The first hour of the program was simulcast on NBC-TV. This first broadcast lasted 8 hours — until midnight. Starting the next Saturday, Monitor would air 40 consecutive hours each weekend, from 8 a.m. Saturday to midnight Sunday. (The first voice ever heard on Monitor — Morgan Beatty’s.) (Courtesy of Louis Castaing; copyright National Broadcasting Company; used with permission.)
Garroway and Marilyn on Monitor ’55 — June 12
Time: a half-hour
This is the “full” version of the famous interview Monitor host Dave Garroway conducted with Marilyn Monroe on “Monitor’s” first night — Sunday, June 12, 1955, from 8 to 8:30 p.m. ET. Included in this amazing half-hour — NBC Monitor News on the Hour; the voices of Ken Banghart, Joseph C. Harsch and Jim Fleming; a live band performance from Chicago; and, of course, the Garroway interview with Marilyn that became legendary. There’s a bit of static at a couple of points in this recording, but the rest is crystal-clear. (Courtesy Louis Castaing)
Monitor ’55 — the first day, part 1 — June 12
Time — a half-hour
This is the first part of Monitor’s last hour on its premiere day — Sunday, June 12, 1955, from 11-11:30 p.m. ET. It is incredible, exciting and frenetic. Yes, there are mistakes. But it’s an amazing undertaking — with Morgan Beatty and Walter Kiernan doing NBC Monitor News on the Hour, including several live reports; a live big-band remote from Birdland in New York City; Monitor host Ben Grauer introducing Henry Morgan, who does a hilarious review of that evening’s TV fare; a live update from Detroit, where General Motors contract talks were approaching a deadline; and a live big-band remote from the Blue Note in Chicago. All in this one half-hour near the end of Monitor’s eight-hour debut on that memorable Sunday. (Courtesy of Louis Castaing; copyright National Broadcasting Company; used with permission.)
Monitor ’55 — the first day, part 2 — June 12
Time — a half-hour
This is the last half-hour of Monitor’s first day on the air — Sunday, June 12, 1955, from 11:30 p.m. to midnight ET. . It is an absolutely amazingly fast-paced and jam-packed 30 minutes, featuring live musical remotes from the Embers in New York City and from the Hollywood Palladium. It also features live reports from San Quentin Prison in California, from an airliner speeding across the Atlantic to Europe and from the National Weather Service. “Miss Monitor” gives her sexy, unforgettable temperature reports, and Roger Price has a humorous commentary. (Courtesy of Louis Castaing; copyright National Broadcasting Company; used with permission)
Monitor ’55 — first-day highlights — June 12
Below are four brief audio clips of a few highlights of Monitor’s first day on the air — Sunday, June 12, 1955. You’ll hear a truly funny comedy ad-lib by the great team of Bob & Ray; Henry Morgan, reviewing that Sunday night’s TV broadcasts; John Chancellor, reporting from the newsroom of the Chicago Sun-Times; and Art Buchwald, interviewing Li’l Abner cartoonist Al Capp. Morgan and Capp would, in the 1960’s, become regulars on Monitor.
Bob & Ray
Henry Morgan
John Chancellor
Art Buchwald & Al Capp
David Brinkley hosts Monitor ’55 — June 25
Time: one hour
This amazing hour runs from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 25, 1955 — Monitor’s second full weekend on the air. You’ll hear an impressive array of voices — including host David Brinkley, who soon would become co-anchor, with Chet Huntley, of the “Huntley-Brinkley Report” on NBC-TV; legendary comedians Bob and Ray, with a couple of really funny — and live — ad-lib routines; an interview with actress Gloria Grahame; “Miss Monitor,” with a live weather routine; John Chancellor (who also would later become an anchor of NBC’s nightly TV newscast), with a live report from Chicago; Mr. Brinkley, anchoring NBC Monitor News on the Hour; Pauline Frederick, reporting live from San Francisco on Soviet foreign minister Molotov’s extraordinary news conference; and more, including an impressive series of commercials featuring George Burns, Gracie Allen, and their announcer, Harry von Zell. Yes, Monitor was special.
Dave Garroway hosts Monitor ’55, part 1 — June 26
Time: one hour
This hour aired from 7-8 p.m. ET on Sunday night, June 26, 1955. It features NBC Monitor News on the Hour, followed by host Dave Garroway interviewing actresses Gloria Grahame and Polly Bergen, followed by an interview with author Van Wyck Brooks about his “neighbor,” Helen Keller. (Courtesy Louis Castaing)
Dave Garroway hosts Monitor ’55, part 2 — June 26
Time: one hour
This aired from 8-9 p.m. on Sunday night, June 26, 1955. It starts with NBC Monitor News on the Hour, followed by a live report from a swimming meet in Honolulu. Then Dave gets down to business — interviewing musical artists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, followed by a long interview with Marlene Dietrich in London. (Courtesy Louis Castaing)
**1956**
Dave Garroway hosts Monitor ’56 — June 17
Dave Garroway — the first host of the “Today” Show on NBC-TV — also hosted Sunday night Monitor from 1955 until ’61. Here is a short piece from Sunday night, June 17, 1956 — a first-anniversary salute hosted by Dave.
**1958**
Walter Kiernan and Peter Roberts host Monitor ’58 — May 17
Time: one hour
This delightful Monitor hour aired on Saturday, May 17, 1958, from 3 to 4 p.m. ET. Hosted by Walter Kiernan and Peter Roberts, it features a commentary by Alex Dreier from Chicago, a comedy skit by George Gobel and another by Fibber McGee and Molly (one of the only recordings of their time on Monitor, where they did five-minute skits for years), a sports report about how the Indy 500 auto race is run and a sports report from San Francisco, and two skits by “Miss Monitor” — one of which is NOT her famed weather report. (Courtesy of Gary Dibble)
Morgan Beatty and Monty Hall host Monitor ’58 — May 17
Time: one hour
This aired on Saturday, May 17, 1958, from 11 p.m. to midnight. Long-time Saturday night Monitor hosts Morgan Beatty and Monty Hall presided over this fast-paced hour, which begins with NBC Monitor News on the Hour and continues with a sports report from Jim Simpson in Washington; a live interview with actress Vicki Cummings in Ann Arbor, Michigan; a live jazz performance by Billy Maxted’s group from Nick’s in Greenwich Village, New York; an interview with singer Jane Morgan; and a live performance by Xavier Cugat and his band from the Statler-Hilton in New York. (Courtesy of Gary Dibble)
**1959**
Monty Hall & Bob Wilson host Monitor ’59 — June 6
Time: one hour
Yes, Monitor fans, this is the Monty Hall of “Let’s Make a Deal” fame. But that would come later. Here are Bob Wilson & Hall, sitting in for Frank Blair and Don Russell, on Saturday morning, June 6th, 1959, from 11 a.m. to noon ET. It starts with NBC Monitor News on the Hour and what follows are sports reports, Ernie Kovacs, Miss Monitor, Bob & Ray and more. (Courtesy of Gary Dibble)
Hugh Downs & Peter Roberts host Monitor ’59 — June 6
Time: one hour
Hugh Downs & Peter Roberts hosted Saturday afternoon Monitor from the start — from 1955 to ’59. Here they are, on Saturday, June 6, 1959, from 3 to 4 p.m. ET. After NBC Monitor News on the Hour, you’ll hear a Paul Mason report, Ernie Kovacs, Doug Storer and more. (Courtesy of Gary Dibble)
Morgan Beatty & Ted Bond host Monitor ’59 — June 6
Time: a half-hour
Morgan Beatty’s was the first voice ever heard on Monitor on Sunday, June 12, 1955. He was still hosting the program in 1959, and on this Saturday night, June 6, from 11 to 11:30 p.m. ET, his co-host was Ted Bond. Beatty reports NBC Monitor News on the Hour, followed by the Modernaires & the Jonah Jones Quartet performing live. (Courtesy of Gary Dibble)
**1961**
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’61 “Date Special” — Oct. 22
Time: about 5 minutes
This is one of the first “Date Specials” that Monitor’s new Sunday night host, Frank McGee, did in late 1961. The “Date Specials” were produced by Bud Drake, who would go on to become Monitor’s longest-tenured producer. This piece looks back on the same date in 1932. (This and other “date specials” courtesy of the family of Bud Drake)
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’61 “Date Special” — Oct. 29
Time: about 8 minutes
This one looks back on Oct. 29, 1935.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’61 “Date Special” — Nov. 5
Time: about 6 minutes
This one aired on Nov. 5, 1961 — and looked back to that date in 1937.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’61 “Date Special” — Nov. 12
Time: about 8 minutes
This one looks at what was happening on Nov. 12, 1938
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’61 “Date Special” — Nov. 19
Time: about 9 minutes
This one looks at what took place on the same date — Nov. 19 — but in the year 1942.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’61 “Date Special” — Nov. 26
Time: about 9 minutes
This one looks back on what happened 22 years earlier — on Nov. 26, 1939
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’61 “Date Special” — Dec. 3
Time: about 8 minutes
This one aired on Dec. 3, 1961, and looked back on that date in 1945. It includes a rare recording of Mahatma Gandhi’s voice.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’61 “Date Special” — Dec. 10
Time: About 8 minutes
Frank and Bud team up again for this wonderful retrospective that aired on Sunday night Monitor on December 10, 1961 — looking back at the same day in 1940, when World War II was coming.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’61 — Dec. 24
Time: 18 minutes
Oh, what a beautiful piece this is! It’s Sunday night, Christmas Eve 1961, and Frank McGee — in his first year as Sunday night’s host — presided over these last few minutes of the evening’s broadcast — from 9:35 to 9:53 p.m. ET. Go ahead — listen more than once. I certainly have. (Courtesy of the family of Bud Drake)
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’61, Part 1 — Dec. 31
Time: a half-hour
Here’s Frank, again, on Sunday night, Dec. 31, 1961, from 8 to 8:30 p.m. ET. It opens with an “upcut” NBC Monitor News on the Hour. Then, Frank hosts a marvelous retrospective from New Year’s Eve 1945, plus Mel Allen sports and NBC correspondent George Clay reviewing the Congo war. (Courtesy of Louis Castaing)
**1962**
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — Feb. 18
Time: about 9 minutes
This one looks back on the 1890’s.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — Feb. 25
Time: about 15 minutes
This is a look at George Washington and his role in creating this nation.
Mel Allen hosts Monitor ’62 — March 3
Time: a half-hour
Mel Allen — yes, the “Voice of the Yankees” — hosted Saturday morning Monitor from 1961 to 1963. Here’s a half-hour from March 3, 1962, from 9:30 to 10 a.m. ET. Features a “Ring Around the World” and a report by Gene Garnes Sr. on pipe organs. (Courtesy of Gene Garnes Sr.)
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — March 4
Time: about 10 minutes
This one looks back at some of what happened in the eventful year of 1945.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 — March 11
Time: About 25 minutes
Here’s Frank, hosting Sunday night Monitor on March 11, 1962. This half-hour features a “date special,” and a report on Bob Hope, receiving an award and being teased by Jack Benny, Jimmy Stewart — and President John F. Kennedy.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — April 1
Time: about 9 minutes
This one looks back on what happened on April 1, 1935.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — May 13
Time: about 9 minutes
This one looks back at old-time New York City and its Bowery.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — May 20
Time: about 10 minutes
Here’s Frank, looking back at what happened on the same date in 1927.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — June 3
Time: about 8 minutes
Here’s a look back at D Day, 18 years earlier.
Peter Hackes hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — June 10
Time: about 7 minutes
Here’s NBC newsman Peter Hackes, filling in for Sunday night Monitor host Frank McGee. This “date special” takes a loving look at New York City.
Peter Hackes hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — June 24
Time: about 10 minutes
Here’s Peter, filling in again for Sunday night Monitor host Frank McGee, with a look back at the events of June 24, 1948 — 14 years earlier.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — July 1
Time: about 10 minutes
Frank looks back at Thomas Jefferson.
Peter Hackes hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — July 29
Time: about 7 minutes
Peter — again filling in for Sunday night Monitor host Frank McGee — narrates this look at the new world of Telstar — and all that came before it.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — Aug. 12
Time: about 10 minutes
Frank looks back on the happenings of Aug. 12, 1935 — 27 years earlier.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — Aug. 26
Time: about 11 minutes
This one looks back on August 26, 1920.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — Dec. 16
Time: About 11 minutes
This is an absolutely magnificent and heartbreaking look back at the life and tragic death of the great American songwriter Stephen Foster.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 “Date Special” — Dec. 23
Time: About 8 minutes
A Christmas treat — a wonderful, wonderful look at Clement Clarke Moore — the man who wrote “A Visit from St. Nicholas” — yes, the immortal poem we’ve all known since childhood, the one that begins with “‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house…”
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’62 — Dec. 30
Time: a half-hour
Another simply beautiful segment hosted by Frank McGee — this one aired on Sunday night, December 30, 1962. It’s a look back at the year that was — the names, the voices, the events — all woven together, magnificently, by McGee’s narration. They simply don’t make programs like Monitor anymore, and that’s our tremendous loss. (Courtesy of the family of Bud Drake)
**1963**
Jim Lowe hosts Monitor ’63 — a birthday salute to Eddie Cantor — Feb. 2
Time: about 15 minutes
This is just a snippet of Saturday night Monitor hosted by Jim Lowe on Feb. 2, 1963. This piece is a birthday salute to entertainer Eddie Cantor. (Courtesy Walden Hughes)
Jim Lowe hosts Monitor ’63 — a birthday salute to Jimmy Durante, part 1 — Feb. 9
Time: a half-hour
In the early ’60s, Monitor did occasional salutes to big-name stars who were celebrating birthdays. Here’s one of them — a salute to Jimmy Durante — from Saturday night, Feb. 9, 1963, hosted by Jim Lowe. This is the first half-hour of the salute — just click on the link directly below for the second half-hour
Jim Lowe hosts Monitor ’63 — a birthday salute to Jimmy Durante, part 2 — Feb. 9
Time: a half-hour
Here’s the “rest” of Jim Lowe’s Monitor salute to Jimmy Durante.
Jim Lowe hosts Monitor ’63 — a birthday salute to Groucho Marx — Oct. 5
Time: one hour
Here’s another Monitor salute — this one to Groucho Marx — from Saturday night, Oct. 5, 1963, hosted by Jim Lowe. Note, at the end, the announcement about the next day’s World Series game between the Yankees and the Dodgers.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’63 — Oct. 13
Time: about 15 minutes
Sunday night Monitor host Frank McGee narrates this birthday-week salute to “the First Lady of the American Theatre,” Helen Hayes, on Oct. 13, 1963.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’63 “Date Special” — Nov. 10
Time: about 7 minutes
This is a salute to Veteran’s Day — which would be the day after this broadcast. It begins with a report from South Vietnam.
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’63 “Date Special” — Nov. 17
Time: about 3 minutes
This one looks at Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address.
Barry Nelson hosts Monitor ’63 — a birthday salute to Frank Sinatra, part 1 — Dec. 14
Time: a half-hour
Here’s a birthday salute to Frank Sinatra, hosted by Barry Nelson on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 14, 1963. Take special note of Barry’s introduction to the salute, which aired just days after Sinatra’s son, Frank Jr., had been kidnapped, then released about 54 hours later. Nine years after this, Frank Jr. would host Saturday night Monitor for several weeks, while he was performing in New York City. This is the first half-hour of the salute — just click on the link directly below for the second half-hour.
Barry Nelson hosts Monitor ’63 — a birthday salute to Frank Sinatra, part 2 — Dec. 14
Time: a half-hour
Here’s the “rest” of Barry Nelson’s Monitor salute to Frank Sinatra.
**1964**
Gene Rayburn hosts Monitor ’64 — a birthday salute to George Burns — Jan. 18
Time: one hour
Here’s another birthday salute — this one to George Burns, hosted by Gene Rayburn on Saturday night, Jan. 18, 1964. The first part of the audio is dicey, but hang in there — it will clear up. (By 1964, Gene had taken over the Saturday night slot from Jim Lowe — and would keep it until he moved to Saturday morning Monitor in 1966.)
Frank McGee hosts Monitor ’64 — March 22
Time: a half-hour
This is a jewel. NBC newsman Frank McGee — who hosted Sunday night Monitor from 1961 to 1964 — presented this tribute to the great World War II newsman Raymond Gram Swing on March 22, 1964.
Barry Nelson hosts Monitor ’64 — Sept. 26
Time: one hour
Actor Barry Nelson — a star on TV and the Broadway stage for decades starting in the 1940s — hosted Monitor for several years in the 1960s, first the Saturday afternoon segment and later on Sunday afternoons. Here is an hour from a Saturday that Barry hosted on September 26, 1964, from 3 to 4 p.m. ET. It begins with NBC Monitor News on the Hour, followed by a John Cannon report; reports from the vice-presidential campaign trail; “Monitor Tips”; Al Capp; a sports report; Nichols & May; and Robert Vaughn. This is really an outstanding hour — an example of Monitor’s scope and variety in the prime of the program’s life. And we are pleased that we have much more of Barry hosting Monitor on our “sounds” pages in 1965, ’66 and ’67. (Courtesy of Louis Castaing)
Frank Blair hosts Monitor ’64 — the Warren Commission Report — Sept. 27
Time: a half-hour
This is a half-hour of Monitor from Sunday night, Sept. 27, 1964 — the evening the Warren Commission’s report on President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 was released. And this is Monitor at its finest. Host Frank Blair introduces NBC reporters Richard Harkness, Robert McCormick, Russ Ward, Peter Hackes and Morgan Beatty, all analyzing the Commission’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was the JFK’s sole assassin. Yes, we wish we had more of Monitor’s three-hour Sunday night broadcast — but we’re grateful to have this, which has not been heard anywhere else for the past half-century. (Recorded from WSB Radio in Atlanta)
Barry Nelson hosts Monitor ’64 — Nov. 22
Time: a half-hour
Yes, here’s a rare find — a Monitor segment from 1964, this one being Barry Nelson hosting a half-hour of Sunday afternoon Monitor on Nov. 22. You’ll hear Lee Kline of WHO Radio in Des Moines, asking people about what they’re thankful for this coming Thanksgiving — and you’ll hear Barry reading John F. Kennedy’s 1961 Thanksgiving proclamation.
Frank Blair hosts Monitor ’64 JFK Tribute — Nov. 22
Time: 45 minutes
Frank Blair hosted this tribute to President John F. Kennedy that aired on Sunday night Monitor on November 22, 1964 –one year after JFK’s assassination. It is heartbreaking and uplifting and will bring back vivid memories of that Friday in Dallas that changed this country forever.
One thought on “Sounds of NBC Monitor – 1955-1964”
Comments are closed.