Howard Miller Show

Those who grew up after the Golden Age of Radio still spent a good deal of time listening to the radio, but the programing was much different. The dramas, comedies, and variety programs which had been the backbone of radio programming had migrated to television. The important personality on radio became the disc jockey.

A disc jockey is an entertainer whose "act" consists mostly of playing recorded music. News commentator Walter Winchell coined the title of disc jockey to describe announcer Martin Block. Block rose to a certain degree of prominence during the Lindbergh Kidnapping. In order to hold audience interest between developments in the case, Block played records over the air to give the impression that he was broadcasting from a ballroom setting. The networks mandated the use of live musicians on the air for most of Radio's Golden Age, which may or may not have improved the quality of music on the air but certainly helped studio musicians to find work outside of recording.

One of the most important disc jockeys of the pre-Rock 'n' Roll era was Howard Miller on WIND Chicago. As commuter culture developed during the post-War years, Miller was a driving force in what would become known as "drive time radio". Miller's music selections were popular with drivers, but it was his fun and easy patter between records which kept them from engaging the push-button channel selectors.

Miller became popular enough that CBS gave him a nation-wide spot at 10:45 every morning, just after Arthur Godfrey. The Howard Miller Show began with a sunny trumpet solo and Miller usually discussing Chicago weather and introducing his guest for the day followed by a record, although not necessarily one by the guest. Most of Howard's guests were recording artists, and they would discuss their latest records and how their career was going, followed by Miller showcasing one of their songs. Miller sometimes interviewed film stars and other personalities on the program, and occasionally went without a guest to interview but reviewed and featured an album or two that he thought his audience should know about. Guests on the Howard Miller Show included personalities like Dick Haymes, Nat King Cole, Pat Boone, Julie London, Rock Hudson, the Andrews Sisters, Liberace, Tony Martin, Gene Krupa, Patti Page, Jerry Lewis, Mitch Miller, Jack Webb, Rosemary Clooney, and many, many others.

This was precisely the type of situation which led to the "payola scandal" which would end Alan Freed's career after he pleaded guilty to two counts of commercial bribery in 1962. Howard Miller had also been involved in a much smaller payola scandal at WGN before coming to WIND.

As Miller's audience aged (and rejected Rock 'n' Roll), he became more interested in the political process and encouraged his listeners to understand and participate. He pioneered the conservative talk-radio later championed by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Miller's style became more flamboyant and confrontational as he took on "protestors, hippies, radicals, and dissidents". He was released from WIND for controversial remarks after the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Miller sought to praise the efforts of police and firefighters during the inner-city racial tensions in the immediate aftermath of the killing, but the comments were interpreted as being an alternative to honoring Dr. King.

Howard Miller died from complications related to colon cancer in Naples, Florida, 1994.