“It’s not true that I had nothing on. I had the radio on”

Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jean Mortenson, 1926-1962) posed nude for a 1949 calendar photo. She was paid $50. In March 1952, after three years of minor roles in Hollywood, it was finally revealed to the public that it was Marilyn Monroe who had posed for the nude calendar photo.
 
Sheilah Graham’s “Hollywood Diary” reported to newspapers on June 23, 1952:
 
“A pompous visitor asked Marilyn Monroe at Niagara (for the film Niagara—ed.) —‘Is it true that when you posed for that famous calendar photograph, Miss Monroe, you had nothing on?’ ‘No,’ said our Marilyn. ‘I had the radio on.’”
 
Various songs have used the line, such as Pantera’s “Nothin’ On (But the Radio)” (1983), Gary Allan’s “Nothing On but the Radio” (2004) and Roxette’s “She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio)” (2011).
     
 
Wikiquote: Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 – 5 August 1962) was an American actress, singer, model, and one of the most famous Hollywood icons of the twentieth century.
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It’s not true I had nothing on. I had the radio on.
. On reports of her nude photographs for a calendar, as quoted in TIME magazine (1952)
 
23 June 1952, The Evening Star (Washington, DC), “Hollywood Diary” by Sheilah Graham, pg. A-13, col. 4:
A pompous visitor asked Marilyn Monroe at Niagara—“Is it true that when you posed for that famous calendar photograph, Miss Monroe, you had nothing on?” “No,” said our Marilyn. “I had the radio on.”
 
2 August 1952, Blytheville (AR) Courier News, “Heat Wave in Hollywood” (a preview of Erskine Johnson stories about Marilyn Monroe—ed.), pg. 1, col. 5:
When asked if she had anything on when the now-famous calendar photo was made, she retorted, “Sure, I had the radio on.”
 
5 August 1952, Lima (OH) News, “Hollywood’s Marilyn Monroe: Blond, Saucy, the New Harlow” by Erskine Johnson, pg. 9, cols. 3-4:
Then she switched to modeling—and posed for that now famous nude calendar. Her fee was $50 but it’s been worth $1,000,000 to her in publicity. Asked just the other day if she had anything on for the calendar photograph, Marilyn quipped:
 
“Sure, I had the radio on.”
 
22 August 1952, Boston (MA) Evening American, “Monroe Stars In Paramount, Fenway Film,” pg. 19, col. 1:
Marilyn Monroe, who admits she only “had the radio on” in that historic calendar shot that set off a spontaneous, nationwide wolf whistle, is the hottest thing on celluloid and the Paramount and Fenway’s got her.
   
Google Books
Link: Indian Newsmagazine
Volume 5, Part 1
1962
Pg. 36:
Asked by a shocked newswoman whether she had really ‘nothing on’, MM replied in that whisper of hers. “I had the radio on.”
 
Google Books
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
By Elizabeth M. Knowles
Oxford: Oxford University Press
1999
Pg. 526:
Marilyn Monroe (1926-62)
American Actress
when asked if she really had nothing on in a calendar photograph:
I had the radio on.
in Time 11 August 1952
 
Wikipedia: Nothing On but the Radio (2004—ed.)
“Nothing On but the Radio” is a song written by Byron Hill, Odie Blackmon and Brice Long, recorded by American country music artist Gary Allan. It was released in June 2004 as the third and last single from his album See If I Care.[1] The song was Allan’s third Number One single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The song also peaked at number 32 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also won an ASCAP Award for being among the most performed country songs of 2005. The song was later included on Allan’s Greatest Hits album.
 
Wikipedia: She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio) (2011—ed.)
“She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio)”, written by Per Gessle and performed by Swedish pop duo Roxette, is the first single released from their eighth studio album Charm School. The video was directed by Mats Udd. The single is Roxette’s longest running hit in Germany since “How Do You Do!” in 1992, charting for 21 weeks
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The title is a reference to a 1952 quote by Marilyn Monroe about her nude photographs for a calendar: “It’s not true I had nothing on. I had the radio on.” The band Pantera used the same phrase for the title of its song “Nothin’ On (But the Radio)” on their 1983 debut album Metal Magic. In 2004, country music artist Gary Allan released “Nothing On but the Radio”. It was reported in 2010 that Lady Gaga had recorded an unreleased song under the title “Nothing On (But the Radio)”.
     
Google Books
Nothing On But The Radio
Jodi Lynn Copeland
Loose Id, May 31, 2011 - Fiction
To hell with her critics; Taryn James is going to make it in the songwriting industry. If only Brian Macovney weren’t standing in her way. Gorgeous he may be, but he’s also nasty, trampling on her dreams by insulting her lyrics and all because he once failed to deliver in bed.
   
Time magazine
REMEMBRANCE
Marilyn Monroe 50 Years Later: In TIME and Out of Time
A wondrous comedienne, a troubled spirit and the great media magnet of her era, the blond bombshell spilled the secrets of her abused childhood for the readers of TIME in 1956
By Richard Corliss Aug. 03, 2012
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The story cited the notorious nude calendar for which Monroe had posed in 1949: “Asked if she really had nothing on in the photograph, Marilyn, her blue eyes wide, purred: ‘I had the radio on.’”
     
Today I Found Out
THE STORY BEHIND MARILYN MONROE’S NUDE CALENDAR
January 23, 2013 Eddie Deezen
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But now it was May 27, 1949 (just five days shy of her 23rd birthday) and Marilyn desperately needed $50.00 (about $460 today) to make a payment on her car, lest it be impounded. Young Marilyn had been dropped from her contracts at both 20th Century Fox and Columbia and these steady studio contractual stipends were dearly missed.
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That’s when journalist Aline Mosby broke the “nude calendar” story in March of ’52. The studio’s initial reaction was to deny everything. But Marilyn, to her credit, made the decision and convinced the studio to fess up and admit that it was indeed her in the photo.
 
An exclusive interview was given on March 25, 1952, and the scandal-hungry reporters sharpened their pencils, hoping, as reporters always do, for scandal, ridicule, and shame, not to mention the destruction of a hopeful young actress’s career, which always sells well in the media. But instead of ridicule, the press were charmed by Marilyn’s candidness and honesty.
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Even Marilyn’s natural sense of humor was to come out in the aftermath of the “Golden Dreams Scandal” breaking. Later, reporters would harangue Marilyn and ask her if she “had anything on” during the infamous shoot. “Oh yes”, Marilyn quipped, “I had the radio on.”
 
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It’s not true that I had nothing on. I had the radio on. - Marilyn Monroe http://bit.ly/y1CAON
8:57 PM - 23 Oct 2015