Beginning on September 25, 2001 … the day that XM Satellite Radio officially began offering its service to the subscribing public … and continuing for the better part of the next decade, the 1940’s/Big Band Channel — known as the Savoy Express — aired daily newscasts.
So why is this unusual? You must put it into perspective … this channel lived in its era … the later 1930’s and 1940’s. Hence, each day’s newscast was for the month and day on which it aired — but the year varied and was somewhere between 1936 and 1949! Or, as I liked to say, “We knew Dwight D. Eisenhower as a great general, you mean he went on to become President of the United States?”
As the headline says … it’s time now for the news … from exactly 70 years ago:
(Big Ben – One gong)
The Pulitzer Prizes for 1948 have been presented … as they have every year since 1917 … at Columbia University in New York City.
In the arts, two widely acclaimed works have been honored. The Prize for Fiction was awarded to author James Michener for “Tales of the South Pacific” … and in Drama … Tennessee Williams receives the prize for “A Streetcar Named Desire.” American composer Walter Piston has won the Music prize for his “Symphony Number Three,” first performed earlier this year by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
In the Middle East . . . the new State of Israel is at war … much as Jews and Palestinians living in the area have been battling for years. Just hours after British troops departed the region … forces from the Arab states of Egypt, Trans-Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq invaded the newly-secured territory of the Jewish nation.
And … the biggest cash deal in Hollywood history has been concluded … as famed aviator and entrepreneur Howard Hughes handed over a check for more than eight million dollars to acquire control of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation, better known as the R-K-O studios. This deal now makes Howard Hughes … who’s already been involved in film production for a number of years … the movie industry’s top mogul. It’s been announced that Dore Shary … R-K-O’s crack production chief … will remain in charge, at least for the near term. Mr. Hughes plans, we’re told, to eventually take an active role in running things, and re-build the studio’s list of faded stars. As the discoverer of the late Jean Harlow and Jane Russell, Howard Hughes thinks he has the experience for the job.
This … is Ed Baxter. And … that’s our report for May 16th … 1948.
By the way, Ed Baxter was the father of famed television newscaster Ted Baxter. In case you can’t quite bring “Ted” to mind … here’s his bio!
The voice of “Ed Baxter” and the one who chose his name was Bill Schmalfeldt, the program director of XM’s Broadway channel during our early years.
This is another “report” on the early days (if you missed Part One, read it now) of my nearly 15 years spent in satellite radio, all documented in Chapter 13, the longest chapter in my radio industry memoir, “RADIO … My Love, My Passion.”
As the weeks pass, there’ll be more stories and more photos from this 70-year journey … so please stop back — we post a new Marlin’s Musings most every Thursday at 10 AM Eastern.
Thank you.
Image Credits: Photo by Marlin R. Taylor
