The 40s on 4

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The '40s on 4
Image:The40s_logo.gif
Broadcast area United States
Canada
Frequency XM 4
First air date 2001-09-25
Format 1930s and 1940s Music
Class Satellite Radio Station
Owner XM Satellite Radio
Website the40s.xmradio.com

The '40s on 4 (or just The '40s) is a commercial-free music channel on the XM Satellite Radio platform. It mostly plays big band, swing, and hit parade music from 1936 to 1949.

The channel often bills itself as "The Savoy Express on Track #4", a reference to the passenger train travel common in the 1940s. The "Station Master" (Program Director) for the channel is Marlin Taylor and the Music Director is Bob Moke.

Similar to the other decades channels, The '40s channel recreates the feeling of its time period. They are able to do this through big band/swing music, historic newscasts, top-three track countdowns from the current week in a year from 1936-1949, World War II-era patriotic songs, and Spike Jones joke novelty recordings. They also intermittently play tracks from the 1920s and early 1930s, which they refer to as the "Record Museum". The channel is also used for XM's annual pop music chronology, IT.

[edit] Programs

  • Historic Newscasts - Reporter Ed Baxter (voiced by Bill Schmalfeldt) reports on the current day's events in a year from 1936 to 1949 as if they were current events.
  • Harmony Square - This is a one hour presentation of barbershop quartets, both male and female.
  • Big Band Jump - This is a syndicated radio program by Don Kennedy that tells the background of big band/swing songs, as well as stories about past and current swing/big band artists.
  • Bing Crosby Radio Shows - Re-airing Crosby's appearances on such vintage programs as Philco Radio Time and Kraft Music Hall.

[edit] Trivia

  • During Academy Award season, Bob Moke would regularly introduce and play all of the Academy-Award nominated songs for a particular year between 1936 and 1949.

[edit] External links