J. Scott Smart

The Fat Man, a popular radio show during the 1940s and early 1950s was a
detective drama based on characters by Dashiell Hammett. It starred J. Scott
Smart (above) in the title role, as a detective who started out anonymous but
rapidly acquired the name ‘Brad Runyon’.

Broadcast from the studios of WJZ in Newark, New Jersey, the series premiered
on the ABC Radio Network on Monday, January 21, 1946, at 8:30pm, as part of
a block of four new programs and ran until 1951. Based on Dashiell Hammett’s
fiction, The Fat Man was further developed by producer, E.J. Rosenberg. The
program was directed by Clark Andrews, creator of Big Town, and Charles
Powers. The main writer was Richard Ellington, with other scripts by Robert
Sloane and Lawrence Klee.

Tim Maguire

The song "School Days" was recorded at Universal Recording
Studios in Chicago, Illinois. The session(s) were produced by
the Chess brothers – Leonard and Phil – and backing Berry
on the recording were guitarist Hubert Sumlin (who is known
for his work with Howlin’ Wolf), bassist Willie Dixon, and the
drummer was Fred Below. The single peaked at No. 5 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart, his third highest-ranked pop hit and
also hit number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart.

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry will turn 90 this year.