How X Minus 1 got the name

A few days ago Joy, my wife and trusty helper on RUSC, received an e-mail from Gregory B. Cohane from Fort Myers in Florida. It included a wonderful story so Joy e-mailed Gregory and asked if she could include his little anecdote on the site. He kindly agreed so here it is:

Some years ago I was working in radio in Florida, first as a staff announcer then later in management, and my all-time favorite affiliation was with NBC Radio and its news and any other broadcasts from 30 Rockefeller Plaza in NYC. I had the great fun and pleasure of making numerous trips from Florida to 30 Rock to meet with the NBC radio network affiliate relations people. As you may know, NBC Radio Network no longer broadcasts any news/programming, which I feel is a great loss.

On one of the trips to Rockefeller Plaza my closest associate at NBC Radio, Robert Wogan, was riding with me in one of the sleek stainless elevators. He asked me if I knew of the many NBC Radio Network broadcasts of the Golden Age of Radio. I was younger than he but of course I knew the names and history of some but not a great number of the broadcasts which had been so famous for decades.

As we rode in the elevator he very casually mentioned that he had the initial idea and inspiration for the X Minus 1 series. It was an idea which he effectively sold to the NBC higher-ups.

The inspiration came to him in that very elevator, as he watched, like all the thousands of other passengers over the years, the elevator descended floor by floor - finally reaching the Mezzanine, then lower to the ground level at the street - and then, one further level below street was marked on the series of descending lights just above eye-level - there it was X-1 the floor one level below the first floor.

Bob Realized that was not only an uncommon designation but also a compelling one, which he converted into broadcast history one day while doing what thousands of other executives had missed. And the rest as they say, is history.

Thanks for that wonderful story Gregory! It certainly got me thinking about how many times I must have missed something that other people spotted and made something from.

The image above was taken by myself on a trip that Joy and I made to New York a few years ago. It was one of those beautiful, blue-skied days that really brings out the best in the city.

If you have an interesting anecdote you'd like to share do let me know. Send it to me at the usual address - ned@rusc.com.

Happy listening my friends