Russ "Weird Beard" Knight, KILT Houston, 1965 (0:43:15)

… Houston’s Fifth Beatle …
Russ “Weird Beard” Knight is featured in this scoped hour of Gordon McLendon’s KILT, on what Jay Marks believes was “probably June 14, 1965.” Jay made this recording on a Wollensak reel recorder at 3-3/4 ips at the age of 13 while visiting relatives in Houston. Jay says, “Pretty good quality too and some really fun stuff on there,” and Uncle Ricky agrees! Thunderstorms lead the Jim Corolla news at the top of the hour, and are prominently featured, shrouding the otherwise remarkably good fidelity with sizzling and splashes of static. You’ll hear 3 complete newscasts, featuring the wonderful KILT bells & whistles of the period. Knight devotes a lot of time to nearly inaudible phone calls and some genuinely funny bits, including Awful Cigarette Company and a bogus Hurricane Report presented by Tony’s Gluesack Parlor. Flashback specials: Roy Orbison for Coca-Cola and a spot for Wildroot (Grooming without grease!). Also, a promo for Murray the K Beatles Reports from Paris. Apparently, Murray was syndicating Beatles reports and was heard on stations other than WINS during this time.

Welcome to the new ReelRadio!

This site is now operated by the North Carolina Broadcast History Museum. 

We want to thank the board of ReelRadio, Inc. for their stewardship since the passing of the founder Richard Irwin in 2018.  It has not been easy and they have maintained the exhibits for future generations to enjoy.

I met Richard Irwin, aka Uncle Ricky, when we were freshmen at East Carolina University.  We both had worked at local stations in our hometowns.  No one was more passionate about radio, especially Top 40 radio, than my friend Richard. 

Our goals with this site are to preserve the exhibits and make them available free of charge for people to enjoy.  Over time, we hope to add some airchecks to the site.  This will not happen immediately.  Time and resources will determine the future of new exhibits. 

Many thanks to the web folks at the Beasley Media Group for countless hours of work.  Again thanks to the board members of ReelRadio, Inc. for their faith in us. 

Richard Irwin’s hope was that his site would live on long after his passing. He said, “I hope REELRADIO will survive as my contribution to the ‘radio business’. The business is allowed to forget me, but the business should never forget the great era of radio that we celebrate here”.

We remember Richard and we thank him. If you enjoy this new site, we would appreciate a contribution. We hope you enjoy the new ReelRadio!

Board of NCBHP
North Carolina Broadcast History Project