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K.O. Bailey, WJBK Detroit, 1969 (0:08:27)

The Pat Riley Collection
… maybe if you treat me right, I’ll whistle you up a cool ‘un …
WJBK was a leading Top 40 station in Detroit in the 50’s. By 1964, the station (1500 Khz) had slipped quietly into a beautiful music format. But, in March of 1969, WJBK returned to Top 40 with PD Mike Scott from KGB in San Diego. West-coast imports Lee Baby Simms (morning drive) and K.O. Bayley (afternoon drive) joined Tom Shannon, Hank O’Neil, Tom Dean, and Jim Hampton. K.O.’s personable performance suggests that this last gasp of WJBK Top 40 featured lots of high-profile personality and clean, trim formatics. (No jingles!) In 1970, WJBK became country-talk WDEE.

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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