Wolfman Jack, WNBC NY, August 23, 1973 (0:26:57)

… When the saints go marchin’ in, I wanna be doin’ a number, when the saints go marchin’ in …
[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Eric Rhoads] Wolfman Jack, 1979 This ‘scoped aircheck of Wolfman Jack is extremely rare! There are very few airchecks of Wolfman and his live show circa 1973-1974 on WNBC. We know of only one other — a 1973 aircheck from Programmer’s Digest that generated lots of comment back in the “someone else paid for it” days. What’s really great about this almost half-hour is that it includes most of Wolfman’s first two hours of the evening. The fidelity of this recording is nothing exceptional, but the content is hard-core Wolfman. And he has a problem. Apparently, he was expecting the new Rolling Stones album for his program this evening. (History tells us the LP was released on August 31, 1973.) The best he can arrange is 40 Angie singles, and he says he will give those away to the first 40 people who meet him at the entrance to NBC on 49th Street, at midnight (standing in an orderly line, of course.) Do you wonder if that went OK? There are lots of WNBC “Adult Top 40” jingles. The original ‘scoping was somewhat irregular, but there’s no doubt that the NBC engineer on duty had some difficulty with levels, overlays and overall production. Some of what you will hear is just plain run all over itself. But, 20 years after Alan Freed’s Moondog first wailed at WJW, Wolfman was howling in the Big Apple.

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!

Carl Davis
Trustee
North Carolina Broadcast History Museum