Dave Murphy, KIIS Los Angeles, 1983-scoped (0:04:54)

Scoped
… Love is a Battlefield, so make sure you’re protected …
[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Mike Miles] Hopefully someone can identify the jock who opens this aircheck; we didn’t get his name. But most of this exhibit is Dave Murphy on the 9PM Sunday shift at KIIS (‘KISS’) FM in Los Angeles, probably in late September of 1983. Murphy is another graduate of San Bernadino’s KFXM and KMEN who has been successful in L.A. radio. A variety of early ’80’s hit music (leaning urban) dominates this stereo selection (which sounds SWEET in broadband at 96kbps!) Whether you choose the ‘scoped or unscoped version, you’ll hear John Houseman (d. 1988) for McDonalds. Houseman helped found The Mercury Theatre with the great Orson Welles. I can’t help but wonder how many more Millions Sold were attributed to this campaign. And whose is the smooth ID voice over the Prince record (12:06 unscoped, 1:07 ‘scoped)? It’s nice to hear a strong ID that doesn’t growl. It’s clean and friendly. Kewl. Finally, an aside to real-time programmers: Please note this successful radio station didn’t play hits back to back without an ID (layover, jingle, jock) between or over them. If all your radio station does is play one hit after another, you are not a radio station, you might as well be an MP3 player.

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