Don Bombard, WKTQ Pittsburgh, PA. August 3, 1980 (scoped) (0:13:59)

Scoped
… Please, Bombard, please, won’t you play me some rock ‘n’ roll …

[Description by contributor David Adams]

When Don Bombard began doing afternoon drive at WCBS-FM in New York, PD Joe McCoy suggested he call himself Bob Shannon. He quickly became one of New York’s best known DJs. According to Don, “my namesake was yet another “Bob Shannon” who worked for the TM Century production company!” (as of June, 2006, that “Bob Shannon” is on the Board of Directors of REELRADIO, Inc..)

The first Bob Shannon in the radio business was Bob “Shamrock” Shannon (d. 08-15-2000), the longtime radio and TV announcer who worked for the CBS network in the 1940s and 1950s.

Don’s introduction to oldies came in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the former 13Q (WKTQ) with his Sunday Night Oldies Party. At the time, he couldn’t have known that the Oldies Party was a warm-up to a twenty year career in afternoon drive at WCBS-FM.

Thanks to Don Bombard, Rob Frankel and Tom Buck for assistance in restoring the music to this REELRADIO exhibit. ALL REELRADIO exhibits are copyrighted by REELRADIO, Inc. as of the date of publication and are licensed for real-time streaming, only. Do NOT duplicate, trade, or sell this copyrighted recording.]

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