Fred King, WKKO Cocoa FL Thanksgiving, 1967 (RESTORED) (0:47:38)

… Number One in the Moon Port …
[Description by Uncle Ricky} Here’s contributor Fred Klein as Fred King, the first time around at WKKO, in Missile Land (Cocoa Beach, FL) – and it’s Thanksgiving, 1967. He’s got PAMS jingles, reverb and a great time chime! This was back in the days when real radio stations, even in smaller markets, employed local tax-paying Disc Jockeys, many of whom had to work on holidays. In addition to his DJ duties, Fred presents a short newscast, sells a couple of bird dogs, and launches a search for a Cocoa Beach cheerleader jingle. Apparently, all the cheerleader jingles were on one cart, so Fred keeps hoping the right one will come up. Such were the days of limited budgets for luxuries like tape cartridges. The music was restored by REELRADIO for this partially edited aircheck, originally recorded from the station air monitor. Overall, the fidelity at 44Kb/s is excellent. Thanks to Dennis Newhall and Tom Buck for help with the music restoration. Happy Thanksgiving, 2005!

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