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Gary Shannon, KJR Seattle 1969 (0:06:45)

The David Critchfield Collection, The KM Richards Collection
… 1970 will be here in eighteen minutes, or seventeen and a half minutes, I’m not sure …
[Description by contributor KM Richards]Top-40 long had the tradition of counting down the top songs of the year as midnight approached on New Year’s Eve. At KJR in Seattle in 1969, Gary Shannon did the honors, and this ‘check includes the top ten songs from that countdown.

By the mid-70’s, Shannon moved to Atlanta’s “Quixie”, WQXI, where he took on the airname Rhett Walker – possibly a tribute to his former crosstown Seattle competitor KOL’s Rhett Hamilton Walker.

[A ‘scoped version of this aircheck was published by REELRADIO on March 3, 2002 in The David Critchfield Collection.]

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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