Identitones Demo, 1968 (0:01:28)

… … They’re all the work of one man … …

Modern ID jingles use a musical logo which is sung with the call letters. The first company to do this was Johnson Siday in 1954, in jingles done for WWSW.

Their primary work was in advertising. They created the 1939 “Pepsi Cola hits the spot” commercial jingle and went on to develop the musical logo in their commercials.

Eric Siday called the musical logos “Identitones” His work is featured in this demo tape which includes the famous ABC Radio news logo used for many years to introduce the network news at :55. Siday is considered a pioneer in the development of electronic music. His use of the Moog, filters, reverse taping, and recording off speed are all shown in his 1968 “Identitone” demonstration tape.

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