Jack Armstrong, KKHR Los Angeles, 1985 (0:04:42)

… . . . do I get to play the bagpipes now? . . . …

The granddaddy of high energy Top 40 jocks (at it since 1960 on killer stations like WKBW, KFI and KFRC) in his last (so far) major market gig.

This is actually two airchecks: The first half is from March 1985, the second from October of the same year. PD Ed Scarborough, trying to make the station fly on a budget which is a fraction of rival KIIS-FM, is making changes. Midday jock Christopher Lance, there in March, is gone, and replaced by The Slim One (WLS, KFRC), and Armstrong’s been told to dump The Gorilla (his famous alter-ego). It ended up not mattering — KKHR was history within a year of this aircheck.

Jack Armstrong passed away March 22, 2008 at his home in North Carolina.

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