Jack Armstrong, WWKB Buffalo, October 31, 2005 Part One (1:03:32)

… truth is stranger than fiction, and I’m too dumb to make these things up …
[Description by Uncle Ricky] The late Jackson Armstrong (d. March 23, 2008) tracked this show from his home studio in Greensboro, N.C., and both parts of this two-part exhibit from WWKB demonstrate his mastery of the technique. It’s likely that most listeners had no idea that Jack wasn’t actually at the station. Jack Armstrong For my preference, Jack talks too long but not often enough! That is, he has very long “infotainment” segments, but the station format has lots of “no jock” segues, using promos and jingles instead of allowing Jack to appear for short segments, more often. That’s the way radio sounded “back in the day”, and it would nice to hear a “tracked” show replicate that. In a “tracked” presentation, the personality doesn’t sit through the songs and spots (like in the old days), instead, they hear the beginning and end of the records where they’re supposed to talk. An hour can be recorded in a few minutes using this technique. If three songs are played with jingles or promos in-between, the jock never hears them – they just move on to the next place where they talk. Very nice music selection and there are a lot of drop-ins, gags and wacky voices here. Jack, a student and fan of the great Jack Gale, was working close to his roots in more ways than one.

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