Jack O'Brien, WRKO Boston, 1974 (0:03:39)

… . . . WRKO, now with up to 52 minutes of music an hour . . . …

Jack O’Brien was barely 20 years old when he did this show. His background with many photos is presented at the Big68 Website. He was part of the dream team WRKO hired when it cleaned house top to bottom (Dale Dorman excepted, of course), to get itself out of the station’s doldrum “album” days.

You can’t tell by this aircheck, but Jack is a good ole boy from Georgia. While he loved WRKO, he quit in 1975, as city living didn’t match his style. His real-life accent is stunningly southern, and I love it! Today, Jack is a good friend, who is driving a truck for a living, because in his small-town area of Georgia, there aren’t any high-paying radio jobs.

But he does make it to the air occasionally, as his wife, Beth, sometimes asks him to do voice work at the small station she does traffic for. I plan to do a live presentation with Jack via the Internet one day…and if you are able to hear it, you will discover a truly lovable gentleman, while being charmed by his accent, y’all. I LOVE this exciting, good-times aircheck. So will you!

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