Jack Spector, Radio Caroline, May 1966 (0:58:51)

… From New York City, It’s the Jack Spector Show for Radio Caroline! …
[Description by Contributor Gary Liebisch] A Radio Caroline Ship Caroline Floating Studio 1967 In 1966, British offshore Radio Caroline was less than 2 years old. This aircheck was given to me almost 30 years ago (source unknown). The original recording was a raw and unprocessed LINEcheck of WMCA’s Jack Spector in a separate program he recorded regularly for broadcast on the Pirate radio station. The best estimate on the date of broadcast is the week of May 25, 1966, based on Jake’s reference to the “Good Guy Sureshot” of that week being The Beatles’ “Paperback Writer”. No satellite delivery back then—tapes had to be delivered to the offshore ships, so it’s possible that it aired much later. On this recording, Jack borrows heavily from edited WMCA jingles, and from his former WMCA Good Guy buddy, B. Mitchel Reed, who by this time had returned to Los Angeles and KFWB. Note his use of “your leader” as well as Mitch’s theme “Hand Clappin'” (at the :30 mark and end of program). The address given for writing is 1697 Broadway, which was NOT the address for WMCA at the time, so one must assume that Radio Caroline had its own production facility in New York, or at least a makeshift one. Jack refers to dial position as “199 on your dial”. Since it was common at the time to give dial position as wavelength, it is probable that the frequency was near 1510 kHz. DO NOT DUPLICATE: Our licensing does not grant you the right to make a copy. Because this exhibit includes copyrighted music performances, you are not licensed to trade or sell copies of this recording. ©2011 REELRADIO, Inc.

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