Jim Hampton Presents Don Bleu and Paul Anka, ABC Spotlight Special (0:27:27)

… Paul Anka, the times of his life …

[Description by Jim Hampton]

In the late 80’s, I flew to Big Sur and met Paul Anka in his home.

He took me into his music room, where he had the most beautiful Kawasaki Grand Piano. He sat at the piano, I turned on my Nagra tape recorder and we began one of the most memorable interviews I had ever done.

As I asked him questions about his songs, he proceeded to underscore his comments by playing on the piano, then singing, in what for me was a private concert. Wow! So I produced this special for the ABC Radio Network, featuring Don Bleu as the announcer.

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