Keith Smith, KMEL San Francisco Demo, 1986-1989 (0:07:16)

… he used to be an altarboy, and I mean used to be …

Description by Uncle Ricky

KRTH Los Angeles Production Manager Keith Smith contributed these first-class composites of the stuff he does every day in September of 1999. We’re adding this to his collection in August of 2000.

These powerful 18 minutes of fabulous audio production came to us on DAT, and it needed only some peak limiting for final encoding. It’s pumped with tweets and woofs! If you have one of those 11Kbs AOL or 16Kbps Web-TV connections, or basically, any dial-up connection under an actual 50Kbps (most “56K” connections offer far less than 56Kbs) it’s *still* great listening — but it won’t be hi-fi. The Mono versions are strongly recommended for dial-up users. If you can hear the mono version at top speed (32.1Kbps), sure, try the stereo. (And we hope you won’t be disappointed.)

The stereo versions are recommended if you have a genuine “broadband” connection (ISDN, DSL, Cable or LAN, over 100Kbs). The stereo version of these demos is stunning and you *will* wake the kids! (Phoning the neighbors is optional.)

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