Ken Knox, KLIF Dallas, January 4, 1961 (0:26:48)

Unscoped
… While you’re in your car, you’re not very far from KLIF! …
[Description by Uncle Ricky]Because of the vinitage and quality, this aircheck has been circulated for many years, but we’re just getting around to it in 2015 at REELRADIO. We cleaned it up a bit, and where the dropout was bad, we restored three songs. This aircheck is just one of the thousands of recordings that contributor Tom Konard has acquired over the years, and he was happy to share it with us.

KLIF was the Top 40 Flagship of Gordon McLendon in Dallas. Our host for this all-too-short half-hour is Ken Knox (d. 1998, 63), who worked in Dallas radio for many years, including beautiful music station KTLC-FM (later KMEZ) in Dallas. But his KLIF employment included a 1959 appearance in a movie (The Giant Gila Monster) produced by McLendon, according to IMDB. Apparently, Knox was not the only KLIF DJ offered a part in a McLendon movie.

My guess is that some of the recorded commercial announcements were on acetates, well-worn and unbelievably scratchy. It’s hard to believe these “electrical transcriptions” were on the air at KLIF in 1961. On the other hand, the Futursonic Jingles sound very good, as do other recorded elements, probably played from a McKenzie Repeater.

Musically, it’s 50% instrumental, handy for padding to news, but those coming of age in the early 60’s will remember at least two truly golden classics. KLIF JetStream News with Jack Terry is up-to-the-minute, with “newsbugs”, but don’t give Ms. Schmidt any trouble, she sounds very serious. This was a remarkable radio station!

©2015 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!

Carl Davis
Trustee
North Carolina Broadcast History Museum