KNBQ Tacoma/Seattle Washington Composite 1983 (0:06:07)

… Stand by for an audio profile of the Pacific Northwest’s favorite contemporary hit radio station …
KNBQ was licensed to Tacoma, about 30 miles south of Seattle but was giving KUBE a run with a high energy top 40 format. As I recall, this was a time of transition for KNBQ (I arrived in March of 1984), Gary Bryan (now at K-Earth) had gone to KISW and Sean Lynch was the PD/Midday Jock. John Murphy & newsman Mark Pierce were holding down mornings. Beau Roberts was doing PM Drive, in 2015 he was the imaging voice of KZOK. Ron Harris was doing nights and was moved to weekends/fill-in in the spring of 1984. Jennifer Michaels handled overnights. By the fall of 1984 Morning man John Murphy would leave for Z100 in Portland, Oregon and most of the rest of the staff had turned over before that in the spring of 1984. The narrator was production director R.P. McMurphy, who would end up in the AM Drive slot with newsman Mark Pierce in the spring of 1984.

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