Mike Griffen, WNAP-FM Indianapolis, IN 1973 (1:19:24)

… The Wrath Of The Buzzard …
[Description by Uncle Ricky, contributed by Art Vuolo] Without a doubt, this is the most aggressive (musically) and varietal (not diverse!) FM Top-40 station of the early Seventies I have ever heard, at least on the “rock” side. And we get to hear the EEEEE-lectronic Mama jingle up front, too. There are long sweeps of album cuts that will require me to consult my AOR music expert to prepare the music reports (yes, we pay fees to stream music, please support us). Much of this stuff didn’t break “top 40” charts anywhere! BUT – note the jingles ALWAYS into music – still, I’m not happy with the stop set starting directly out of a music set, definitely unusual for hit music stations with live jocks at the time. Bonus: A full newscast with Paul Page is included. The newscast (at 30 minutes in) may be where you realize this station was running REVERB on their program chain. Yum! But what a strange LACK of balance – what would otherwise be an Album-Oriented FM of the period interrupted with Tie A Yellow Ribbon and Playground in My Mind! Wow, this is almost surreal, particularly with Mike Griffen “honeying” and “babying” me through all the male-targeted rock numbers. Or was that the Barry White tune? No unscoped version for this one, you must listen and try to understand. It was 1973. There was no satellite radio, and the concept of a single format for everyone was still a worthy pursuit. This is the last hour or so of morning drive, and there’s a bit of Mike Charles on the tail.

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