Mike Novak, KYNO Fresno, March 1973 (0:21:52)

The Bob Souza Collection
… on the last hour with Mike Novak, guess who walks in? Les Garland. What an obscene gesture that is, get your hand off my leg …
I was told (but never confirmed) that Mike Novak originally came to KYNO from K-JOY in Stockton, California. I wrote “originally” because Mike worked at KYNO three different times. Mike had always been a favorite DJ with the Fresno listeners and KYNO GM Wayne Decker was always eager to bring Mike back when circumstances allowed it to happen.

This air check came from a reel to reel tape (7.5 ips) that former KYNO Chief Engineer Andy Pavao found sitting on a shelf in a KYNO closet. Someone had the brains to record Mike’s (first) last day at KYNO before heading off to KFRC in San Francisco. The exact date is unknown.

We believe the audio tape was fed off the KYNO air monitor. There was a very serious boost in high frequencies to compensate for the roll-off inherent in car radios. Must have driven the DJ’s crazy hearing the screeching highs in their headphones.

[Technical note from Uncle Ricky: I don’t think this recording accurately represents the on-air sound of KYNO at the time. The sometimes unpleasant “hollow” sound, particularly evident on live mike, is more likely related to an alignment-related dubbing problem.]

After many years in San Diego, Mike can now be heard on the K-LOVE contemporary Christian network of stations.

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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