Richard W. Irwin, WJAR Providence, September 27, 1974 (0:04:03)

… Brandy, she’s a fine girl, and on top of that, she really knows how to fill her cups, too …
DESCRIPTION BY UNCLE RICKY On the occasion of birthday 62, (January 8, 2013) I present this short, extremely hi-fi ‘scoped sample of the only morning show I did for WJAR, Providence. I was filling in for vacationing Charlie Jefferds. Don’t get me wrong, this was probably the ONLY time I had to fill-in for morning drive. I normally did one shift on Saturday afternoon or night, for most of the time I was there as Production Manager. On THIS morning, I was 23 and I wanted to sound like a cool young guy, like Mike Ivers, or Mike Sands – I didn’t have the pipes to sound like Jeff Mathieu, or Charlie. Most of my on-air radio career was in search of my “voice” — which I never really found. I just don’t sound believable here, at least, I don’t think I do. Do I? Upon The Morrow? Oh no, no, no.. sweet swingin’ time? Oh nooooooo. Back in 1974, I cut this aircheck like the HOT Top 40 airchecks of the time, a quick beep at each edit, spliced in at 15ips. Sure had a lot of weather happening then, but there was a lot of “past” and “until” because we didn’t have a digital clock in the control room. We had a traditional analog “clock on the wall”, a great RCA console and four nearly new ITC cart machines. And, I was working behind a Neumann condensor microphone with a Fairchild compressor. Life was very good — even if my airwork was not!

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