[Description by Uncle Ricky from notes by Restorian Scott Lowe]
Thanks to Scott Lowe and Craig Allen for this RESTORED and rare exhibit of Big Ron O’Brien on KYNA-FM in Des Moines, Iowa. This frequency (93.3) had not been KYNA for long. The previous station had gone dark! In what seems now the blink of an eye, KYNA-FM became KIOA-FM in Iowa’s Capital City.
Boz Scaggs is so fresh on this aircheck that Big Ron calls him “Bose”, like the speakers. Contributor Scott Lowe writes:
This hour is a portion of the “Fernando Walt Miller Memorial Music Marathon.” I am not sure who or what that is supposed to be, but you’ll get to hear lots of non-stop wall-to-wall hits, mixed with album cuts and rare lower-charting stiffs… At the time, KYNA did broadcast in stereo, but the source aircheck was at least a second-generation dub in mono with phasing issues. We felt it was well worth putting the songs back in, for historical reasons.
From other historical data provided by Scott Lowe, we can say this was the third (known) archived aircheck for 19-year-old Ron O’Brien. Big Ron O’Brien was born on October 24, 1951. He died from pneumonia on April 27, 2008. Prior to KYNA, he worked at KBAB in Indianola IA, and KUDL in Kansas City.