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Ron O'Brien, WCFL Chicago, November 1975 (scoped) (0:13:37)

Scoped
… John Denver’s got funny stuff on his boots …
Big Ron O’Brien was the Program Director at WCFL in 1975. That’s probably why this aircheck is so enjoyable, because there is no other Program Director to hotline and complain about format violations. Ron sounds completely comfortable in this venue, and since he could control it, he did! There’s a Turkey Shoot contest and a spot for a hair product by Allison Steele, who in those pre-MTV days was freshly legendary as a radio “disc jockey”. Musical portions of this exhibit were restored before processing and encoding for presentation.

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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