Sande & Greene Color Radio Jingles for WTRY Troy NY (0:04:29)

… Color Radio is here! …
[Description by Uncle Ricky] Thanks to Don Worsham, author of The Hits Between The Hits, for the story behind these jingles. These Color Radio jingles were created by Bob Sande and Larry Greene in 1958 for GM Bob Purcell, Crowell-Collier and KFWB, Los Angeles. Purcell had hired Chuck Blore from Gordon McLendon’s KLIF in Dallas. Blore brought the Color Radio phrase with him, and wanted to use it on KFWB. Bill Meeks of PAMS had also used the phrase on Series #6 for WKDA in Nashville. Color Radio was the first jingle package by Sande & Greene, and it was also the name of the new KFWB Top 40 format. The jingles had a big-band Henry Mancini or West Side Story sound, with an orchestra as large as 24 pieces and some of L.A.’s top vocal talent, including a young Johnny Mann. All the work was done in Los Angeles under The American Federation of Musicians, AFTRA and SAG contracts, and considered some of the most expensive jingles ever made. While we don’t know exactly when WTRY(Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York) purchased the nine jingles featured in this composite, it was most likely in the early 1960s. Contributor Michael Plath also included a few WTRY personality promos, and portions of those have been mixed into the “donut” of the Color Radio personality jingle. Rebel, Steve Young, Ed Riley and Jay Stewart are featured, but again, it’s unknown if these were the personalities on WTRY when the Color Radio jingles were used.

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!

Board of NCBHP
North Carolina Broadcast History Project