Tom Kent, WLS Chicago June 1980 (1:12:28)

… actually, I hit Larry Lujack’s star cowboy hat – I’m in trouble now! ; no nothing; the quality is excellent; but it’s OK I suppose; Gary Gears drops, GREAT JAM jingles, wonderfully fantastic audio processing …
When we asked contributor Tom Kent about the origin of this exhibit, he told us that the CD literally showed up inside a brown envelope with no letter…no nothing…sorry We thought it sounded very good for an off-air fan type aircheck, and that the fan who contributed it deserved some credit. Tom agreed. yes, he does…the quality is excellent…it sounds like the speed is dragging a little bit to me at times but otherwise it’s next to pristine And so, we acknowledge some technical problems, but we can’t identify the contributor. We did ask Tom for his overall opinion of this slice of WLS MusicRadio history. I didn’t like it so much for my part but more for the music, the imaging and the total presentation. I thought my part was a little too basic and laid back… but it’s OK I suppose… heck it’s WLS from the summer of 1980… Gary Gears drops, GREAT JAM jingles, wonderfully fantastic audio processing… We were one of the first stations in the country to be AM stereo and we were stereo then but this aircheck isn’t for sure. The only people who could hear the stereo were the jocks inside the studio — because no one had a receiver. ©2006 REELRADIO, Inc.

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