WCFL Chicago Christmas Eve Special, 1967 (0:48:36)

… From the ordinary people, and the extraordinary people, we’ve been reporting Christmas, 1967 …
[Description by Uncle Ricky]One of the greatest voices from this era of Chicago radio, Joel Sebastian (d. 1986), opens this 48-minute hour, allegedly the 5th of five hours broadcast on Christmas Eve, 1967, by the venerable Voice of Labor.

WCFL personalities Barney Pip and Ron Britain join Joel in a presentation that proclaims Christmas is for the children.

King B (Britain) ‘cold calls’ Christmas cheer, and recipients don’t know what to make of it. Sebastian reads The Selfish Giant and quotes some other potentially arcane literature. But Pip is the star, recalling the Christmases of his youth and his favorite gifts. He reads The Night Before Christmas to a small group of Head-Start Kids, and masquerades as an Elf for a boy who says he doesn’t believe in Santa Claus.

And, the grinch of alignment error couldn’t leave this one alone. The original was probably a pre-recorded studio master, which makes it frustrating. There was a lot of fidelity here originally. The alignment issues are most noticeable in the second half. Hopefully, the swishing in and out of high frequencies won’t make you queasy, and you will enjoy this imperfect copy of an otherwise very professional program from a legendary radio station. It’s Christmas Eve, Chicago.

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