The Big Ron O'Brien Collection
KTLK, Denver 
WCFL, Chicago
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I got to know Big Ron O'Brien (October 24, 1951 - April 27, 2008) when he returned to Philadelphia in 1996. Thanks to Big Ron's mother Phyllis, along with Matt Seinberg at Big Apple Airchecks, Rochelle Rabin and a few others, including consultant J.R. Russ, I somehow got the privilege of obtaining and sifting through his life's work and archiving it for the rest of the world. I wish to thank those of you who felt I was qualified for this task.
There were over one-hundred reels in Big Ron's collection, about eighty-percent of them were not labeled. This actually made the dubbing process lots of fun, since I never knew what I was going to hear each time I would thread the next tape on the machine. All I needed was a sports score or a news headline and the Internet to identify the exact date of the aircheck. Some headlines took longer than others to check out. Ron also had a lot of aircheck material on CD. Unfortunately, none of that is included here, because they were stored with his music collection, which was sold before anyone realized all that was there. I like to think of this project as something like when they digitally restore old movies in Hollywood. Much care has been put into each transfer with the highest degree of scrutiny, and has been rendered with meticulous care. I had to add leader tape to most of the reels and fix more than a few splices. There was great attention to details for each tape, such as re-aligning the azimuth of the playback heads to maximize frequency response and keeping the heads super clean. Tape decks were connected directly into a professional computer audio interface (not cheapo sound cards). None of the audio was passed through a mixing console, processor or anything else that might add noise or loss. Some of the reels were originally recorded on a consumer quarter-track stereo deck and the rest were either professional full-track mono or half-track stereo. There were many cases where Ron attempted to record over an old full-track tape using a quarter-track deck. Luckily when you do that, some of the previous recording still remains on part of the tape. I like to refer to these as hidden recordings, tapes that Ron attempted to record over, but, with the right playback machine, they can be retrieved. Otherwise, several of the above airchecks (including a few from KUDL and WCFL) would have been lost forever! Also included here is audio that Matt Seinberg acquired from Ron shortly before his passing. Craig Allen also contributed a few unscoped items that he personally recorded off the air in Philly. There were a few stations that employed Ron that were not represented, so I added a few extras from my own collection to make the archive complete. |
The Repository thanks Big Ron O'Brien's friends for sharing!
Unscoped
And here is Part Two of Big Ron O’Brien on WXLO-FM/99X from May 7, 1975. Lots of phone bits in this hour, and Ron plays around with some sfx right at the start.
There are national spots, local spots and live spots in this hour. Ron uses a honking horn to introduce the weather updates, and he loves those phone bits! Lots of contests, too. This is great New York Top 40 on FM in 1975!
Scoped
Big Ron O’Brien continued to host the nationally syndicated weekly countdown show On The Radio for the week of his 37th birthday on October 24, 1988.
The national Top Five from Radio & Records (defunct trade publication) is featured.
In addition to the Top Five, Cinderella talks about their fairy-tale friendship with Bon Jovi, Basia comes clean about her 1988 hit, and Yoko Ono reviews the new film, “Imagine John Lennon”.
Unscoped
Big Ron O’Brien continued to host the nationally syndicated weekly countdown show On The Radio for the week of his 37th birthday on October 24, 1988.
The national Top Five from Radio & Records (defunct trade publication) is featured.
In addition to the Top Five, Cinderella talks about their fairy-tale friendship with Bon Jovi, Basia comes clean about her 1988 hit, and Yoko Ono reviews the new film, “Imagine John Lennon”.
Scoped
Unscoped
Scoped
Great production on the opening of this one! Big Ron O’Brien counts down the Radio & Records Top Five hits of the week for July 25, 1986. It’s the nationally syndicated weekly countdown show On The Radio, and it’s a great snapshot of media culture and music from the moment.
Rod Stewart, Belinda Carlisle and Phil Collins all have something to say, as well as Klymaxx. Secrets Of The Stars features current showbiz gossip, and Big Ron’s review of David Bowie’s Labyrinth movie is favorable. It still has a cult following, almost 30 years later.
Unscoped
Great production on the opening of this one! Big Ron O’Brien counts down the Radio & Records Top Five hits of the week for July 25, 1986. It’s the nationally syndicated weekly countdown show On The Radio, and it’s a great snapshot of media culture and music from the moment.
Rod Stewart, Belinda Carlisle and Phil Collins all have something to say, as well as Klymaxx. Secrets Of The Stars features current showbiz gossip, and Big Ron’s review of David Bowie’s Labyrinth movie is favorable. It still has a cult following, almost 30 years later.
Scoped
Here’s more of Big Ron O’Brien hosting the nationally syndicated weekly countdown show On The Radio. This show, in remembrance of his passing on April 27, 2008, is from the week of April 29, 1988. Special Guest Guns n’ Roses is featured.
There’s a vote between Living Colour and Debbie Gibson, as representatives of the variety of Top 40 radio in 1988. A couple of Paul Harvey drop-ins, and a muddy drop from Alfred Hitchcock. Eddie Murphy’s “kid brother” makes an appearance, too, and there’s another segment of Sleazy Secrets of the Stars.
Scoped
And here is Part Two of Big Ron O’Brien on WXLO-FM/99X from May 7, 1975. Lots of phone bits in this hour, and Ron plays around with some sfx right at the start.
There are national spots, local spots and live spots in this hour. Ron uses a honking horn to introduce the weather updates, and he loves those phone bits! Lots of contests, too. This is great New York Top 40 on FM in 1975!
Unscoped
Here’s more of Big Ron O’Brien hosting the nationally syndicated weekly countdown show On The Radio. This show, in remembrance of his passing on April 27, 2008, is from the week of April 29, 1988. Special Guest Guns n’ Roses is featured.
There’s a vote between Living Colour and Debbie Gibson, as representatives of the variety of Top 40 radio in 1988. A couple of Paul Harvey drop-ins, and a muddy drop from Alfred Hitchcock. Eddie Murphy’s “kid brother” makes an appearance, too, and there’s another segment of Sleazy Secrets of the Stars.