The Jay Marks Collection

Jay Today

Y100 Survey Sheet

His Own Logo!

 

  

Jay Marks (JMCIGARS@aol.com) of Chicago grew up in Monroe, Louisiana where he started in radio in 1967, at the age of 15.

There are some very impressive stations on Jay's resume: WJDX, Jackson, MS; KTSA, San Antonio, TX.; KULF, Houston, TX.; Y-100, Miami, FL., and WMAQ, Chicago.

Jay has been doing full-time voice-over (for clients that include Lipton, Miller High Life, Sears, Kellogg's, 7-11 Stores and Chevrolet) since 1978.

Mr. Marks has offered some airchecks from his collection that qualify as genuine, undisputed, 100% Classics.

Jay started contributing to REELRADIO in 1996 — he is a CHARTER CONTRIBUTOR.

The Repository was astounded and continues to be very, very grateful to Jay for sharing these incredibly rare and wonderful recordings. Thank you, Jay!

Jeff Christie KQV Pittsburgh 1974 (0:10:45)

… ..the Marconi Award for Excellence in Broadcasting… …

Listen up, you people! All across the fruited plain, Mary Snerdly and all the other rich kids were enjoying the Award-Winning Jeff Christie Rock and Roll Radio Show on KQV, Pittsburgh, in 1974.
You may not recognize the voice immediately (it’s pitched lower these days), but you will recognize a few of the trademark phrases that Christie still uses today.

This is an excellent aircheck of late-model KQV, and the fun and frolic therein is a classic example of Excellence in Broadcasting, presented by the man we know today as . . . Rush Limbaugh.
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Bob Pittman WRBC Jackson MS 1972 (0:06:18)

… I figured out a way we can convert to an all-volunteer Army. First, we spread a rumor that C-rations cure acne …
[Description by Jay Marks] I made this aircheck of Bob Pittman on WRBC/Jackson, Mississippi on February 8, 1972, just a few days after arriving at WJDX. Bob left that summer to work vacation relief, and later 7-midnight at WRIT/Milwaukee, then to late nights at WDRQ/Detroit. Bob also worked at WPEZ/Pittsburgh before moving on to WMAQ/Chicago, WNBC/New York, The Movie Channel and becoming one of the founders of MTV. Pittman was voted one of the 50 most influential baby-boomers by Life magazine. ©2001 REELRADIO, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Tom Dooley WSAI Cincinnati 1967 (0:14:36)

… I haven’t heard a soulful scream out of you all night long …
[Description by Jay Marks] Tom Dooley on WSAI/Cincinnati is from December, 1967. I think this is the same Tom Dooley that worked at WQAM/Miami and later, very briefly, at KHJ/Los Angeles. He’s finishing the survey countdown with lots of Lone Ranger drop-ins, TM fake-Drake acapellas, killer reverb and accent reverb. Take a deep breath! Tom Dooley suffered with a brain tumor before his passing on November 9, 2010. ©2010 REELRADIO, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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Russ "Weird Beard" Knight, KILT Houston, 1965 (0:43:15)

… Houston’s Fifth Beatle …
Russ “Weird Beard” Knight is featured in this scoped hour of Gordon McLendon’s KILT, on what Jay Marks believes was “probably June 14, 1965.” Jay made this recording on a Wollensak reel recorder at 3-3/4 ips at the age of 13 while visiting relatives in Houston. Jay says, “Pretty good quality too and some really fun stuff on there,” and Uncle Ricky agrees! Thunderstorms lead the Jim Corolla news at the top of the hour, and are prominently featured, shrouding the otherwise remarkably good fidelity with sizzling and splashes of static. You’ll hear 3 complete newscasts, featuring the wonderful KILT bells & whistles of the period. Knight devotes a lot of time to nearly inaudible phone calls and some genuinely funny bits, including Awful Cigarette Company and a bogus Hurricane Report presented by Tony’s Gluesack Parlor. Flashback specials: Roy Orbison for Coca-Cola and a spot for Wildroot (Grooming without grease!). Also, a promo for Murray the K Beatles Reports from Paris. Apparently, Murray was syndicating Beatles reports and was heard on stations other than WINS during this time.

Mort Downey, KDEO San Diego, February 27, 1964 (0:14:54)

… Welcome into the Mad Lad Swing-A-Thing for a tough type of Thursday …
Here’s Mad Lad Mort Downey (Morton ‘Doc’ Downey, Jr.) on KDEO, San Diego, circa 1964. When you joined the Mad Lad Marauders, you also received a commission as a colonel! Mort is heard with his “live studio audience” and newsman Stan Brown (later known for sports in L.A.) Downey worked at WPOP, KRIZ, KAFY, KDEO and in 1967 he joined WNOE. Sometime after that, he left radio, but he returned as a controversial talk show host at KFBK in Sacramento in 1982 or 1983. When Downey was terminated for politically incorrect statements in 1984, a nearly unknown Rush Limbaugh took his place. Downey went on to WMAQ in Chicago, and later, television. Downey was a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society after successful treatment (1996) for lung cancer at Cedars Sinai hospital in Los Angeles. He passed away on March 12, 2001.
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Russ Knight, KLIF Dallas, August 29, 1961 (0:16:27)

… with more listeners than the next two stations combined …
Recorded on August 29, 1961, this one features one of the most celebrated of the legendary KLIF personalities, Russ “Weird Beard” Knight. Knight is a bit more sedate here than in some of his later performances, but this interesting sample of classic KLIF (and simulcasting KROW-FM) includes Futursonic jingles, and one instance where the tape in one of those miracle McKenzies binds and drags. [Aircheck courtesy of Ed Brouder and Man from Mars Productions.]
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Jay McKay, WFUN Miami FL Fundamental News, 1961 (0:05:19)

… . . . We heard them screaming, but there was nothing we could do . . . …

Newsman Jay McKay is manning the MacKenzies in this bombastic backup to our original Britt Huey Fundamental newscast, one of the Repository’s original exhibits from February, 1996. This one, unfortunately, is missing the beginning teaser headlines, but is intact from the official opening all the way through to the grandiose “Count Down!” closer.

WFUN Program Director Frank Ward is featured commenting on a station promotion: DJ Bruce Bartley is to enter a “radiation shelter” at a local shopping center, and live for a week under “emergency survival conditions”, so that “WFUN and civil defense can prove it’s fun to stay alive.”

Note the use of the filter effect for “quotes” – a gimmick we haven’t heard previously. WFUN Fundamental News, circa 1961, still ranks as our favorite classic Top 40 news presentation.
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Jay Cook, WHBQ Memphis, 2-10-66 (0:18:35)

… Jay Cook, your little bitty buddy …
The late Jay Cook is featured in this sample of RKO General Boss Radio – Memphis-style, early 1966. Sizzling with PAMS Series 30 and simmering in thick reverberation, this WHBQ brand of “Boss” bore virtually no resemblance to its Los Angeles counterpart. Cook, who claimed Memphis as his hometown, followed the Boss moniker, the jingle signature and even the frequency to Philadelphia, where he spent ten years as Program Director of Famous 56 WFIL.

Jay Cook, WFIL Philadelphia, 10-28-68 (0:14:57)

… . . . inviting you to listen for King George Michael tonight at nine . . . …

Jay Cook spent nearly 14 years at WFIL, ten of those as Program Director. Cook moved to Philadelphia from RKO General’s WHBQ in 1966.

Cook lost his life to cancer on April 2, 1999. He put legendary Top 40 KIIS-FM and Rick Dees on the air in Los Angeles. Before retiring in 1994, Cook was President of Gannett Radio.
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Joe Yocam, KFWB Los Angeles, March 12, 1962 (0:10:32)

… It’s a Happy Show with a real good Joe called Yocam …
Joe Yocam (d. 1974) started at KFWB in 1942, and was one of the original “Seven Swingin’ Gentleman” on Chuck Blore’s brilliant Color Radio Channel 98 in pre-Boss Angeles. Yocam was on every weekday from Noon to 3, and is credited with naming the KFWB music list the Fabulous Forty. Except for several months in 1965 when he was terminated by KFWB (and re-hired after an action by AFTRA), Yocam worked at KFWB until March, 1968, when the station abandoned their music format and changed format to “All News.” Note the many production elements, the creative Public Service Announcement, the “Purely Personal” feature, and the classic jingles. Also featured, more of newsman Jackson King with Bannerline Los Angeles on the half-hour.

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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!

Board of NCBHP
North Carolina Broadcast History Project