Radio: June 15, 2018
Richard
Irwin was a former radio personality and program director at stations
including KAFY/Bakersfield and KROY/Sacramento. He is perhaps better
known as the man behind the top-40 radio online museum called ReelRadio,
aka Uncle Ricky’s Reel Radio Repository, a site that featured hundreds
of recordings of radio stations from around the United States and a few
from Canada.
Irwin passed away last week after a long battle with health issues that were causing him great pain. He will be missed.
After
leaving radio he became a software engineer and webmaster. It was his
expertise in both that allowed him to set up a site for one of his
hobbies, collecting airchecks of radio stations, and sharing it with the
world.
ReelRadio
was the site that got me hooked on the internet more than a quarter
century ago. I even had to buy a faster dial up modem - remember those? -
in order to hear the recordings encoded in RealAudio - remember that?
For
a radio junkie like me, ReelRadio was even better than being a kid on a
candy store. I could relive my youth and more ... there were recordings
of KHJ from the Boss Radio years through the amazing comeback days of
programmer Chuck Martin. The Mighty 690. KIIS and KIIS-FM. Chicago’s
WCFL and WLS. Everything.
Over
the years the site expanded and improved. Unedited airchecks were
added, and Irwin even restored some recordings to full length, taking
the time and care to match the music to the original recording in speed
and sound -- not easy work. He even added the same processor as used on
many stations of the era to add to its authenticity.
The
site itself had its ups and downs, relying at various times on donors
and subscribers, eventually becoming a nonprofit organization. Irwin and
the ReelRadio Board of Directors made sure music licensing fees were
paid, even though realistically they probably wouldn’t be needed.
A
few years ago Irwin thought he’s run afoul of the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA), and he thought the site would have to
drastically change; I am happy that I was part of the resolution to the
dispute through personal contact with Jonathan Lamy of the RIAA. It was
the least I could do for Irwin, considering how much entertainment value
he provided me over the years.
More
recently Irwin’s health declined and he was in intense pain most of the
time. He never had a chance to update the site the way he had hoped --
including re-encoding the audio files into something more modern. So he
placed it in limp-mode, and was searching for someone “qualified” to
take it over. I -- and I am sure others -- offered to help do so, but I
soon realized that he was not ready to give it up ... yet ... it was
his baby, after all and I understood his reluctance.
When
he entered the hospital for surgery that promised to alleviate his
pain, he shut the site down temporarily until he recovered.
unfortunately, he never had the chance: tests got delayed and he passed
away before the surgery could be scheduled.
Irwin’s
passion in preserving access to radio’s history cannot be denied. His
site was extraordinary well-done and was unmatched anywhere else on the
internet ... or anywhere else off the net for that matter. Nowhere else
could you find the depth and breadth of the collection he put together.
His presence will most definitely be missed.
I
personally hope the remaining members of the ReelRadio Board or Irwin’s
family will let his legacy live on, either through reopening the
present site or finding someone who can take over operations and update
it and run it in the way Irwin intended. I would be interested in being a
part of it, if I can help in any way.
In
the meantime, I am going to take some time to reflect on the wonderful
person who was Richard “Uncle Ricky” Irwin. The man who gave me and
uncounted others world-wide over a quarter century of camaraderie and
friendship thorough what I consider the best website ever conceived.
Rest in peace and without pain, Uncle Ricky, you will be missed.
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