Micky Dolenz Z100 WHTZ New York July 25, 1986 (0:18:10)

… he doesn’t do, you know, none of the Monkees do any radio …

[Description by Anita Bonita]

Welcome To My Nightmare: in the middle of all the usual craziness of Z-100 Morning Zoo operations, just as the producer (yours truly) is trying to sneak in a special surprise guest (and cake!) for the anniversary of the PD/Zoomeister’s birth, the PD is excitedly announcing the arrival of a core artist’s eagerly-awaited brand-new record — along with all the requisite label weasels, who must be stroked accordingly.

The main voices you hear at the start: Micky Dolenz, Scott Shannon, then-sidekick Jack Murphy, and John “Mr. Leonard” Rio. In the background, you hear the laughter of newsperson Claire Stevens (later heard reading the birthday list and “horriblescopes”), public service director John Bell, and me (when I wasn’t scrambling to get stuff done in production).

In the end, Micky got to sing “Birthday” and present the cake to Scott, Billy Joel’s “A Matter of Trust” got carted up and made its major league debut … and I lived to tell the story 18 years later. :-)

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