Introduction by Scott Lowe

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, 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!

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Buddy Van Cleave, KUDL Kansas City KS January 2, 1970 (01:00:04)

. . . Good Morning from The Early American . . .

This Exhibit 'SCOPED (13:05)

Prior to joining KUDL, Van Cleave was heard on KISN/Portland, Oregon, and WTIX/New Orleans, Louisiana. In August, 1970, he changed his name to Adam North at KDWB/Minneapolis, Minnesota.

This aircheck was originally 'scoped. Thanks to Joe Accardi from WTSR/Trenton, New Jersey for help with music restoration.

Ron O'Brien, KBAB Indianola, May 17, 1970 (07:13)

. . . I'll see all of you on Monday, since I only saw part of you on Sunday . . .

This is the earliest known aircheck of 19-year-old Big Ron O'Brien. It's a Sunday afternoon in May, 1970, and KBAB in Indianola Iowa is a great example of a small-town station with no jingle budget, but lots of homemade jingles! Note the do-it-yourself "custom" jock shout for Big Ron.

In just five short years after this aircheck, Big Ron would have enriched the airwaves in Denver, Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago and New York City.

Ken Knight, WHB Kansas City, MO. October 2, 1970, Pt.1 (29:27)

. . . What's an annum? . . .

This unscoped studio recording of veteran Top 40 talent Ken Knight on the legendary WHB in Kansas City is one of the airchecks Big Ron O'Brien saved in his big stash of tapes.

Maybe Big Ron liked Knight's irreverent humor and rebellious wise-cracks? Maybe he liked the way Knight would sometimes whoop and yell in the background. We can only wonder if Knight was an influence on young Big Ron. In any event, he saved the aircheck, so we can now enjoy this priceless piece of radio history. Thank you, Big Ron!

Ken Knight, WHB Kansas City, MO. October 2, 1970, Pt.2 (23:59)

. . . because Ozzie calls me on the phone . . .

Part Two of this unscoped studio recording of veteran Top 40 talent Ken Knight on the legendary WHB in Kansas City is one of the airchecks Big Ron O'Brien saved in his big stash of tapes.

Storz radio just past peak...

• Personality, Production, Promotion and Best Hits.
• Precise and Practiced Top 40.

Ron O'Brien, WXLO (99X) New York, May 1, 1975, Part 1 (59:05)

. . . Lady Marmalade is a trademark for roll candy . . .

Big Ron O'Brien stays busy with a commercial after every record and the 99X shotgun jingle before every record in this high-energy full-fidelity capture of New York's competively-processed WXLO-FM.

Part One of this unscoped treat from May 1, 1975 opens with the Time Bomb contest.

Ron O'Brien, WXLO (99X) New York, May 1, 1975, Part 2 (56:32)

This Exhibit 'SCOPED (14:44)

. . . I'm down on my luck and my baby smells like a truck . . .

Big Ron O'Brien is cookin' in the second hour of this high-energy almost full-fidelity capture of New York's competively-processed WXLO-FM. Big Ron has a phone babe do the legal ID, a fine application of regulation for identification.

Unfortunately, something was "sticky" on the original recording machine, and infrequently, you'll hear the "p-tooey wow" sound as the reel goes 'round. It becomes more obnoxious toward the end. Big Ron also tries to simulate Casey Kasem, but since there were technical issues, we'll avoid evaluation. Still, we gotta love this rare aircheck of Big Ron on 99-X. It's fun!

Ron O'Brien, WFIL Philadelphia, December 7, 1977 (25:01)

. . . Where am I working again? WFIL - boy I musta made the big time . . .

Big Ron O'Brien is "trying desperately to regain consciousness" and noticeably restrained and 'scoped on Philadelphia's WFIL, obviously programming for 25+ demos in December, 1977.

Great JAM jingles, and there's much going on at Philadelphia 56. Ron is making Big Money calls, giving away lots of albums, and Christmas Wish is underway.

Ron O'Brien, KFI Los Angeles, September 28, 1979 (01:01:59) (restored)

This Exhibit 'SCOPED (09:02)

. . . I think it's a dislocated groove thing . . .

The Ayatollah of Rock & Rolla is Big Ron O'Brien, with 50 Large Kilowatts courtesy of 64/KFI. It's late September in the City of Angels and there's some electricity in the air, though most of it can be attributed to Big Ron.

KFI was Big Ron's first stop in L.A. He played the hits at KIIS-FM a couple of years later.

The original aircheck was very tightly 'scoped, so there's very little of the commercial sets. This aircheck is EXCLUSIVE to The Big Ron O'Brien Collection at REELRADIO, and the music was flawlessly restored by Scott Lowe.

Big Ron O'Brien On The Radio, October 23, 1987 (55:57)

This Exhibit 'SCOPED (18:02)

The late Big Ron O'Brien hosted the nationally syndicated weekly countdown show On The Radio from 1985 into 1992. This show, from the week of his 36th birthday, features the Top Five CHR hits, as published by the now-defunct Radio & Records newspaper.

The show was provided to stations on a barter basis, that is, stations would air commercials included in the program. Three classic Levi's 501 Blues jingles are included in this show, which was distributed on vinyl. You'll also hear pre-recorded comments from Sting, Christine McVie and the late Michael Jackson.