In this week’s issue… Radio loses one of its best – New morning show in Montreal – Beach beached in NJ – Bear growls in Binghamton
By SCOTT FYBUSH
Every once in a while, there’s someone in this crazy business of ours who transcends the personal conflicts and petty nonsense that too often characterizes the broadcasting business – someone who’s universally recognized as being “one of the good ones.”
Whether you knew him as “Willie B. Goode,” “Cliff Trucker Kenyon,” “Mike Rivers” or “Gnarly Charlie,” Alton Irwin was that guy, and his death last week leaves a void in the hearts of radio people from his native southern New England all the way to south Florida.
Irwin’s radio career started in the early 1970s in CONNECTICUT, where he worked early on at WNLC in New London, WCCC in Hartford and most notably at WAVZ and the start of WKCI in New Haven. His energy transferred across multiple formats, whether it was country (“Kenyon”) or top-40 (“Smokin Willie B. Goode”), and it quickly propelled him to bigger markets, including WPJB in RHODE ISLAND, WHTT in Boston, and by the early 1980s at WPLJ/WWPR and WHTZ (Z100) in NEW YORK City. (photo: Jerry Kristafer via Facebook)
It didn’t matter whether he was working nights or weekends or just as a fill-in – once you met him, you were a friend for life, especially once he’d moved south to the Miami market, where he worked at WKIS, WFLC (Coast 97) and WMXJ and taught at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. Always active on social media, he was constantly reminiscing on his earlier radio days and sharing good wishes with fans – right up until Saturday, when his daughter Alannah posted news of his death.
No memorial plans have been announced yet, but Alannah Irwin says her father wanted no funeral, just a “celebration of life” to be held at a later date. In the meantime, she says, “Take the time to listen to some of his favorite bands/artists. He loved the Beatles, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and pretty much anything from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Listen to it ‘cranked up to 11′.’
And if you don’t have your Tower Site Calendar, now’s the time!
If you’ve been waiting for the price to come down, it’s now 30 percent off!
This year’s cover is a beauty — the 100,000-watt transmitter of the Voice Of America in Marathon, right in the heart of the Florida Keys. Both the towers and the landscape are gorgeous.
And did you see? Tower Site of the Week is back, featuring this VOA site as it faces an uncertain future.
Other months feature some of our favorite images from years past, including some Canadian stations and several stations celebrating their centennials (buy the calendar to find out which ones!).
We still have a few of our own calendars left – as well as a handful of Radio Historian Calendars – and we are still shipping regularly.
The proceeds from the calendar help sustain the reporting that we do on the broadcast industry here at Fybush Media, so your purchases matter a lot to us here – and if that matters to you, now’s the time to show that support with an order of the Tower Site Calendar. (And we have the Broadcast Historian’s Calendar for 2025, too. Why not order both?)
Visit the Fybush Media Store and place your order now for the new calendar, get a great discount on previous calendars, and check out our selection of books and videos, too!
In this week’s issue… After NAB, hope and confusion - WZLX, WBEB relaunch morning shows - WJTO, WLAM stay alive for now - MBC takes over Bell stations - Remembering Mimi Griswold, Herb Squire By SCOTT FYBUSH Jump to: ME...
In this week’s issue… Fear and Uncertainty in Las Vegas - Memory Stations to sign off - WNED, WBFO rebrand - Najman out at WDEV - Zoomer expands in Ontario By SCOTT FYBUSH Jump to: ME - NH - VT...
A visit to many of the sites in Pennsylvania's Poconos, plus Bold Gold's stations in Scranton
In this week’s issue… Remembering Pittsburgh's Quinn - Seven Mountains enters Harrisburg - My launches new brands - Ryan out at B101 - More cuts at Radio Vermont - Another AM deleted
