Ron O'Quinn
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Ron O'Quinn is an American radio disc jockey born March 4, 1943 in McRae, Georgia.
At the age of 16, O'Quinn began his radio career at WMGA, a station in his hometown of Moultrie, Georgia, where he worked at the time of his graduation from Moultrie High School in 1961. Shortly thereafter, O'Quinn joined the Army, where he became a machine gunner as an Army Ranger. In 1963, after finishing his time in the Army, O'Quinn jumped right back into radio with a move to WVLD in Valdosta, Georgia, then on to WROD in Daytona Beach, Florida, before ending up at WLCY in Tampa, Florida, where he went by the moniker Jack E. Rabbitt. While on WLCY, O'Quinn had the highest rankings ever earned in the Tampa market, a 60% share (Arbitron, released Summer 1966), a record that still stands today. Moving on to Miami, O'Quinn went to work for WFUN,[1] where he became known as Jack Armstrong.
In 1966, O'Quinn left WFUN to become Program Director of a new radio station, Swinging Radio England, that was located off the coast of England in the North Sea.
During his time at Radio England, O'Quinn accompanied The Beatles on their 1966 U.S. Tour. It is O'Quinn who coughs in the studio during the count-in to Taxman.[citation needed]
Upon returning to England following the tour, O'Quinn was told he had 3 weeks to get his affairs in order and return to America, unless he left the employ of Radio England, in which case he could remain (due to the British government imposing restrictions against offshore pirate radio). Knowing that he couldn't remain in the UK jobless, O'Quinn left Radio England and returned to the United States.
After returning home to America, O'Quinn worked for many top-rated stations, including a return to WFUN, WYLD in New Orleans, KYA in San Francisco[2] & WUBE in Cincinnati, as well as being National Program Director of Urban Stations for Rounsaville Organization, an Atlanta-based company.
In early 1971 O'Quinn became the manager of WSIZ in Ocilla, Georgia where he stayed until 1976. In 1987, after being out of radio for a several years, O'Quinn started a syndicated oldies show, Rock and Roll Reunion, which was carried on 88 stations across the country. He also hosted a weekly oldies show, Memories Unlimited, on WQZY-FM and WKKZ-FM in Dublin, Georgia until 2001.
Ron is regarded as one of the "BEST ALL TIME Disc Jockeys". His style was high energy, rapid fire, and always the top rated program in his time slot. Ron is a member of the Pirate Radio Hall of Fame, and was an inaugural nominee for the Georgia Radio Hall Of Fame. On October 20, 2012, Ron was inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame as a Career Achievement Inductee.
In August 2010, Ron made his return to the radio in Europe on Big L 1395AM with his weekly syndicated radio show "Radio England Rewind". Other European and internet stations also now carry his show. From October 2011, Ron is also heard on the European KBC international shortwave radio station on 6095 kHz.
Ron lives with his wife Sarah in Glenwood, GA. In 2014, Ron and his current wife Sarah abandoned the USA to live in South America, due to his dissatisfaction with American politics.