Thomas Joseph Irwin was a young man from San Diego having a difficult time studying for the FCC Radio Telephone license exam in 1969 at the William B. Ogden Radio school in Huntington Beach, CA. With help and encouragement from his classmates he successfully completed the course and passed the FCC First Phone license exam.
He went on to be one of the most successful Disc Jockeys in the Los Angeles and San Diego radio markets. Developing an on- the- air personality known as ShotGun Tom Kelly.
He was born on August 8, 1949 in San Diego and is a two-time Emmy award winner, Billboard Air Personality of the Year, and recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Kelly worked for several area radio stations including KDEO, KPRI, KGB, KCBQ, KOGO, KBZS and KFMB-FM before replacing the late Don Steele in the afternoon slot at Los Angeles oldies station KRTH-FM, K-Earth 101. In August 2015, Kelly was taken off the air and became KRTH’s “Ambassador,” doing personal appearances throughout Southern California . He left KRTH in November 2016 and in September 2018, he debuted on SiriusXM Satellite’s ’60s On 6 channel’.
ShotGun and fellow graduate Neil Ross have become the most successful radio personalities whose careers were launched at Bill Ogden’s school.
Here’s Shotgun Tom doing an impression of the legendary, and much loved, William B. Ogden:
