Thomas Joseph Irwin was a young man from San Diego. It wasn’t easy for Tom to pass the test for the FCC First Class License. He attended the William B. Ogden Radio school in Huntington Beach, CA. With help and encouragement from his classmates he completed the course and passed the exam in 1969. He went on to be one of the most successful Disc Jockeys in the Los Angeles and San Diego radio markets. He developed an on- the- air personality known as ShotGun Tom Kelly. Tom Kelly was
born on August 8, 1949 in San Diego and is a two-time Emmy award winner, Billboard Air Personality of the Year winner and recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Born in San Diego as Thomas Joseph Irwin, 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 eventually returned to the air as a weekend host. Kelly exited KRTH in November 2016. In September 2018, Kelly debuted on SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s ’60s On 6 channel. ShotGun and fellow graduate Neil Ross have become two of the most successful radio personalities whose careers were launched at Ogden’s Radio School.
In this video Shot Gun has some fun impersonating Bill Ogden with his “Pimple” parody.
