With the next episode of Samuel’s Persiflage just around the corner, the deadline for listener feedback is nearly here. But it’s not too late just yet.
Naturally I welcome your feedback to the podcast email address podcast@samuelgordonstewart.com. When sending an email please let me know which name you would like me to refer to you as (if you have a preference), otherwise I will just have to use whatever name is in the email headers. Putting a name at the bottom of your message is probably the easiest way to do this.
I welcome both written and spoken feedback to the podcast email address, but if you’re sending audio could you please send it in either MP3 (preferred), Wave or Ogg Vorbis format and try to keep it under 60 seconds. Audio in other formats will most likely not be accepted, and audio over 60 seconds may require editing.
I accept that sending audio is a pain as you have to record it and save it and attach it and send it, so I have introduced an easier way for you to send audio feedback. Thanks to Odeo I can now offer you a way to send me spoken feedback without leaving your web browser. Clicking on the “send me a voice message” button below will take you to an Odeo page which will allow you to record a message and send it, quickly and easily.
One more thing, I received an email from “henry’s porridge” in which he asks
I want to send you audio feedback, do I need a microphone?
I suspect Henry’s Porridge was being silly, but yes Henry’s Porridge, you do need a microphone to send audio feedback…unless you intend on sending me somebody else’s work, which I will not accept or use.
I’ll be drawing the cutoff for feedback tomorrow (Wednesday) at 3PM Canberra time (the weather graphics on the right hand side of the home page should help you work out when that is), so hopefully you will send some feedback, and with any luck you will be on the next episode of Samuel’s Persiflage (due out either on Thursday or Friday).
It looks like the Optus B1 satellite may be having issues again (much like it did in late March). Lawsie has been off air for just over ten minutes, with 2CC now resorting to playing funny clips of Laws in between ads.
No news from Southern Cross Syndication or Optus yet, but I’ll keep you posted.
Update: Looks like the issue is sorted, after nearly twenty minutes.
As Australians would almost certainly be aware, and people overseas probably aware of as well, trapped tasmanian miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell have been rescued. In total they spent 14 nights underground in a small cage, and remarkably were able to walk out of the mine, with beards being the only obvious sign of their time underground. Lawsie made the comment this morning that it looked like they had just done a normal day of work.
The amazing skills of the rescue team (which consisted partially of other miners) should be praised for the amazing work that they did. Certainly it took some time, but that was a minor concern after they managed to get a supply tube through to them. The supply tube gave them virtually as much time as they needed to safely get through the rock, without unduly risking the lives of Brant and Todd.
Brant and Todd were in high spirits when they left the mine, and even “clocked off” on the mine’s status board. They are expected to be able to attend the funeral of fellow miner Larry Knight later today.
I know the point I’m about to raise is a minor issue, which is why I have left it to the end of the article, but just as I said to Mike Jeffreys on-air at 8:07am, I would like to thank 2CC for delaying the 6am news so that they could continue their live coverage of Brant and Todd coming out of the mine. I was very pleased to hear this, and I think it shows a healthy committment providing news when it happens, regardless of what the schedule might say they are supposed to be doing.
I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the song “Good Mornin” from the movie “Singing In The Rain” (You can see and hear it here), but John Kerr usually finishes his show with the first bit of the song, as it is very appropriate for his show.
Good mornin’
Good mornin’
We’ve talked the whole night through
Good mornin’
Good mornin’ to you
Good mornin’
Good mornin’
It’s great to stay up late
Good mornin’
Good mornin’ to you
Anyway, John plays this at the end of his show at 5:59am. Often I set my alarm so that if I do doze off or deliberately go to sleep, I can wake up at 5:59 in time to hear John sign off and play “Good Mornin”. Yesterday however my alarm was set to 6am, and I dozed off at about 4:30am. The interesting thing is that, as I still had the radio on, I partially heard the song.
I think my body is now fairly used to the idea of waking at 5:59 on weekends and seems to go into a lighter sleep around that time, I remember hearing a bit of the song, but it seemed to start a dream. The dream was short, but it contained John playing “Good Mornin Karaoke” with the listeners for an entire show, with John singing the song as well. The dream ended abruptly when my alarm went off at 6am, and unfortunately I have no recollection of how good John’s singing was.
I wonder how the ratings would fare if John had an entire morning of “Good Mornin Karaoke”?
Chuck A. Spear has sent in another song which starts out as another remix of the original Samuel’s Persiflage intro, and turns into a song. It’s not really my style, but I thank Chuck for the effort and hope that some of you enjoy it.
Oh dear, my tips keep getting worse…even the law of averages is beating me! I got another 2 in the AFL, but only managed a 3 in the NRL, which is down from my 4 last week.
It is 7:15AM, which means Melbourne was in the midst of radio history exactly one week ago when 3AW changed frequency from 1278kHz to 693kHz. The changover was (apparently) done by AFL legend Ron Barassi by flicking a large yellow switch on the top of a big black box with wires attached.
Unfortunately I fear that the switch was more of a press event than anything else, as the changeover semi-occured before the switch was flicked. Here is what was heard on 1278kHz
Ross Stevenson: “Throw that switch”
(Sound effect)
Ross Stevenson: “Ross Stevenson”
John Burns: “John Burns”
Ross Stevenson: “Welcome you to the new age on 6-9-3”
Whilst on 693kHz the following took place
Ann Gilding: “You know Andy there’s just one thing I’d like to do, just one more time before we move to 1278”
Andrew McLaren: “I hate to think Ann”
Ann Gilding: “Can we play a Magic 693 jingle just one more time?”
(Magic 693 Jingle)
(Silence)
Ross Stevenson: “Throw That Swi…”
(Silence)
Ross Stevenson: “Ross Stevenson”
John Burns: “John Burns”
Ross Stevenson: “Welcome you to the new age on 6-9-3”
None the less, the changeover was interesting, and the technicians obviously only had one chance to get it right. If it had been me I would have tried to get 3AW on 693kHz starting with the sound effect. I suspect they did too, but not to worry, it all worked out in the end.
Magic 693 ended with the song they came to life with, “Magic Moments” by Perry Como. The man who played the song when Magic first went to air, Artie Stevens, said that “it was a significant thing to finish with”.
With thanks to Robert “Wombat Lover” I am able to bring you some audio of the changeover.
Firstly we have the last minutes of Magic 693, the changeover, and the first minutes of 3AW 693 (10 minutes 13 seconds, 4.3MB, Click here to download)
Next up we have the first topical discussion on 3AW 693, a discussion about the Fremantle V St. Kilda inaudible siren fiasco, and the first 3AW news on 693, which features a story about the changeover, including the audio from the 1278 version of the changeover. (9 minutes 45 seconds, 4.1MB, Click here to download)
Magic 1278 came to life, not at 10am as promised, but at 10:05:16 when the ad break between the 3AW news and the Magic 1278 weather started, the Magic 1278 weather started at 10:06:01, and the Magic 1278 intro featuring a potted history of Magic 693/1278 and Olivia Newton John’s “Magic” started at 10:06:37. The download for this features 3AW using Auld Lang Syne as their goodbye to 1278kHz, 3AW News, the Magic 1278 intro and the Magic breakfast hosts dropping in on the morning host for a little chat. (17 minutes 15 seconds, 7.2MB, Click here to download)
So there you have it folks, Australian radio history recorded on Samuel’s Blog, and therefore the National Library of Australia’s PANDORA archive.
The final radio ratings containing Magic 693 and 3AW 1278 is due out tomorrow (the survey period ended on the Saturday prior to the changeover), and the first ratings containing Magic 1278 and 3AW 693 is due out on Tuesday, June 20 (the survey period started yesterday), and I will endeavour to bring you both.
It’s the mystery that has had the nation on tenterhooks all week, the mystery of what will happen to the golden microphone. National speculation has varied wildly, with some saying Samuel would turn in to John Laws, whilst others have been speculating that Samuel would give it to Lawsie, and there was even some speculation that the golden microphone would follow real life events and Brian Henderson would give it to Lawsie. Episode 10 of the second series of Samuel In Dolgnwot is here to answer the question.
In this episode we see Samuel having coffee with Brian Henderson, and Samuel giving Brian the golden microphone so that he can give it to Lawsie for his 50 years of broadcasting, a task which Brian is more than pleased to carry out.
This week the award goes to Kris Kristofferson, and the feature song is one sung by many, but one which in my mind has a clear association with Kris Kristofferson, who does in my opinion have the best rendition of it.
Busted flat in Baton Rouge, headin’ for the train,
Feelin’ nearly faded as my jeans.
Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained;
Took us all the way to New Orleans.
I took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandanna,
And was blowing sad while Bobby sang the blues.
With them windshield wipers slappin’ time,
And Bobby clappin’ hands,
We finally sang up every song that driver knew.
Freedom’s just another word for nothing’ left to lose:
Nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free.
Feeling good was easy, Lord, when Bobby sang the blues.
Feeling good was good enough for me;
Good enough for me and Bobby McGee.
From the coal mines of Kentucky to the California sun,
Bobby shared the secrets of my soul.
Standin’ right beside me, Lord, through everything I’ve done,
Every night she kept me from the cold.
Then somewhere near Salinas, Lord, I let her slip away,
Lookin’ for the home I hope she’ll find.
And I’d trade all my tomorrows for a single yesterday,
Holdin’ Bobby’s body next to mine.
Freedom’s just another word for nothing’ left to lose:
Nothin’ left is all she left for me.
Feeling good was easy, Lord, when Bobby sang the blues.
Buddy, that was good enough for me;
Good enough for me and Bobby McGee.
La da da la la na na na
La da da na na.
La la la da, Me and Bobby McGee.
La la la la la da da da
La la la da da.
La la la da, Me and Bobby McGee.
La la la la la na na na
La la la da da.
La da da da, Me and Bobby McGee.
La la la la la da da da……………..
Welcome to the first radio ratings season in Canberra, which will run from now until Saturday June 3, which means results will be due sometime around June 13.
If those of you with (and even the rest of us without) survey books could be so kind as to tune your radios to 2CC for the duration of this season I would be most grateful, and I’m sure you will agree that you have stumbled on to Canberra’s best radio station.
Naturally I’m looking forward to seeing how this ratings season pans out, 2CC are already off to a good start with ads on busses, but it will be interesting to see what tricks the other stations in Canberra pull out of their collective hats. Last year ABC Local Radio pulled off the dirty trick of advertising on commercial television, a trick I wouldn’t mind if they had advertising themselves, but the fact that they (the ABC as a whole) cry poor and then squander precious taxpayer funds on expensive television advertising is a very low and dirty trick. Of course the question as to why the ABC pay to be included in commercial radio ratings is beyond me, but I suppose they have to do something to make themselves look like a worthwhile budget hole. If the ABC are allowed in to the commercial radio ratings using taxpayer funds, perhaps the government should just make it an open and honest affair and pay for the community stations as well.
In my view, Canberra’s radio market is severely split into two markets, one being music, and the other being talk. In recent years the music market has been a fierce competition between Mix 106.3 and 104.7, with Triple J, ABC Classic FM and 2CA making up the rear of the pack. Last ratings season 104.7 gained an astonishing 2.6 ratings points to take the lead from Mix 106.3.
Having recently been subjected to multiple hearings of 104.7, I can safely say that I think they are going downhill quickly, and will struggle to retain top spot. Mix 106.3 will probably regain top spot, and the rest are unlikely to change. 2CA could have gained if they had informed Canberra of their new format which is similar to Mix 106.3, but as they haven’t done that, I don’t forsee many gains for them.
In the talk market, the ABC have dominated, with ABC Local Radio absolutely sweeping the field with just over 2.5 times the ratings share as second place 2CC in the last survey. Radio National were just behind 2CC last time, and News Radio came last in both the talk market, and the overall Canberra market.
This ratings season sees a few interesting changes. The ABC Local Radio lineup has changed, with the awful Ross Solly (who by his own admition entered radio because he was no good at farming) heading the convoluted breakfast schedule, and being followed by good newsreader but horrible feminazi Virginia Haussegger (already complained about on the ABC guestbook) as their answer to John Laws (good luck…Ha!). ABC Local Radio have also lost their main attraction of a saturday morning, gardening host Mark Carmody, which has probably prompted listeners to fiddle with the dial and find alternatives.
I can’t understand why the ABC insist on changing their schedule, if they want to keep listeners they need to find a schedule they can keep for any length of time. They are slowly but surely driving people mad with their constant schedule fiddles.
2CC have had the same schedule for quite some time, albeit with minor alterations caused by 2UE schedule changes. In fact the only real changes at 2CC in terms of local programming is minor improvements such as a recent change to the Trading Post (whoops, new sponsor, it’s the Tradies Post now…and I thought it was a typo in the script when I heard the promo for the first time) which made calling to sell things a fairer experience for all and sundry.
2CC have a tried and tested formula which is popular amongst the listeners (and much more interesting than ABC Local Radio in my opinion), and a timetable which is easier to remember.
Of the other stations in the market, ABC Radio National has had plenty of success in podcasting, which has probably raised their “brand awareness value”, which in turn may work in their favour, although I think when it comes to their programming which has no local content, people might be happy with just the podcasts. ABC News Radio is really facing extermination here, their conversion to FM didn’t help them in the last survey, and the only reasons they survive is the taxpayer funding that keeps them there, and the fact that the other ABC stations don’t really want to take over the parliament broadcasts, which are a niche market and bore most people to tears (I personally love televised question time, which is a circus of comedic proportions). The budget proceedings may help News Radio, but their chances of getting anywhere in this survey are almost null.
It’s an interesting few weeks ahead in Canberra, and I wish all the stations the best of luck, although I wish 2CA and 2CC much more luck than the others!
Yesterday I visited Bunnings Belconnen with Mum, and after doing that we visited the Belconnen Fresh Food Markets. While we were there we stopped in at Liberty Snackbar to have our morning tea. When we walked in we were carrying a couple bulky items from Bunnings and the lovely lady (whom I think was probably Ornela Anastasopoulos) in attendance at Liberty offered us a space to put our shopping while we enjoyed our drink.
As it happened, Liberty had some iced donuts on offer, so Mum & I decided to have a cappuccino and a caramel donut each. We payed for this (from memory it was $9, which is quite good value in my view), and the lady in attendance said that she would bring over our drinks and donuts.
The coffees and donuts arrived very quickly whilst Mum & I enjoyed a chat, the coffees arrived with two teaspoon size sugar packets each, which was extremely courteous considering that most cafes expect you to find your own sugar. The cappuccinos were quite magnificent, with just the right amount of froth at just the right consistency, the coffee component of the cappuccino was also just right, having a good mix of coffee and milk. The coffee at Liberty is in my view among the best in Canberra.
The donuts were also excellent, having a rich caramel flavour, and being a good, light, fluffy consistency. Many donuts from snack bars are too heavy, or the icing is flaky and overpowering, but not the donuts at Liberty, which were just right. I would even go so far as to say that the donuts are on par with, if not better than, the donuts available at Fantasy Donuts in Westfield Woden which are quite scrumptious.
Originally I had no intention of reviewing Liberty, but after tasting the coffee and donut and experiencing the fantastic customer service on offer, I felt compelled to write a review. I would have no hesitation in referring people to Liberty as I’m sure they would enjoy their time, and find plenty of good things on offer in the surrounding stores of the Belconnen Fresh Food Markets.
Liberty offer much more than just coffee and donuts, in fact they offer a whole range of meals including burgers, seafood, pasta, greek salad and much much more, including an extensive range of juice, milk and fizzy drinks (as well as excellent coffee).
Liberty Snackbar is open on Tuesday from 7am-2pm, Wednesday-Sunday 6am-6pm, and closed on Monday. They can be found at shop 18 of the Belconnen Fresh Food Markets on Lathlain Street, Belconnen, just opposite Bunnings and just off Belconnen Way. You can contact them by phone on (02) 6251 1575.
I would thoroughly recommend that you visit Liberty Snackbar next time you are around that area, say hello to owners John and Ornela, and let them know that Samuel Gordon-Stewart recommended them. I will be sending them a copy of this review, so they should know who you’re talking about.
Over at John B1_B5’s Place, John B1_B5 has added to the “Voice Of Reason” confusion by giving himself the title.
John B1_B5 is now the third voice of reason in Canberra, after 2CC declared that John Stanley is the voice of reason, only to be trumped shortly after by a promo for John Laws which touted Lawsie as the voice of reason.
So, is anybody else here also the voice of reason? And if so, please state your credentials for the job, we need to get to the bottom of this controversy ASAP!
Yesterday (Thursday) morning John Kerr filled in for Stuart Bocking (who had been filling in for Stan Zemanek, a job normally carried out by Glenn Wheeler).
It was certainly nice to hear John exercising his vocal cords on a weekday morning for a change, and it prompted a lot of people to ring in reminiscing about John’s old weekday shift. A lot of people were also momentarily confused and thought it was a Saturday morning when John came on the air…not me though, my initial thought was “Stuart sounds a bit croaky this morning”, a few seconds later I worked out the voice. I suppose if I had been listening at the start of the show I would taken notice of John’s intro and known that John was on.
The upshot of all of this is that John has confirmed that he is the presenter who fills in for Stuart, which should be interesting if and when Stuart takes holidays. The question remains as to who John’s fill-in is, my money is on Spencer Kirk who has previously filled in on the weekend version of New Day.
Try singing the title to the tune of “The Wheels On The Bus” and you will get my drift…and it’s all true, 2CC are advertising on the rear of ACTION busses, which is really very clever as the one place where virtually everyone has access to a radio is on the road.
The photo above is of the 2CC ad on the rear of ACTION bus 999, On Sunday I saw one on 884, and I am reliably informed that there are also 2CC ads on busses 931 & 994, plus many others. “Renault Rider” informs me that the ads are on at least ten busses, and probably more.
Most of the ads are actually on the rear window, but on 999 it is lower for some reason. Interestingly, the current promo for the Mike Jeffreys Breakfast Programme contains a caller informing Mike Jeffreys that he has been following him on the back of a bus and that the only person missing is Mike Frame (factually inaccurate, but we’ll get to that shortly), Mike Jeffreys jokingly suggests to the caller that Mike Frame is running around sticking his own photo on the back of busses. The promo then cuts to a portion of the next traffic report where Mike “Frame in the Plane” Frame tells Mike Jeffreys that there wasn’t any room on the ad after Mike Jeffreys, they then joke about it for a bit and Mike Frame insists that he is a big fan of Mike Jeffreys.
That paragraph is nauseating with all of the Mikes, so I will try and record a copy of the promo which should make the whole thing clearer.
Moving on from that, it is time to scrutinise the ad. I don’t want to be critical as I am pleased to see 2CC finally doing something about getting their name out there, but I feel that a bit of light hearted analysis is good for everybody. I am hopeful that sister station 2CA (with their new format reminiscent of “Mix 106.3”) will follow 2CC’s lead, as I doubt that anybody other than 2CA’s listeners know that 2CA have a new format.
The most notable absence from the ad (other than Framey) is weekday afternoon announcer John Stanley, who is undoubtedly a large part of the lineup, however it is important to notice that they probably could only fit five people on the ad, and that meant throwing their relatively well known NRL commentator into the mix.
What really surprised me was that Stan Zemanek got the all-important centre position, when I have always regarded John Laws as the “big name” of 2CC. Stan does pull in a big audience of loyal fans, but I was surprised to see him getting the middle spot and not Lawsie.
Speaking of Lawsie, why is he next to Mike Jeffreys? It is well known that the two aren’t exactly best friends, but I suppose you could argue that they are two relatively high profile respected commentators on matters of news and politics, and should be grouped together as the “powerful morning duo”.
Having Mike Welsh on the other side of the ad gives listeners a feeling of balanced local broadcasters (Jeffreys on one side of the ad, and Welshy on the other), which seems to work, and having Hadley on the far end does emphasise a commitment to quality NRL coverage.
I would say that choosing the people and positions on the ad would have been a hard choice given the limited space, but I think it works quite well.
Now, time to work out where the images came from. Firstly a recap of what the ad looked like.
To start with we have the blue “2CC” letters from the 2CC logo in the background.
Then we have Mike Jeffreys, as seen on his 2CC postcard.
Then Lawsie as seen in a recent publicity shot, but rotated so that he isn’t leaning over.
This is followed by a reversed photo of Mike Welsh (Just like Mike Jeffreys, it is from his 2CC publicity show as seen on his 2CC postcards) to make it look like everyone is huddled around in a minor semi-circle.
And finally Ray Hadley. This appears to have come from a 2GB publicity shot, although the only copy I can find of it is a thumbnailed version used on the 2GB homepage.
On the whole, I think 2CC have made a very smart move, and I hope they reap the rewards. Well done 2CC!
