LBC's first day

I was in the last half dozen staff "auditioned" and I can well remember (Jack?) jumping out of his seat in the control room shouting, "At last I've found myself a goddam newsreader, you'll open the radio station!"

Quite frankly, it was the pinnacle of my career, which was to last 40 years all up. At the time, however, I was feeling a mixture of excitement, fear, a giant ego trip and intense nerves.

So on the eve of the first day, October 8th 1973, I hardly slept as I had to rise at midnight; a London cab picked me up at 1am and I began my shift at 2am finishing at 10am. The oddest shift I ever worked in my entire radio and TV career.

The first announcer that morning was David Jessel (ex BBC) who, I'm told, was physically ill into the waste paper basket in his studio. Fortunately I was in the other main studio.

We went on air in the middle of the Yom Kippur war, a marvellous coincidence for us at LBC, not so great for the combatants.

I still have a tape of the first hour, complete with messages from Harold Wilson and Edward Heath. I also brought back to Brisbane press clippings of LBC's first year with all its ups and downs. Some of the headlines were shockers for those who worked there. I also have Fleet St. cartoons lampooning my Aussie accent and original news copy which us readers were expected to read on air word perfect.

Also on hand I have internal memos and a list of the people who passed through the station in the first year. Under the heading "Lest We Forget" it lists 124 people. And, of course, there were "incidents" like the time one of the female producers took umbrage at the conduct of a certain male journo and king-hit him in the main corridor leading to the studios. Laid him out for quite a while...

On Oct 8, 1998 my wife and I were in the UK touring and I attended LBC's 25th Anniversary at ITN in Grays Inn Road for lunch and then at a great pissup in Drakes Wine Bar off Fleet St. that night. It was an exceptional day and I estimate I got to meet again 90 percent of the people I wanted to see. Keith Belcher, who wrote the first bulletin, was there as were journos I hadn't seen for 23 years.
I would very much like to keep in touch with many of them. Maybe you could pass on my details if any inquiries are forthcoming.