At the end of the 1980s, American cartoonist Gary Larson released a book called The Prehistory of the Far Side which gave an inside look into the this quite brilliant man’s mind creating his Far Side cartoons. He spoke about what worked, what didn’t, some mixed up captions released publicly, professional highlights and the curious case of the cartoon below:
In The Prehistory, Gary said that when this particular cartoon was published he got an irate cease and desist letter from the Jane Goodall Institute. Larson, for whom creatures great and small are a regular subject and who also had the highest esteem for Goodall and the Institute’s work, was horrified that it had upset her. Fortunately, a couple of months later Larson and Goodall were at the same event where he went to apologise to her. Goodall, who had been travelling at the time of the brouhaha, had seen the comic and adored it! She had had nothing to do with the Institute’s response. Later the Institute, with Larson’s blessing, would sell the cartoon on t-shirts to raise money and Jane would write a preface to a later Far Side book.
Two weeks on from John Laws’ death I’ve been reflecting on how, for the majority of his career, part of the magic was that you didn’t have to go through 17 hoops to access the man. You could simply ring the show and have a chat with Lawsie yourself. There weren’t the gatekeepers / producers / PR / promoters that there are now governing most A-Z talent’s every move.
There is a movie about to hit Netflix, about such gatekeepers, called Jay Kelly. Jay Kelly, a superstar actor, is played by George Clooney. Adam Sandler plays his manager Ron. This is a little Oscars buzz building around it. Ron’s role, in part, is protecting Jay from himself.
The delicious irony is that George Clooney is one of the very few in Hollywood who appears to have walked through his career unscathed by bad press. That is despite being a notorious prankster (that’s why he married a lawyer, he once told Graham Norton). I half think he might describe himself as an entertainer, director and salesman, with his main profession as an actor last too, like Lawsie did.
Because of the lack of vetting, and this includes his final years at 2SM, on air, from Bill Caralis, John Laws embodied a radio craft that has largely been lost.
I only ever spoke to John once, on the news of his retirement from radio, in November 2024. I have listened to him a lot, as one of the many in the industry who have paneled his show over the years.
It was as if he was waiting to see what I had to offer before he served up something in return.
I have seen this technique repeated in audio and footage shared of Laws over the last two weeks. Think of the normally unflappable Leigh Sales on the 730 Report encountering John Laws for a chat, holding a glass of bourbon and coke (main image).
Or Lawsie’s regular run ins with caller, Norman. Somewhere behind the scenes, after one of Norman’s tirades against John, off air John will have said something like, “that was fun. You can do that again.” And so Norman did, up to and including Laws’ last day, although you’ll note if you listen below that Laws ensured he had the final two words.
And then there’s Dale. I can’t think of many other broadcasters where one of the first thoughts that many of us had on the news of Laws’ death, was how Dale would be coping? Dale had been calling John on a Thursday or Friday for such a long time, asking questions, singing and even creating the below artwork for an exhibition to show his devotion. On the last show John actively tells Dale that he’ll get his number so that they can stay in touch afterwards. Listeners loved Dale and were just as invested and proud of him as John was.
The best example of John’s willingness to answer the most menial of phone calls and yet turn it into an entertainment and sales exercise came from audio shared via Jonesy and Amanda on Gold 101.7.
I found myself a couple of days after hearing this walking the dog unconsciously spelling Pykes, that’s P.Y.K.E.S, in my head. The client must have been elated at the extensive and free publicity and somehow, like all of the above including my conversation with him, Laws can have a little dig without the person on the receiving end feeling patronised or ashamed.
I think that I can safely say that if the woman above had rung any other radio station in Australia she would have been dealt with by a producer or reception. There is no way the on air talent, especially live, would have ‘wasted their time’.
That is where John was different. Prime Ministers might come in to the station to talk to him face to face but John was also there for the everyday Australian to give them a voice too. What did you have to offer the national conversation?
I believe that Kyle Sandilands is the nearest remaining to emulate the Laws style of broadcasting, despite Kyle not being a talkback host per se. According to Kyle, Lawsie told him he was the last of the radio cowboys. Kyle chose not to attend the funeral saying he was deeply upset at the loss and did not want his being there to turn the event into a media circus, as had happened at his father’s funeral. He was right and I’m sad that it came down to that.
Both men came from nothing and became something. At their peak both could drive a national conversation and lead headlines. But, the great showman that Lawsie was, knew just when to hold ’em.
Above you’ll hear Kyle talking about wanting, and getting, a Rolls-Royce just like John Laws had. The luxury automobile was a signature, along with the golden microphone, of his power, success and wealth. On my way to and from work at 2GB in Pyrmont, Laws in his Rolls would frequently thunder past. Not fast. You could hear him coming a long time before you saw him, top down, grinning and enjoying all of us who would pause and watch the performance. I wonder if he thought back to the young man, twice afflicted with polio, getting his first radio job at 3BO Bendigo on account of his Mum ringing the station to see if there was a place for him?
When he returned to radio in 2011, on 2SM, most of us were led to believe that, despite Laws often declaring he was paid pittance, the opposite was true. But, in an interview my colleague Peter Saxon did with Laws early in 2012, Laws said:
“Can I be totally honest with you? I have no idea how much I get paid. I wanted to come back. I know the people around me are being looked after. I know Jodee (his PA) is being looked after. So I really don’t care. In that respect, I’m very fortunate.”
He was. He didn’t need the money and again I suspect that Bill Caralis and John Laws could see the benefit for all concerned in people believing Laws was worth much more than he was actually being paid.
And this is where Kyle varies from John, as I think he’s begun to realise off the back of comments he made on air last week about not thinking he’s worth the alleged $10 million a year ARN pays him.
Once Kyle and Jackie O’s 10 year deal with the network was made, and the launch into Melbourne and subsequent ratings went awry, our nation started to turn on the show. Not Kyle and Jackie’s core Sydney audience, but Kyle’s brashness and unashamed attitude towards his contract created a sense of him becoming to big for his boots so, in true Australian fashion, we proceeded to cut down the tall poppies.
Kyle, like John, remembers where he came from. He was homeless for a while as a teenager and grew up in a dysfunctional family that moved often. Now, he has gatekeepers who look after his external interests, and vet who gets to speak with him and Jackie on air and off, but still what he actually says is not guarded, guided or edited. While ARN are paying some consequences currently for that, it is also what they are paying him for.
Big Brother and Triple M’s Pilot Week are currently seeking the next lot of media entertainers and commentators, looking at what people offer up before they get to decide what they offer in return. Those people will work to a different set of rules than what John Laws, and later Kyle Sandilands, created guidelines for. Possibly without the same freedom and probably with additional gatekeepers to guide, guard and protect. Unlikely for anywhere near million dollar salaries but hopefully to be allowed to be themselves and not shaped to fit whatever network box they are slotted into.
The broadcast and audio industry needs to keep looking forward to who, what and where next. But just for a moment longer I’m pausing to look back at the man who created the original product that I’m not sure there’s a mold for any longer.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.