Kevin Hillier, podcaster and 50 year plus veteran of the broadcast industry, has had his stolen Gold Twelfth Man album returned.
This moment has reminded me of the power of sharing a story and word of mouth. I had so hoped we would achieve this wonderful outcome when I first spoke with Kevin and Sarah Patterson in April 2024:
It’s just not cricket: Radio campaign to return Kevin Hillier’s stolen gold record
Sarah is my colleague at Radio Today where we both cover news for the radio and podcasts industries. She’d messaged me privately sharing her devastation at the theft of mementos including an Australian Commercial Radio Award (ACRA), a Most Popular DJ TV Week Award and the gold record.
It’s Just Not Cricket is a comedy sketch that unexpectedly went to No 1 on the charts, gifted to Kevin by Billy Birmingham who was the personality behind The Twelfth Man. Kev had been the conduit to legendary bowler, captain and commentator Richie Benaud hearing the piece and then the whole thing going viral in a 1984 word of mouth kind of way.
I’m an optimist who believes in karma. I thought if we shared the stolen gold record story via Radioinfo and our socials then some good Samaritan would find it, Google it and return it to the Hillier household. But, after a year and a half, I had pretty much given up.
I’m in Sydney at the moment was was taking a walk through Gordon West when Sarah sent me a sequence of ‘the most amazing thing has happened’ and ‘go home and check your inbox’ messages. It’s been a big week for our industry and was honestly a bit wary when I went to read the messages.
The record had been found by the side of the road in Bondi!
It was stolen from Melbourne’s western suburbs. The Twelfth Man had been on a heck of a vacation. The gentleman who had found it had taken it home where it had languished for a while before he decided he should find out more about it. His home was in Lane Cove, less than 10kms from where I was walking that morning.
The finder eventually did go to Google and the first thing he found was my Radioinfo story from 18 months ago.
Sarah, Kev and I have been sitting with ants in our pants all week for the record to make one final commute back to Kev’s arms. The finders wrapped it in multiple layers and told the courier to ‘take extra special care of it’.
This afternoon It’s Just Not Cricket finally arrived home (main image).
This is why we share stories. This is why we write, interview and listen. For moments like this that just make you feel that the world still has good people and magic moments.
For two of the best humans I know, this story has a happy ending.
The story was picked up by Melbourne’s 3AW, with Kevin interviewed about the gold record’s return by Tony Jones this morning:
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo