John Laws might be up to 70 years in radio but his good friend John Kerr (both pictured) is not far behind. 67 years in the industry and still on air presenting a country music program on community station 91.4 FM on the Gold Coast.
John recently talked about his extensive and fascinating career to Brian Crabbe, presenter of There Goes That Song Again on community station 2RRR in Sydney for a special that will air this week and next. The interviews are part of a series on “Music presenters on radio in the 1940s, 50s and 60s” that has seen Brian chat with Bob Rogers, Frank Ifield and Kerr’s friend and colleague in pirate radio Graham Webb (see picture below). The 2RRR special includes songs that were popular in the years John talks about and excerpts of some of the many artists John has interviewed.
The Sydney premiere of “The Boat That Rocked” from left to right: Glenn A. Baker (Rock Historian) Dermot Hoy (2CH – Radio Caroline and Radio Scotland) John Kerr, Bill Nighy (star of the movie) Norman St. John ( former radio/TV man from Queensland -Radio Caroline and London ) Graham Webb (Radio Caroline).
Kerr began on air in 1957 at 2PK in Parkes, then to other stations in country NSW and Canberra, before spending 13 years on breakfast at 2GO in Gosford. In 1994 Kerr headed to Sydney and 2UE hosting the overnight program “New Day Australia” for two decades and at one point having an astonishing 31.2% market share.
The 2RRR program will air in two parts this week and next in the second hour of Brian’s program, beginning at 10.45am on Wednesday, 24th July for Part 1 and 31st July for Part 2. It will have an encore repeat from 2:45 pm on Friday, 26th July and 2nd August. 2RRR can be heard on 88.5FM in Sydney, streamed on the web at www.2rrr.org.au, or you can listen at any time via the links below:
What an incredible story about John Kerr. I was lucky enough to work with him at 2UE in the 1970's. Always professional with a massive passion for the medium. And an all time great guy. You're doing well John. Keep it up my friend.