Hamish and Andy’s new Drive show launched on Sydney Harbour as Andy becomes cannon fodder.
Peter Saxon was there. Took some pics.
It had been so long since I’d been invited to a SCA function I was beginning to think it was something I’d said. So, I was somewhat relieved when the invitation arrived in the email requesting my company at the Hamish and Andy Launch After Party aboard the “Starship,” No. 4, King Street Wharf, Darling Harbour.
As it turns out the reason I hadn’t been invited to a SCA event in ages was that it had been ages since they felt like partying. But last night they did. And why not? Last week they aced Survey 4 with all 10 metro stations posting gains – the Triple M network consolidating its position as the number one network for blokes under 70 while the recently refurbished Today/Hit Network was starting to display the green shoots of a comeback.
Of course, it’s only one survey. It doesn’t mean much. They know that. But hey, 10 out of 10 is a rare result and perhaps it’s a sign that SCA’s luck has finally changed.
Now here they were, last night, floating on Sydney Harbour on a launch for the launch of Hamish and Andy’s return to radio in the Drive shift that made them famous and their employer richer between 2007 – 2010.
Despite the unusually high winds and choppy conditions that caused the floating dance club to rock like a sail boat on the high seas, most put it down to one drink too many. The mood was bouyant. But can they bring back the magic.
If any of the 200 invited guests that included media and advertisers had, before they boarded the launch, harboured any doubts about the lads’ ability to help lift the network back towards its former glory they had become true believers by the time the presentation was done.
Also on hand for the presentation were Melbourne’s breakfast duo Fifi Box and Dave Thornton along with Dan and Maz the Sydney breakfast team.
Prior to that evening’s launch, as H & A’s first official program went to air between 4 – 6pm, 300 listeners were aboard to hear and watch as Andy was shot out of a cannon. New SCA CEO Grant Blackley joked about having to sign off on the stunt while Sydney Manager Jeremy Simpson complained of the amount of paper work involved in preparing the insurance indemnities.
Below: Fifi & Dave; Dan & Maz; CEO, Grant Blackley.
