Pat Barton, Newcastle radio’s longest serving breakfast announcer, has died aged 92 after suffering a stroke.
The Newcastle Herald reported that Barton died at the John Hunter hospital.
Barton dominated the airwaves in the steel city for 55 years and was the man who introduced John Laws to the airwaves.
His career started at 2LF in young in 1938 and by 1941 he was the breakfast announcer at 2KO. He left radio for four years to serve in World War 2.
In 1952 he was poached over to rival station 2HD with a contract that at the time was considered a landmark in Newcastle radio.
He returned to 2KO in 1957 and remained on breakfast until company policy demanded he retire. This was 1982. 2HD meanwhile had other plans and they coaxed Pat out of retirement the following year. He stayed on air in Newcastle until 1993.
Wayne Mac has sent radioinfo some audio grabs from Pat Barton’s career:
“The jingle is from 1962 promoting Elvis’s ‘new’ record Return to Sender. The aircheck grab is Pat’s return to the airwaves on 2HD in 1983. He left
KO the previous year. He had to leave KO
i.e. retire, in ’82 because of his age and the company policy. It was owned by the Lambs in those days and staff had to be compulsorally retired by a certain age.”
Pat Barton is survived by his three daughters and two grandchildren, his wife Margot died in 2003.
