At age 33 Clive was number two in breakfast behind 2UE’s unassailable Garry O’Callaghan who described him as “The youngest eccentric I’ve ever met.”

Bob Rogers said of him, “I think he’s brilliant, bordering on genius.” Ian MacRae, the biggest star at the then mighty 2SM, was simply grateful that Robertson started half an hour earlier than he did, saying, “I get to listen to Clive driving in to work each day so that I have plenty of time to gather material for my show.”

Here is his last 2BL show from January 1980, before he moved to 2Day FM.

Margaret Throsby remembered Clive in a post on X, fondly calling him “brilliant, a tease and unreconstructed.”

Long term friend and colleague Jason Morrison saw him recently:

“He was as we all remember him right until the end. Funny, brilliant, and always having a laugh at the world. Robertson was a deeply private person and wanted no fuss about his passing. He was a strong Christian and ready for the next adventure. 

“He was a radio man who ended up famous on TV, but he was always radio. What people heard and saw was what he was in life which made him loveable and brilliant. 

“We should never forget that the Commercial Radio industry voted him Australia’s best when the competition was Laws, Jones, Hinch, John Pearce, Doug Mulray, Ron E Sparx, Neil Mitchell, and Ron Casey. I’d often remind him of that and he thought they’d made a mistake!”

Peter Wall, who didn’t work with him at the ABC, but did later represent him in his talent management company, told radioinfo:

“I tried to manage him, that’s all you can say about managing Clive, you tried. It consisted of lunches and sometimes chatting while we washed our cars.

“People couldn’t get enough of Clive, but he was a recluse, he didn’t like being out in public. I remember one time when I tried to arrange a exhibition of his photography he asked if he would have to go to the opening. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘No thanks,’ he said.”

Clive’s 2BL producer Tony Twiss, interviewed by Dom Knight on ABC Radio Sydney (go to the 4:15 point in the audio) , said it was a  fun ride with Clive. “If he came in and was quiet you knew it would be a tough day, but if he came in and was all chatty it was a great day,” said Twiss.

Clive and Caroline Jones talking about breakfast radio hours.

In a podcast celebrating the 100th anniversary of ABC Radio Sydney last year, presenter Rod Quinn, who researched the history of the station, said Robertson “broke the mould of the stiff and serious ABC presenter.”

“[He] became both the first of a new breed of announcer, but totally original — a one of a kind who is still remembered fondly today by listeners who tuned in each morning for his philosophical musings and quirky observations on life.. He won fans from other stations, too, and not just listeners from commercial radio who wanted to know what all the fuss was about, but other breakfast presenters who described Clive as brilliant, bordering on genius.”