Presents Vital Bits

Filling the space between the Graveyard Shift and Things To Do Today with music, occasional guests and weekly chats with taxi-driving farming horticulturalist Bohdan, and bicycle mechanic and enthusiast Marcus Walker.

How did you first connect with Triple R?

First really brought to my attention thirty years ago at my then place of work when a taciturn middle-aged fairly straight-looking technician (aren't they all?) raced in and blurted out "if the Croydon Police ring or come in and ask for me, I am not here!" and then disappeared for the day. He later revealed that he had been observed attaching a transmitter to a television tower at Mount Dandenong, to test it for the fledging and cash-strapped RRR. This was done without authority, and the authorities were not impressed.

The idea of this dodgy little station appealed, and for a moment I wondered if it was the type of place which would let me live out my childhood deejay fantasies. I could not, however, really receive RRR until I moved from Emerald to Edithvale four years later. Around that time I began tuning into the RRR simulcast of SBS's "Rock Around the World", and listening to the programs either side of it. I was not all that enamoured with the pretentious undergraduate private-schoolesque smart arses with a musical background of five minutes who presented these.

It was not until I could pick RRR up while on the road (after acquiring a really powerful top of the range car radio, which I believe had once been in a truck but somehow become detached) that I heard broadcasters presenting stuff in a way that made me truly want to listen to the radio again. People like the Ghost were pretentious but professional, just like my heroes in the sixties. And he had a deep sense of musical history. Mr Walker raised the bar for the RRR presenters at the time, and those who followed. It was like being a teenager again, everything was new, unpredictable. Back then your parents didn't understand. Now your colleagues, partner or friends didn't. It was time for a new bunch of weird and wonderful acquaintances.

What/when was your first show?

First regular show was "The Anchovy Brothers" in 1986 with Cameron Mellor and Tim Daly. I went along to observe, but ended up on air. The first Saturday "Vital Bits" was in 1989.

Your favorite other Triple R program and why?

That is like asking a parent to nominate their favourite child.

If I must come up with something... for variety in music and presentation, company when you may need it and the chance of stumbling upon a "star" of the future, you can't go past the graveyard shift.

What does Triple R mean to you?

It's just a radio station, really. I could have got through life without all of those "alternative" sounds I have heard and the beautiful souls I have met. Like it hasn't given me a reason to live or anything. Really.