Roy The Lawyer had "a voice like gravel" to "save you from the gavel". Campbell Smith does not. In this episode, he reveals why; and discusses how 95bFM was his entry into the music biz where he now heads RIANZ, brings the Big Day Out to Auckland, and has offices that nobody breaks the toilet or hits anybody with ironing boards. (Episode 22 Parts 1-2 of 2)
In this episode, Dubhead turns the mic on himself & relates tales of his 24 year involvement in 95bFM - 19 of those as the host of The Rhythm Selection. From rocksteady to roots reggae, experimental avant-garde to singing a commercial for car stereos, Dubhead asks himself the hard questions and explains why the magic of radio has never ceased to amaze him. (Episode 24 Parts 1-2 of 2)
Andrew Boak first appeared at Radio b with a demo of his mod band The Regulators in 1980, and soon after became one of the "Gang of Andrews", the team who transformed the station into basically what we know today. He went on to NZ's first commershull FM station while still spinning discs on b's Resurrection Punk Show and playing guitar in the legendary No Tag. (Episode 25 Parts 1 and 2 of 2)
Renee Jones - longtime Saturday Afternoon host, cartoonist, and industrious music industry worker -- tells of arriving at 95bFM in 1989, after an obsessive love affair with the station which began in her first year of high school. Being fired from Freak The Sheep, being considered "old school" while in her mid 20s, and deciding to marry her husband after hearing him on the radio (but not meeting him until later). (Episode 26 Parts 1-2 of 2)
Another of "The Andrews" who stormed the hippie b-astion of Campus Radio at the dawn of the 1980s and got the radio station on the path to the future with consecutive broadcast licenses and ready for FM. Andrew was one of the crew who transplanted the station to Ohakune for a legendary 3 week stint, and was the station manager for two years - without his parents knowing until they saw him on TV. (Episode 27 Parts 1-2 of 2)
Hugh Hughes, the character formerly known as Hugh Sundae, was something of a broadcasting prodigy after he found his way into bFM at age 14. By age 17, he was standing in for breakfast host Graeme Hill for a 6 week period, ensuring that high school lost any appeal whatsoever; and before he was 20 he was co-hosting a TV show with Bic Runga. He's even been to Mongolia (tho he doesn't talk about that here). (Episode 28 Parts 1-2 of 2)
Jennifer Weather-Centre 1993 to 2000 Jennifer, oh Jenny... Drawn to 95bFM by a psychic flash, she became a breakfast show shining star across three + different hosts, utilising a saucer and a flagpole to report on Auckland's weather. Jennifer Weather-Centre was one of the most effervescent voices on 95bFM throughout the 1990s, and in this episode gives her perspective on the hosts she worked with and the music she associates with them. (Episode 32, Parts 1-3 of 3)
Gemma Gracewood 1993 to 2000 During the 1990s, Gemma single-handledly reinvented the approach of 95bFM's News & Editorial, taking the station's news content from lifting from the NZ Herald and Time magazine to a fully-functioning, national class newsroom. A Pioneer of sorts, she championed women's roles at 95bFM and had a hand at producing the Breakfast show with Mikey Havoc. She also rethought the idea of how 95bFM threw parties. (Episode 34, Parts 1-3 of 3)
Chris Esther was part of the post-punk generation which transformed Radio b in the early 1980s. He steered the New Zealand Music Show into a territory where what he played was an accurate reflection of a new breed of young musicians, and became the programme director at the age of 19. He was also a co-conspirator in Auckland's first rave, Housequake. (Episode 36, Part 1-3 of 3)
How do! Murray was the host of Land of the Good Groove between 1983 and 1993, playing classic soul, modern soul & funk, & early hip-hop at a time when b's airwaves were biased towards music that did not emanate from those streets on that side of the Atlantic. Amongst his many towering achievements, Murray introduced the "continuous mix" to NZ, and of course, the reason had something to do with food. (Episode 37, Partis 1-3 of 3)
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