On June 28 1980 radio listeners tuned in at midday to hear the voice of Paddy O'Byrne welcome them to a new radio station for those living in the Johannesburg area.
It was channel 702: Your Rainbow of Sound. Twenty-five years on
and TalkRadio 702 may have changed its name (slightly) and
its format (hugely), but the spirit and enthusiasm of the original station remain and have earned it thousands of listeners around the country.
Think of Joburg and you think of Radio 702.
Broadcasting from a studio in Garankuwa in Bophuthatswana in 1980 was no easy task. Fifty percent of 702's programming material came from what was known as "The Mountain", a studio complex from where most of the broadcasting to South Africa was done. This was how the station had obtained its broadcasting license.
Facing stiff competition as a popular music station, and also looking to maximise innovative ideas (many of which are still trademarks of the station), 702 again evolved in the mid '80s by increasing its talk content.
The move proved to be one of the best ideas to secure both its popularity and future. 702 has played a part in the careers of many major radio and television personalities working in South Africa.
The role of honour includes Stan Katz, John Berks, Gary Edwards, Dan Moyane, John Robbie, Alex Jay, Jeremy Maggs, Debra Patta, Shado Twala, Jeremy Mansfield, Jon Qwelane, Gareth Cliff, Kate Turkington, Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu, Kevin Savage, Chris Gibbons, Jenny Crwys-Williams, Tim Modise and David O'Sullivan, to name a few.
In addition, the station has also been first with getting news makers on air, from politicians like Nelson Mandela, to television and film actors and musicians.
When 702 was launched 25 years ago Clark (Clackie) McKay became the "Rainbow Rooster" doing 702's breakfast show. News was that he had left Springbok Radio for a massive salary.
702's programme director Rob Vickers would not confirm quite how much he was offered, saying that it was "over R1 000 a month", but implying that it was much more.
McKay, who died in Windhoek in 1989, was on air from 6 to 9am.
He left at the end of September the following year and was replaced by "Long John" Berks, who took to the 702 mike on October 1 1981. For one day the two broadcasting legends shared the mike.
Berks soon became a legend of the microphone and introduced listeners to Gertjie and Jan Sweetpak. Berks even did a "Talks Back" column in The Star Tonight.
By July 1983 the headlines were trumpeting that Berks was the highest paid DJ in South Africa at R7 000 a month. Stan Katz, who had joined the station in April 1982 in the afternoon slot, was said to be in the R4 000-plus a month bracket. By 1988 Berks took a year's sabbatical and was paid R250 000 for the "holiday".
By 1990 Berks had a rival in the form of John Robbie. He turned his late night show on the station (from 10pm to midnight) into, as one critic put it, "an airwaves version of the rowdiest terraces
at Ellis Park".
Nothing was sacred to Robbie. Even if listeners professed to hate him they couldn't stop tuning in. Said a young Robbie at the time: "I'm new to all this. I'm Irish. I'm hot tempered and I love an argument."
In 1991 a man threatened to kill Berks with a crossbow. News reader Denis Smith jumped on the man's back before security guards arrived and led him away.
In 2000, performance artist Steven Cohen crapped in the studio.
John Berks went on to be replaced at the breakfast show in January 2001 by another shock jock, 23-year-old Gareth Cliff.
Wrote Victor Strugo at the time about Cliff's interview with a top matric student: "He thought fit to ask this intelligent teenager how long a pig's orgasm lasts and if she had dabbled in lesbianism.
I diarised to listen to him again in the year 2010, by which time he might have matured a bit."
Other highlights on the station included:
- The valuable 702 Helpline started at the end of 1981.
- Kevin Savage joined in September 1982.
- Mike Mills was a new recruit in April 1983 after immigrating to South Africa from Zimbabwe.
- Alex Jay joined in February 1983. Jay was one of the three winners of a 702 competition to find announcers. He was selected along with Rob Wheatley and Les Smith. All three were then 21 years old. Jay had previously been a stage manager for Ipi Tombi.
- When 702 celebrated its 2nd birthday in 1982 the line-up included Bill Jones, Seth Asch, Martin Woolf, Frank Sanders, Martin Bailie, Neil Johnson, David Blood, Jim Hicks and Berks.
- July 1982 saw Paul Beresford become the 702 eye in the sky on the trafficopter.
- Jeremy Mansfield and Jenny Cryws-Williams caused a furore in 1995 when their "disgusting garbage" (in the terms of one letter writer) replaced Mike Mills in the afternoon slot.
- Cocky "Twobull" Thlotlalemaje became the first black announcer when the station first took to the airwaves. He was followed by John Qwelane in 1993, Dan Moyane (now executive chairperson of Prime Media Broadcasting) who joined the morning show with John Robbie in 1995 (remember his version of Shosholoza?) and Noeleen Maholwane-Sangqu in 1995.
Over the years the station has been praised for its news coverage and, in the words of Chris Moerdyk, "pioneering the real power of radio in the country".
But over and above the station's invaluable contribution to broadcasting has been its keen sense of community. Over the next four weeks, Talk Radio 702 will be broadcasting several on-air competitions, special programmes and sharing some memorable parts of its colourful history as part of its birthday celebration. Stay tuned!
- If you have any special memories of Talk Radio 702 e-mail them to [email protected]