Radio in Malaysia might be sloppy now but it was mighty in the 1970s with rockstar announcers.
That decade was a lot about diverse music, good chatter, laughter and fun, especially over the Blue Network, Radio Malaysia’s English service.
The presenters provided the soundtrack to many people’s lives and energised a nation still licking her wounds from the 1969 sectarian riots.
On the occasion of World Radio Day today, FMT turns the dial back to the 70s, and a bit of the 60s, to salute the Blue Network people with gifted voices – some dead, some still living – who ruled the airwaves.
It was a time when vinyl spinners and the other presenters played good music, discussed current affairs and encouraged people of all races to speak and understand proper English.
Widely loved, their on-air styles were parodied as they became significant in the cultural life of the nation.
In the 70s, people stuck with radio even if they got distracted by TV cop shows and westerns that came in a wave and left in a hail of bullets; and in cinemas where girlie movies bounced their way to Malaysia’s lap.
The spirit of the Blue Network, which was fashioned after the BBC, laid in its simplicity: influential voices, informative programmes and good music.
Malaysia, born in 1963, was just making its presence felt in the world with the byword, ‘Inilah Radio Malaysia’ (This is Radio Malaysia) when listeners first heard of some names that would later become greats.
They included the likes of local theatre legends, Bosco D’Cruz and Faridah Merican, Tunku Atikah Tunku Mohamed, Amelia Teh – all of whom were at the forefront of social cohesion, news presentation, educational programmes and radio theatre.
The deep, authoritative voice and diction of D’Cruz made him the spearhead of a group of coherent English newsreaders on radio and TV in the 60s and 70s.
Among them were Leslie Dawson, John Machado, Yahaya Long Chik, George Abraham, Ronnie Atkinson, Alan Zachariah, Constance Haslam and Faridah.
Faridah was a familiar voice in radio plays, short story readings and one of the mainstays on Suara Malaysia, the English overseas service.
Students will remember Tunku Atikah from shows in the 70s like ‘Today in History’ while Amelia hosted the ‘Teenage Jamboree’.
The passion for sports resonated with the likes of R Jeyanathan and Vincent Fernandez who had a way with the dramatics, poetics and setting the scene for the listener.
The voice and style of 70s radio disc jockeys (deejays) were infectious. The pillars – the late Alan Zachariah, Nor Nikman, Atkinson, Haslam, Patrick Teoh, Vicky Skelchy, and A Radha Krishnan – brilliantly engaged with their audience.
Deejays were not frustrated with dictated playlists but had some creative freedom, spinning their own music and taking requests on the telephone.
They spun pop songs, rock belters, country ballads and soul refrains – the music that gave the decade its unforgettable soundtrack.
When was the last time you heard tunes from The Marmalade, The Archies, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Steppenwolf, Rare Earth, Johnny Cash and Aretha Franklin?
“The power of radio was there as the music we played resulted in brisk sales of LPs and singles, and record stores were everywhere,” said the ‘Black Stallion’, Radha Krishnan, whose rapid-fire delivery and youthful enthusiasm drew teenage listeners.
He said while most of the music played was global pop, deejays also gave airplay for the original works by Malaysian groups like The Strollers and singer Frankie Cheah, and Singapore bands, The Quests, Western Union Band, October Cherries and The Crescendos.
“’We all did the same thing but developed distinct personalities while delivering informative content and forging a fine relationship with listeners,” said Radha Krishnan, 69, a sought-after singer and comedian these days.
For example, Teoh stood out with clever wordplays and witticism while Nor Nikman was the comfortably square morning personality who could make rock music palatable for parents at the breakfast table.
Here’s a throwback to a typical Sunday morning in the 70s when deejays were like friends in your house; and at night when teenagers were glued to transistor radios under the bedcovers:
At 9am over Rangkaian Biru (Blue Network) was the hour-long ‘Music City’ – a pre-recorded programme sponsored by Hup Hup Records – originally hosted by Canadian Ean Jay and later by Radha Krishnan.
At 10am, it was the 30-minute ‘Kee Huat Radio’s Fantastic Facts and Fancies’ which was hosted by several deejays including Zachariah and Teoh.
They related an interesting story and then played seven songs, inviting listeners to submit their arrangement of songs best related to the tale.
The ‘Young World’ came on at 10.30am, followed at 11am by Coca-Cola’s ‘Cool and Swinging Show’ that projected Teoh to national prominence.
People would usually erupt into a sing-along when the theme song ‘I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)’ by the New Seekers came on. The song originated as a jingle called ‘Buy the World a Coke’.
Thirty minutes later was ‘Dunia Muzik WEA’, hosted on different occasions by Geoffrey Nicholson, Nor Nikman and Neubert Ambrose.
The music stopped at 12pm when parents made sure their children listened to D’Cruz’s ‘RM Playhouse’ – local dramas that taught one to understand and speak proper English and featured among others the oratory skills of Paul de Souza and E Samson.
After the news bulletin at 1.03pm, Radha Krishnan was back with ‘Bintang Polygram’ followed by Paul Cheong playing songs from the RCA stable on ‘Your Record Shop’.
In between the daytime programmes, some would switch the frequency on the shortwave AM radio to listen to Singapore’s Top 8 and EMI Singapore’s Top 5 hosted by the republic’s famous deejays like Brian Richmond and Bernard Salosa.
A favourite on Sunday nights was ‘Memories are Made of These” by Zachariah, whose sign-in line was “Your man on the mic”, and co-host Reezal Abdullah.
Zachariah, a pioneer Malaysian breakfast show radio star, also hosted the popular Top 20 songs in Malaysia on Saturday.
The 70s was a period when many could live without television, but not without radio, particularly the Blue Network (later renamed Radio 4 and now Traxx FM).
Radio was the theatre of the mind since Radio Malaya came into being on April 1, 1946 and remained a close companion through good and bad times over the years.
As for now? Maybe not.
Will we ever see radio presenters wielding the same individual influence on listeners as they did back in the day? - FMT
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