I remember setting up a radio at Hygrade factory Hornby Christchurch for my work mates to listen to Hauraki in early evening using a piece of wire contacted to roof of building.

 

At my home in Hoon Hay CHCH found best reception on old wooden battery boxed radio by taps in family bathroom.

 

I called into Hauraki towards the end of 1969 when visiting my parents in Hamilton & had just missed a trip out to the Tiri by 30 minutes. Anyway was still interesting visiting the Auckland studio.

 

While living in Hamilton went up to Auckland Easter Show to get a good recording of Hauraki short term FM broadcast, which I still have a
cassette recording of it today.

 

Was great to get to Auckland & see the photo's etc at the 40th display. Also was great to listen to broadcast on 10/11/06 from 8am to 6pm.

 

Brian Withers.
1480 club number 3079.

Hi,

 

I'm a presenter with the community stations  Apple AM and 10Radio in Somerset,uk and would just like to say that the Hauraki story is fascinating.It just makes me wish I had the chance to hear it.Congratulations to everyone involved-and if any of you ever visit the uk come into the studios for a natter!

 

Philip Knighton (Wellington,Somerset,UK)

As the presenter and producer of a media show in the 1980's and 1990's on Radio Netherlands, we always found interest from the audience in the story of the real radio pioneers - people who changed the format of radio and created the Second Golden age of broadcasting. Radio Hauraki is up there with all the early pioneers. Brilliant people who knew that sharing emotion was the way to compete with the government/public service stations.

 

Onward for the next 40....

 

I lived at Clontarf north of Brisbane as a schoolboy. I vividly remember waiting for 4ZR Roma to go off the air at 10pm so that I could hear Hauraki.

I still have a QSL card from around 1969.

Al Kirton
Radio 4KZ
Innisfail
Queensland

Loved hauraki mid 80s with ross, hawks, kev and the very awesome kent robertson in the afternoon. cheers,

andy glenn
chch

Hello from Belgium - Europe. Hi my name is Herman from the city Gent - East Flanders. I'm a big Offshore Radio Freak.

My bigest Offshore Radio Station from the 70s was Radio Caroline yes also from a ship in The Nordsea at the UK Coast.

The only thing i know from Radio Hauraki is what i hear (audio) and what i read from Offshore Radio History Hans Knot from The Netherlands.

For those who like to here some old recordings from Radio Hauraki you can download

[ Sorry Herman this wasn't loaded before the date - can you make available again? - Ed. ]

Have a good time greetings from Herman city Gent in Belgium - Europe

I grew up on you guys!

1966 I was a rATHER PRECOCIOUS 11 Y.O. AND I SNEAKIly LOOKED AT MUM AND DAD'S "TRUTH" newspaper racy stuff back then and definitely something you would hide away from your family. It suported you renegades and I guess as that curious 11 y.o. you were the men.

Then my best girlfriend's older brother had discovered Eric Clapton, Cream, Jimi Hendrix,Led Zep and we used to go home at lunch time and raid his records. Never heard anything like it. Man,what a buzz!!! I just knew even then that it was magic!!! /and you come along! Today as a 51 yo groover, I say thanks guys nfor keeping my heroes alive. I know most of your listeners are male and younger than me but this ole rock chick says thanks. Keep it coming! Helenwork guys, Great

loved dr rock massive

tom dick chch

I was a schoolboy in Leicestershire, England, and wrote to Radio Hauraki after reading about it in a newspaper here.

To my amazement, Keith Ashton replied to my letter by sending me a tape of himself and another DJ, which they recorded in a 20 minute break in the studio between recording their programmes.

I wish I still had the recording but I don't. It featured two jingles, "1480 for all good girls", and "from ship to shore radio number one" and making a tape for me and sending me some car stickers and other publicity material was a wonderfully kind gesture which I will never forget!

Paul Bailey, England

Hi peoples,

I was a tech for the Good Guys in 1967. Recorded Ross Goodwins program. In the early days they only had Mellow Yellow to play .. over and over again :)

Nice to read the memories.

Mine is of a hot day, the studio was sweltering. Ross had taken his trousers off. He was playing Young Girl Get outta My Mind!! And stretched out .. hand down his trou .. screamed out Young Girl get Outta my Pants .. and realised he'd left the mike on hehe.

We had to start that half hour again.

Leigh xoxox

Hi I remember those great days, and wish to send best wishes to John Forbes who I worked with, but sadly TVNZ filmed John and his employers mobile welder on the wharf when they were trying to get the Tiri back to sea. His employer took a grim view. So if you are still around John. Hi!

Graham H.

As a kid in the 1960's, I have fond memories of Radio Hauraki and "Good Guy" announcers, Peter Telling, Ian Magan, Barry Knight. I recall our Home radio always tuned to "1480 Top of the dial" and how much more fun it was to listen to than 1ZB and 1YD?

Thanks Radio Hauraki, I look forward to seeing the exhibition

Richard

Hi Folks,

I wasn't around in the days when Radio Hauraki was being set up and when it was at sea and finally came ashore BUT I know of the story and love it!! I work (part time) at Radio One Double X (1XX) in Whakatane which has a strong connection with Radio Hauraki.

1XX began on 30th June 1971 - the 4th private commercial station in NZ but the 1st in a private station on air in a provincial area of the contry. We had, from what I've learnt, a lot of help from the guys at Hauraki in the early years of 1XX 1240 (as it was then). Take a look at the history of 1XX at www.1xx.co.nz in particular the page titled THE 1970'S AT 1XX and the ONE DOUBLE eX STAFF page for names that have a Radio Hauraki link.

Happy 40th to the team at Hauraki past and present.

Aaron Anderson,
Whakatane

It must have been Xmas 1967 when I lay in bed at my grandmother's place listening to her old radio with a longwire antenna in the middle of the night, and heard the first fascinating bits of audio wending their way through the ether. Being a wanna be radio nut at 20 years old, this was high impact stuff as the Tiri broadcast from what was supposed to be international waters!! It was those wild and woolly announcers who made the most impact... breaking all those rules... Loved it.

It brings a lump to my throat listening to Hauraki through 93.2 FM Invercargill on Friday 10th November... So good!

Chris Diack
(wannabe pirate)

Well, the Radio Heritage Foundation webmaster may get angry at me for spilling some beans, but at this date so close to the anniversary, my memory of Hauraki is of listening BEFORE the first officially recognised broadcast of Monday 21 Nov 1966.

After the great shenanigans by the Tiri's crew to break out of the Western Viaduct basin in October, there was a race to get on-air ASAP. I spent Saturday evening and overnight into Sunday morning of 19 and 20 Nov '66 with another member of the NZ Radio DX League at a regular broadcast band and shortwave listening location owned by yet another NZDXRL member in what was then very rural land on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.

I have no idea when the exact first transmission hit the airwaves, but we noted Hauraki on air as of 6.37 p.m. Saturday 19 Nov '66 (obviously dinner had something to do with the delay!), and continued to follow the tests into Sunday. After returning to Auckland on my way home to Hamilton, I presented myself and a tape at the Hauraki studios and offices in Anzac Avenue, and played the material for David Gapes and several others.

No one in central Auckland had been able to hear these tests as the estimated transmitter power was only 200 watts.

Even after the Monday "official" first broadcast, Hauraki went off air to do a major job on the transmission mast on board Tiri, and didn't re-appear till early December.

Theo Donnelly
Burnaby, British Columbia Canada

I live with one of the former Pirates, good old Murray McGill, the svelte chap up the mast trying to free it from the bridge in the "Shoestring pirates" book.

He may not have been one of the "glory" boys but he played his part and was one of the crew arrested.

I'd like to see all the originals no matter who they were recognised by some sort of Award from this country for changing history, something which should be part of our schools history classes.

My first conscious memory of Radio Hauraki is probably in 1972, as a child in Auckland growing up and being fascinated by Auckland Radio. I became aware of alternatives to my preference for 1ZB, and although I also enjoyed Radio I, Hauraki started to fascinate me with its lively and varied programming. Who were the "good guys?" and why did Peter T talk the way he did? Fred Botika's breakfasts were significant during my childhood, especially Bimpy, who was Fred's duck who came alive to coincide with Merv Smith's school bell and Scottish spider at 7:50 each school morning. There were other great voices and personalities:

By 1977 I made sure that I was listening to Barry Jenkin, and his punk music had to be played (of course) as loud as the radio could hack it. Barry also had Sunday evenings, and on occasions would chat with respected people in the New Zealand music game: Tommy Adderley comes to mind and in addition to discussions about Punk and New Wave, there would be jazz and country, with the good Doctor demonstrating his extensive knowledge of music and his ability to provide classical analysis of what was being played. Always thought this was strange, but it showed how Jenkin's broadcasting skills could be used to provide quality radio when given freedom to say and play whatever he liked.

But the programming was more than just music. During Auckland summers Hauraki had Barry flying his Cesna along the coastlines, reporting on beach conditions, and there was the harbour patrol - a launch cruising the Waitemata and giving away summer prizes. And Roctobers were great! Special programmes and documentaries celebrating rock music - some of these were legendary - produced or presented by great radio broadcasters, including the late Robert W. Morgan out of Los Angelese. I remember the enjoyment I derived from Hauraki's playing of "The History of Rock 'n Roll" and thought that all we needed to survive was an endless supply of good music.

In this same vein - weekends of live rock concerts - and I remember a fantastic radio special entitled "Fantasy Park" which was a collection of rock's finest in a mythical rock festival.

Sundays were special: American Top 40 gave us music that we would otherwise not hear, presented in a way which still belongs to Casey Kasem, and of course, there were no ads. But even some of the commercials were great: lively and extensively arranged jingles for Coke come to mind, but there were probably others.

During my childhood and teenage years, Hauraki represented a summer sound and was blessed with talented radio people who always sounded like they had fun. Today, although Radio Haurki is the only music station I listen to, the formula is not individualistic enough - too much scripting, too few jingles and not enough fun. This is a shame, as there are fine broadcasters who carry the Hauraki name forward, but we don't hear their full range of talents in the way I heard Peter T, Fred Botika, Kent Robinson, Kevin Black, Ross Goodwin and the rest - including for instance Karen Hay who for a short time in the 1980s hosted evenings and had a request programme called the "Rock Line."

Many Hauraki people have stayed in the game and we hear them on other stations, but I for one will ensure that I don't miss a second of the special programming coming up next weekend.

Happy partying guys and thanks for so many memories.

Vaughan

Hi Guys, I work for radio Dunedin as a volunteer, and listen to you fellas during the week at my paying job. Keep up the good work.

Graeme Fyffe
Newton & Sykes Panelbeaters Dunedin

My first impressions of Hauraki was on a visit to Picton early in 1970 and was impressed to be told by a family friend who had invited me into his bedroom to show me his reception of Hauraki on an old valve Bell Colt that here was a station broadcasting from an old ship in the Hauraki Gulf - probably the only broadcast from the Tiri (II) that I ever caught. Shortly after that (26 May 1970) the family moved from our North Canterbury farm to Picton and can't recall whether I actually heard Hauraki's last b/c from the Gulf on 1 June that year.

When I next heard it from 26 September (what a great birthday surprise for me!)I was absolutely besotted with Peter Telling's show (it used to be just audible from 7pm on my own 3-valve Bell Colt - whose alignment I stuffed up trying to get Radio I!! - depending on the weather & time of year of course). So much so, I'm sure my homework suffered terribly because of it!!

I used to religiously sit in my bedroom every Monday night and write down the whole Top 40 week on week from 31 May '71 until it "ceased" on 31 Jan '72.

Also recall Ross & Fergie's shows in the next 2-3 years including calls to the "Waiau Nightowl" in North Canterbury & vaguely Trevor(?) breakfast shows on a old Engish 4-valve "Regentone".

After being sent to boarding school in Blenheim in '73, had to try and hear Hauraki mostly on a smuggled portable Sanyo trannie against the local station 2ZE (1540) - better on Sundays because 2ZE didn't start till 8am!

Left school at end of '74 & joined the Army & continued listening from Waiouru (great reception - apart from RTTY at Irirangi which probably drove my room mates spare with the QRM!!) Recall coming home on leave from boarding school in '74 and had just received Adrian's "Shoestring Pirates" in the mail with 2 free yellow car stickers and put them on the Austin 8 - much to the chagrin of my brother who liked Radio I more!

Continued listening from Linton Camp until 1978 when the 9 kHz spacing was adopted and once again had to compete with Aunty Natrad which had moved from 1410kHz to 1449kHz - again driving my room-mates spare with that station's QRM on my recently acquired National 8-transistor.

On a couple of visits to Auckland, was amazed at the clean quality of Hauraki's modulation (am certain to this day that I could even hear the cue-pulses from the cart machines!!). Also hooked on Barry J's foray into new wave from '76.

I think the writing was on the wall for such a wide-ranging format from '83 when 89 & 91FM started although I stuck with 1XA until they moved to 99FM in 1990 and that format was greatly narrowed by "the money-men" and lost interest shortly thereafter - having tried my own hand at DJing on student stations in Hamilton & Auckland - where I remain today as part-time mobile DJ.

As a real bonus, I discoved in the mid 80's that another brother in Hawkes Bay had recorded one of Peter & Ross's shows (6-4-71) on a (now)very mangled C-120 tape and for the past 15 years or so have been slowly acquiring the songs for remastering and intend to mingle them with the voice breaks and those wonderful old Caltex/other commercials - voiced by Stuart McPherson/Alan Jarvis & others. Some songs almost impossible to get now - eg: The Drifters' "A Rose by Any Other Name"; Nia Hughes' "Turn on the Sun"; also Suzanne's (Chick's)"Madeline", or Mungo Jerry's "Wildcat Sue" (anyone got 'em??) - great uplifting music compared to the mostly negativity that is churned out these days!!

My all-time Kiwi fave is from Jan '76 - The Inbetweens' "I Can't stop Loving You" - with Brian O'Toole signing-off(still chokes me up!!!) as the sun set over Waiouru...unfortunately didn't allow quite enough room on cassette - damn it!

Also enjoyed Fred Botica's brekky, Blackie's "Hot-line Lunacy phone-calls and even Kent Robinson's cheeky style in the late 80s.

However, having finally aquired a reasonable copy of the Inbetweens' song from Marbecks (thanks, Brent - currently going for $300 on Zillion!!)was somwhat disappointed on calling PD Mike Regal that "we're not really interested thanks" - hence my lack of real interest in what Hauraki plays today.

Happy 40th anyway guys

Bob

I was a very loyal Radio Hauraki listener from early January 1967, when I bought my first transistor radio (a National Panasonic 8 from Smith's Sound in Hobson St, just around the corner from the North Shore Transport bus stops and just up the road from Farmers) with money saved from my Auckland Star paper run, up until broadcasts from the Hauraki Gulf ceased in 1971.

I mostly listened to Peter Telling ("Screaming Peter T") who was on 7 to 10 on week nights (after I'd had tea, done my homework and watched a bit of TV). At 10, Carl Olsen took over. Peter Telling was replaced at some stage by the late Rick Grant and Carl Olsen was replaced by Ross Goodwin. I think Peter Telling moved to Radio I at some point and Ross Goodwin was on 1ZM in the early 1980s.

There was a gap of a few weeks until land-based broadcasting commenced from the Mangere transmitter site. During that time I listened to 1ZM and was amazed at how good 1ZM had become. When Radio Hauraki (with it's official call sign 1XA announced hourly) came back I was very disappointed - the format was different because they were apparently trying to compete more directly with 1ZB, which had by far the biggest audience share (over half, I think, but definitely not including me! I hated 1ZB!).

A few months later, Radio I (1XI) 1590 started broadcasting. Radio I is perhaps best known as a talk station (Dr Eccles Smith etc) or a "beautiful music" or easy listening station, but when it first started it was the wildest radio station in NZ. Radio I had ex-Hauraki DJ Keith Ashton. 1ZM and Radio I became my favourite stations.

After a few months there were more format changes. Radio Hauraki went back to a format similar to its original one and Radio I switched to talk. 1ZM stayed much the same and took on a drop dead georgeous DJ named Dallas Cuthbert.

I shared my loyalties between Hauraki and 1ZM until about 1979 when I completely abandoned Hauraki and didn't ever listen to Hauraki again until about a year ago. I listened exclusively to 1ZM/1251ZM/Classic Hits 1251 until I left Auckland in 1989, apart from brief flirtations with the two new FM stations (89 Stereo FM and Magic 91FM). They weren't any good and had a feeble sound quality, as did Hauraki, on my new stereo system compared to 1ZM's thundering bass.

Now, in 2006, Radio Hauraki is once again one of my favourite stations along with Solid Gold FM.
Happy forthcoming 40th birthday, Radio Hauraki!

Dave

Hi there Heritage folk.

I was The Radio Hauraki Promotions Manager in 1970 when Hauraki began as a 'legal' entity.

We did some crazy things and produced some Great Radio - its 'Legend' and I consider myself privileged to be still here to celebrate The 40th Anniversary - Radio Hauraki's 40th and my 70th birthday, my 50th in radio broadcasting in the same year. Hey that's a bit scary.

While composing these words it would be remiss of me not to comment on your site which I consider very worthy of high praise.

My radio career began in Gisborne (NZ) with 2XG - 1XH in Hamilton. The 1960's were spent at 4BC in Brisbane - "You'll Like Mike" & 'King Of The Morning' posters decorated the Trams.

Back in NZ for the start of 'Private Radio' - before Radio Hauraki the NZ population were fed a diet of 'State Radio', constructed by 'Public Servants'. I was one of the early ones to 'break out of the NZBS mould' and take the lessons learned to explore the new found dimension in Australia where radio had always been 'Private' rather than 'Public'. It could have been worse - the esteemed and, revered, BBC didn't loose its grip in Britain till 1972 with the opening of 'Capitol' in London.

It's been an interesting and constructive career and the Public Service roots are once again to the fore.

Today I'm the creator and operator of the 'Devonport flea' the LPFM Community Radio service for Auckland's North Shore.

Congratulations again on your Radio Heritage site - and knowing that I've been a part of the heritage you write and report about, is very humbling.

As I write these words THE flea in my ear is playing..."Where Is The Love" by the Black Eyed Peas - It's the anthem of my Philosophy.

Mike Baker

I remember the night you tried to get out to sea, and the authorities attempted to close the lighter basin road/bridge.

Cheers, Terry

Everything seemed to be so much more fun with Radio Hauraki. Lot's of music especially on weekends. My father had his horses and rugby and I had 1480. It was great.

 

John Farndon [Auckland]