Michael Thomson & Tracey Vo: Channel 9 Perth Turns 60!

Channel 9 Perth is turning 60, to celebrate the momentous anniversary Michael Thomson and Tracey Vo popped into the studio to look back at the station’s legacy. Ahead of tonight’s special broadcast ‘Celebrating 60 Years, Channel 9 Perth’ they discuss all the presenters over the years including a whole lot of different Peter’s.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Channel nine is turning sixty tonight Chickens Watch celebrating sixty
years Channel nine Perth seven thirty on nine and nine. Now,
we were just having a bit of a reminisce before.
I was telling Clazie how my brother went to school
with Flapper and Flapper was Michael Thompson Tracy with us.
Good morning, morning God, Happy birthday.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Happy birthday nine. Thank you, it's incredible. Sixty years.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Yeah, Flapper, that's going on.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Jenny Dunstan, the show Causfree Sory was controversial and we
didn't care that.

Speaker 4 (00:40):
You remind me. I was trying to work her what
Flapper was. And of course.

Speaker 5 (00:45):
Jenny Jenny Dunstan features in this special tonight, which is Yeah,
it's great to hear her stories of being on the
show all that time ago. So it's wonderful to see
her in the show. Yeah, in the.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Special, very good. Sometime much has changed, hasn't it hasn't it.

Speaker 4 (01:01):
I was just saying that least on air that we
you can go to YouTube and see the old building,
which is a long time ago now.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Since you miss Yeah, sixteen years is it sixteen?

Speaker 1 (01:11):
Is it.

Speaker 5 (01:12):
Twenty sixteen?

Speaker 2 (01:13):
We moved through sixteen nine year nine years twenty.

Speaker 5 (01:17):
Sixteen we moved into Sat George's Terrace. Yeah, okay, and
oh gosh, Donella was Swett Hill was a distant memory
for last.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
To leave the little television city that it was. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:29):
Yes, Louise Momba presented the last bulletin from there and
then I think we launched off his six pm and
then that we did like a major morning sort of
broadcast as well at the new studios, So it was
really yeah, it changed a lot.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
And that those studios. On top of that, there was
an area where a cameraman could set up a tripod.
That's where Skylab the only pictures in the world Channel
nine person World Exclusive. John Cunningham was the chief of
starting but a camera on the roof and he got this.
It was just like a streak of light, the trail
of the sky and we got those pictures and that

(02:10):
they went around the world and then they found pieces
of Skylab down in Espirans and round three there.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
That was a big deal. This whole generation that doesn't remember,
I would know about it.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
I worked very briefly for John cutting Hair in the
eighties and I swear to God William mckinneson's character in
the newsroom is based on John cunning Hair politically incorrect
eighties news director. There there is nothing else like it.

Speaker 5 (02:42):
Else.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Will we see pop up tonight on the special We've.

Speaker 5 (02:45):
Got Jenny Seaton. Lovely Jenny Seaton and she still looks fabulous.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
And it was really lovely.

Speaker 5 (02:54):
Because the vision of her doing the weather day and
she remembers this is about how she thought she was terrible,
but she just looks really as fabulous as ever and.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
That great voice.

Speaker 5 (03:06):
Yes, and then yeah, we've got Terry Spence was who
was the former news director.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
For a long time time. A lot of things happening
and just going back and looking in the early days.
Some obviously swap stations because Jeff Newman was on nine
in the early days. Lloyd Lawson was was there, Peter
Dean who spent time on seven, but he was on
nine in those early days.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Peter Harry's har Yes, entertain good people.

Speaker 5 (03:37):
As well.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
It was great.

Speaker 5 (03:38):
The team did so well in contacting all these people
who have been there, who had worked for Channel nine
all those decades ago. Yeah, and Burgo John is on there.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
He's on there.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
Yes, Sadly some have passed away. Peter wal passed away recently.
He didn't worked at seven and worked at my Wally
Foreman and Wally was what Bruce Walker. Yes, and there's
you know, there's lots of people. Yeah, And I always
think of Channel nine for some reason. When I was
a kid, they had Gilligan's Island, which was which was

(04:14):
a show. You remember the stations for what you'd watched
the hade Gilligan's Island and they had Wimbledon Live and
that was We didn't have any It was the Cricket Cricker, Yeah,
and all those things just going up with things like those.
We were very Americanized with our comedy back then. Michale's

(04:35):
Gets Smart.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
My favorite.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Was Gilligan Coreck. Yeah, Terry and Michael.

Speaker 5 (04:45):
Yeah, I got to interview Terry.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Terry looks incredible. Terry's eighty and he looks fantastic. And
he was a big star. He was probably our first
major star. He read the six Scott News, then he
did Terry Willis's Perth. He did a series of documentaries,
a lot of documentaries. Then he went on to take
on his brother. So Michael Willisey was hosting a Current
Affair which was obviously on nine here and he was

(05:10):
on Terry Willisey. I think it was Terry Willisey's Nation
or Terry Willisey's Current Affair show and that went head
to head with Mike. So the Willises Don Willisey worked
at nine Perth as well.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yes, so they had a huge influence on massive.

Speaker 4 (05:27):
What about with the celebrations. What about this Perth Symphony
Orchestra link. I think it's wonderful, it's beautiful. So it's
about a four minute peace.

Speaker 5 (05:35):
There are about twelve musicians who performed this medley and
it's one of a kind. The Perth Syphony Orchestra hasn't
done anything like this before and the beauty of it
as well. With a conductor is Greg Schultz. And Greg
Schultz the former music director for Channel nine for thirty
five years. So when he got contacted by the Perth

(05:57):
Symphony Orchestra to put together arrange this medley, I think
he I think he got chuffed because the circle moment
for him. So we interviewed him and he's also actually
he's part of the special as well. But you're talking
about cricket, Lisa, and I was like, I said, it
was the wide World of Sports themes.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
On when comes on it just.

Speaker 5 (06:21):
Everyone knows what it is.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
It gives me.

Speaker 5 (06:23):
I've got goosebumps now with you just doing it now,
it's so good, you know, And that's that's that's a
big part of the medley. But you know it also
mixes in local production shows as well, So it's good.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
Guru the News, it's iconic. We have to have a
little listener.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
Just a bit.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
I heard.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
Told me that that was used in the movie cool Hand.

Speaker 5 (06:57):
Look it was the theme song for nine News came
from the cool Handler.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yes you believe, Yeah, so we do have a linked
I was going to say, jeff, youman.

Speaker 5 (07:14):
But it was a wonderful medley from the percific. We
thank them, We thank them for doing them for us.
And you'll see the full masterpiece tonight.

Speaker 1 (07:21):
Oh you know, you're a happening thing. When the Symphony
Orchestra wants very special, very special, they do star wars
and two.

Speaker 3 (07:33):
Of those themes were written by a guy, Tim Halligan,
who works with a freelance opera. He wrote Just at
Water and the Postcards themes. A very clever guy. So
that's really nice. So a lot of it to come
back to the to the local factor in it, and
we all grew up with that sort of stuff.

Speaker 2 (07:49):
Didn't just had water.

Speaker 5 (07:52):
That was iconic for for me growing up back in
the day.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
That was that was program.

Speaker 4 (07:59):
Obviously did the sport is. But you've mentioned Bruce Walker.
Bruce Walker was sitting next to Bob Hawk the night
that we won the America's Cup.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
Was absolutely jack he was and that today I can
remember watching Sue Kellaway, I think Steve Leeb we're hosting
the today. So that night, I remember I was doing
a kidet ship at w Newspapers and I had a
shorthand exam that day.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
I still remember.

Speaker 3 (08:21):
But I remember watching into the early hours and into
the morning, like it was sort of six or seven o'clock.
Was still celebrating and still going strong. Yeah, Bruce Bruce
was look was an absolute legend at nine for a
long time. So I was, you know, and Wally I
remember that we had Wally Bruce, Terry Willisey Russell, Deer Russell's. Yeah,

(08:42):
they were really iconic figures.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
Well, we could sit here and reminiscence. We're going to
have to save some for tonight seven thirty tonight on
nine and nine Now celebrating sixty years Channel Night. I mean,
we've all grown up with it. We all remember what
it used to close down at about Yeah.

Speaker 4 (09:00):
You could, yeah tomorrow, that's right, even watching a pelothon as.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
Now I don't believe.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
I think we were the first. We were the first
station to go twenty four hours, which.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Was okay, and first color too, yes, first.

Speaker 4 (09:13):
Well remember going to carry up shops, watching the.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
Cricket, watching cartoons.

Speaker 2 (09:19):
It was a big deal. It wasn't a huge deal.
Well it is a huge deal.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
Thank you for sharing this and we'll see you tonight.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Thank you on the telling you too.