1965: HEADMASTER-APPROVED ILLEGAL RADIO

 

In the sixties four students built and operated an illegal radio station at Vaucluse Boy's High School. Not only did the headmaster encourage the venture; he gave them an official Department of Education Order Book to buy what they needed; and defended them when officials from the Post Master General's Inspectorate raided them one Thursday afternoon and closed them down.

 

Adrian Wood, Phillip Storey, Bruce Morrison and Wally Pearce were the Fab Four behind 2VH.

 

"Everyone had a hand in production and presenting, snipping and soldering. “Flippy Phil” and “Swinging Adey Wood” were popular DJs (but who really knows why??). Way ahead of our time, we were the first station IN ALL OF AUSTRALIA to play Sonny & Cher’s I Got You Babe. We got our hands on a spare ex-2SM 45 that was under playlist embargo for a few weeks. But we didn’t observe these trifling formalities – we jammed it day‘n night!" - Adrian Wood, 2102

 

 

In his early years at high school Phil Storey established a private domain in the loft above the stage in the assembly hall, an elevated refuge humming with electricity reached by a steel-runged ladder. The lighting, curtains and other stage equipment were operated from here. Phil turned it into his workshop and fitted it out with electronics equipment, electronic components and tools. He wore a grey dustcoat and spent every recess, every lunchtime, every free period, some French classes and countless hours after school up there with his long-nose pliers and soldering-iron tinkering, pulling apart, building, experimenting. His activity attracted the other three; all sharing a like-minded affinity and the same uncurbed enthusiasm.

 

"All four of us were very interested in electronics by end of 1st Form (year 7 these days) and mainly convened at Phillip’s house in George Street Dover Heights; an easy walk from school. Phillip, Bruce Morrison and I were all in the same class. Wally Pierce, being less academic, was in another class. Being a severe asthmatic, Phillip couldn’t do sport so spent all of his time reading “Popular Electronics” and hobby electronics magazines" - Adrian Wood

 

"In 2nd Form we befriended the School Technicians, Hodge and Wilkinson, who were in the Leaving Certificate year ending 1964. They were very good to us, roping us into play nights, school concerts, fashion parade nights, speech nights. We were their apprentices and I suppose to some degree their gofers".

 

"In last term 1964, we became the Official School Technicians. We got our official grey dustcoats. The Headmaster, Keith Harris, wanted all sorts of upgrades to the PA system, CCTV in the science labs, concert quality sound in the school hall, and more social functions to make use of them. The Boss and the P&C president Mr Reed, a parent and Head of Light Entertainment at the ABC, rightly judged that with such a diverse ethnic base at VBHS (all those Holocaust survivors’ sons), the school could/should become the centre of social interaction and community activity. Keith Harris was way ahead of his time. He had that gruff, serious parody-of-a-headmaster exterior walking around the playground with his cane at lunch time, handing out 2 cuts here, 3 cuts there, but that hid an interesting and complex personality".

 

"Our first coup was talking him into buying a very expensive, battery-driven PA setup, the Italian-made Geloso system (see 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geloso). This was for the first crazy scheme he approved: we took this PA system to Christensen Park for school athletics day. We took a feed off the PA and somehow had a radio link back to school. We then broadcast on 1350 KHz with race commentary, music between races, finish line winner interviews (eg Chris Taylor, the fastest runner in school), admin announcements, etc. The students took along their transistor radios for a 'fun day at the races'. This was the very beginnings of 2VH".

 

"In our spare time we built a lucrative business repairing transistor radios, televisions (B&W of course), record players, hi-fi units, etc. We visited the homes of several teachers to install their integrated hi-fi systems. For example Mr Naylor, the manual arts master’s home at Wahroonga. We convinced him to put sand in the ceiling of his lounge room to get the right damping. We also did same for Bob Rogers at his house halfway down Awaba Road, Balmoral . He picked us up and drove us there crammed into his VW Ghia coupe. Well we remember the day the science master Mr. Burrows gave Phillip Storey the cane for some incredibility minor misdemeanor. As punishment, we in turn banned Mr. Burrows from any help with his electronics problems. Some weeks after he put it in for repair, we gave him back his un-fixed transistor radio in a supermarket bag. It was embarrassing for him around the staff room because we had fixed up some things for Mr. Newcomb and another science teacher in a same-day-service".

 

"Phillip was really the driving force behind this – he was/is an incredibly proficient problem-solver. Bruce Morrison and Wally Pierce followed that skill, and honestly I was their helper and student" - Adrian Wood.

 

By 1965 Phil and his colleagues had built an illegal radio transmitter. With the flick of a switch one Wednesday afternoon in 1965 when they should have been at Sport, they launched themselves illegally onto the Sydney airwaves at 1350kHz on the am band.

 

Adrian Wood recalls with clarity: "We had a full wave-length antenna running the entire length of the science block roof, in the upper section of the school. That large expanse of aluminium roof was a giant reflector parallel to the coastline. In fact the signal, especially at night, could be well-heard at Parkes, Dubbo, Wollongong and Newcastle. The strong erp was why the PMG Radio Inspectorate Branch got suspicious.

 

"If that wasn't enough, we tinkered with a parabolic reflector directed towards Bondi Beach where our young boardshorts-and-bikini-clad audience were listening on their transistor radios. Wally Pearce tapped the direct phone line of Sportsmaster Ted Gill under the assembly hall, and we used that to take Request Line calls and Surf Reports live on air. We broadcast Ted's number on Saturday afternoons. 'Wally Weird the Stormwater Reporter' filed live weather reports from Watsons Bay, The Gap, Bondi and Tamarama by payphone. We had a surf reporter, a concert/party promo segment and other fun stuff.

 

"2VH had Talkback Radio two years before it arrived on commercial radio.

 

"We were helped by and derived much inspiration from commercial station on-air personalities. We'd hang around 2SM, 2UE and 2UW, the leading (AM: no FM) stations at the time.

 

"Ian McRae was at 2SM in the 60's. Phil Haldeman did breakfast followed by John Mahon then John Brennan. Bob Rogers was then followed by Mike Walsh until Mad Mel took over at 10pm.

 

"We mainly hung out with Bob Rogers. Phillip still sees him these days. In 1964 Mike Walsh drove us back from Sydney airport when we went out to see the Beatles arrive. Melvin Potts (aka Mad Mel, for whom Wally Pearce and Phil made a Sound Effects Box) and John Brennan. We got 2VH promos from all of these guys as soon as we asked for them, not the least being Bob Rogers...

 

"'Hidey Hodey Everybodey, this is Bob Rogers from 2SM. When you're not listening to 2VH tune in to 1270 2SM for Drivetime, where we'll be revvin' till seven every weeknight.'

 

"We also obtained generous promo voiceovers from 'Big' Sam Kronja (2UE); Ward 'Pally' Austin; and 'Baby' John Burgess (both from 2UW). We had a blunt refusal from 'Long' John Laws, the *ucker.

 

"Everyone at 2VH had a hand in production and presenting, snipping and soldering. “Flippy Phil” and “Swinging Adey Wood”* were popular DJs (but who really knows why??). Way ahead of our time, we were the first station IN ALL OF AUSTRALIA to play Sonny & Cher’s I Got You Babe. We got our hands on a spare ex-2SM 45 that was under playlist embargo for a few weeks. But we didn’t observe these trifling formalities – we jammed it day‘n night!

 

"We started playing I got you babe in July 1965. It was released worldwide in August 1965; the single spent three weeks at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 19 on the R&B charts in the United States. The single also hit number one in the United Kingdom and Australia...maybe we helped it get there.

 

"By late 1966 we were playing:

 

Cherish, Association, Monday, Monday, The Mama's and The Papa's, Last Train to Clarksville, The Monkees, Reach Out I'll Be There, Four Tops, Summer In the City, Lovin' Spoonful, California Dreamin', The Mama's and The Papa's, These Boots Are Made for Walkin', Nancy Sinatra, Strangers In the Night, Frank Sinatra, We Can Work It Out, The Beatles, Good Lovin', Young Rascals, Paint It Black, Rolling Stones, Goodnight My Love, Petula Clark, Lightin' Strikes, Lou Christie, Wild Thing, Troggs, Sunshine Superman, Donovan, Sunny, Bobby Hebb, Paperback Writer, The Beatles, Lil' Red Riding Hood, Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs, Devil With A Blue Dress On and Good Golly Miss Molly (Medley), Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, Good Vibrations, Beach Boys, A Groovy Kind of Love, Mindbenders, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, Dusty Springfield, Walk Away Renee, Left Bank, Bus Stop, Hollies, Homeward Bound, I Am a Rock, and The Sounds of Silence, Simon and Garfunkel, Lady Godiva, Peter and Gordon, Uptight (Everything's Alright), Little Stevie Wonder, Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), Sonny & Cher, Sloop John B, Beach Boys, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Rolling Stones, Wipe Out, The Surfaris, No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach Is In), T-Bones, If I Were A Carpenter, Bobby Darin. Cherry, Cherry, Neil Diamond, Message to Michael, Dionne Warwick, Barbara Ann, Beach Boys, Rainy Day Women #12 And 35, Bob Dylan, Black Is Black , Los Bravos, The More I See You, Chris Montez, 634-5789, Wilson Pickett, Yellow Submarine, Nowhere Man, The Beatles, Shapes of Things, Yardbirds.

 

"Most of it was played from 1/4 inch tapes, not just 45 discs.

 

"In the excitement of running our radio station it was easy to forget that what we were doing was illegal, with big fines attached.

 

"We were busted around 5pm on a Thursday by officials from the PMG (Post Master General) Radio Inspectorate. They acted on reports that strong signals from a Sydney Radio Station were being detected west of Orange and 40 miles out to sea.

 

"They walked in, saying nothing. With some difficulty they climbed the ladder to the loft and, in the middle of our broadcast, switched-off the power units and confiscated the transmitter. This was late 1966.

 

"The PMG Inspectorate heavies served us with an order to appear at a hearing with our parents on Tuesday of the next week.

 

"They insisted we disclose which adults (which of our parents) had built the transmitter for us. Phillip was rightly indignant as we had done everything ourselves. We thought that would have been obvious: we had painted the transformer orange and the valve sockets purple. It did look very much like a Physics experiment but that transmitter really cooked...no solid state in those days.

 

"Phil may correct me, but the push-pull power amp had an output of only 50 watts but the antenna was very high gain. One of our technical issues was that we derived the carrier frequency via a VFO (Variable Frequency Oscillator) as we couldn't buy a crystal-locked carrier signal generator, even if we had the money. The VFO drifted a little which made the PMG Radio Inspectorate even more suspicious.

 

"Note that we also raided 2SM's 45rpm record library for adverts. We had Haig Whisky; Coca-Cola; Daily Mirror and some others I can't remember.

 

"We survived the Inquisition with the help of our headmaster Keith Harris. Right from the day he had noticed the rocketing increase in the school's power bill, he knew something was going on.

 

"He didn't just look the other way; the Boss was right in on it all!.

 

"Keith Harris was in fact an enthusiastic supporter and our patron. He gave us a blank Department of Education Order Book, so we could buy what we needed from the electronics suppliers. He let us cut up school desks to make consoles. He let us modify anything in the school P.A. and wiring, and change the lighting.

 

"He was a kind man. On Saturday evenings he would appear at 7pm or 8pm and insist on driving Phillip and me home.

 

"After we were closed down, he gave a long interview to the Sun-Herald (with photos) about school spirit; teenage enthusiasm; hard work and initiative. He gave us permission to go on air, when we took over 2SM one night. Mike Walsh thought what we had done was a riot, so he handed over his show to us for two hours. Flippy Phil did one slot then Swinging Adey Wood took over. How embarrassing those tapes would be today.

 

"And that’s how it was Doc, on this day 20th of April 1967". . . Adrian Wood (still swinging after all these years) adriwood@hotmail.com

 

In 2014 the former glorious Vaucluse Boys High sits derelict awaiting an uncertain long-debated future. It been trashed, with garbage spread throughout. Many windows have been smashed. The Assembly Hall was used as an unauthorised indoor skatepark until a fire led to its demolition. The walls were thick with flammable painted graffiti. The loft and former nerve centre of radio station 2VH was for some years a drop-in point for thrill-seeking skateboarders. Now nothing marks its former existence.

 

Gary Jackson + Adrian Wood

HeadlandCreative

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