Lee Simon looks back at 47 years of pioneering work on Australian radio

RADIO icon Lee Simon is retiring after 47 years in the business.

“I’m not 21 anymore, far from it, soon to celebrate the 44th anniversary of my 21st birthday,” Simon said. “The decision was difficult in many ways but it also kind of made itself as well. They say you should never overstay your welcome, I’d say I have by a bit.

“Being compared to a cockroach, which I am from time to time, hopefully for longevity and survival reasons, is not the most attractive analogy but it’s a truism. Being of a particular age, the idea of getting a job in a specific industry and staying with it to gold watch level is anathema to anyone these days.”

Simon started his radio career at 3AW in 1971, joining 3XY in 1975 and hosted Channel 7’s late night music show Nightmoves for eight years from 1977 and helped launch EON FM in 1980 (as program director and on air talent) which soon morphed into Triple M.

He was responsible for bringing AFL broadcasting to Triple M station in 1995 when, as program director, Simon noticed listeners switching to AM radio during footy season. He has worked as executive producer of the station’s AFL coverage since.

“We were a music station that had some comedians on air. Adding sport into that mix hadn’t been done before and it hasn’t been done since.”

Simon was instrumental in launching the careers of Eddie McGuire, Jennifer Keyte, Richard Stubbs, Brigitte Duclos and Brian Taylor.

His legacy also includes helping develop the concept of comedians on FM radio, when he recruited a young D-Generation, featuring Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro and Tom Gleisner.

“I was looking for writers to fax through — that’s how long ago it was — witty ideas for the host of the breakfast show to read out. The D-Gen turned up as well as a young lawyer who liked writing comedy — they were the two finalists. The D-Gen got the job, I think it was $200 a week which they split between all of them. The lawyer was Steve Vizard, who went on to much bigger and better things. As did the D-Gen, who eventually took over the breakfast show in their own right.

“The path you took to get on radio when I started didn’t involve being an elite sports person or somebody who had beyond exceptional comedy chops, it was people who loved their music to be DJs,” Simon said. “I was a representative of music fans who got to play music and meet lots of heroes of mine along the way and interview them and present the results on air.”

Simon has interviewed countless musicians over the decades, from Bruce Springsteen to the Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin, and fondly remembers a call from Lou Reed’s record label saying the rocker wanted to play some songs on the radio.

Reed turned up with a box of records with annotated notes of which tracks to play.

“He was just handing them to me and I’m thinking ‘Geez, this is Lou Reed in the studio with me’. He took this small jar out of the briefcase he with an assortment pills of all colours and shapes and sizes in it. He randomly poured out a bunch of them in his hand, washed them down with a glass of water and away we went. It was one of the best hours of radio I’ve ever done. I think I about 21 at the time, it was surreal. There’s been lots of memories like that along the way, back then and in more recent times.”

Simons admits he’s become less concerned with radio ratings.

“There were literally sleepless nights in early years, to the point of stupidity. Ratings are everything to the business of radio. It’s your scorecard. No one likes getting anything other than an A. We’ve been lucky to get them quite consistently. But I’ve developed a different attitude to ratings day recently, we’ve done the best we can. Otherwise you can be paralysed.”

Simons says he’s leaving radio without losing his passion for the medium.

“I’ve been told my passion is my greatest strength and greatest weakness. I’m not very good at phoning it in.”

His last day will be Grand Final day, but his voice will still be heard on air.

“I’ve got a lot of long service leave. My wife Jan and I want to travel. But they’ve asked if I will do stuff with Triple M Classic Rock down the track. You can leave the place but the place doesn’t quite leave you.”

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