A local kid from South Lismore: my days with 2NCR-FM aka River FM

This week I called in to community radio station in Lismore, River FM, which launched 50 years ago as 2NCR-FM. I sat down with one of the presenters, Gwilym, and recorded memories from the early days. First granted its licence under the Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education in 1976, 2NCR is one of Australia’s oldest regional community radio stations. Operating today on 92.9 FM out of the historic Norco site in South Lismore, it has spent five decades serving as an essential voice for local news, diverse music, and community connection across the Northern Rivers.

A Local Kid from South Lismore: My Days with 2NCR FM

I wasn’t here at the very start of the station back in 1976. I came along a couple of years later as a twelve-year-old high school student attending Richmond River High. I had always wanted to work in radio, right from early childhood. I used to sit behind a radio at home and pretend to play radio announcers, so I always knew I wanted to do that as a career.

Our high school had a regular one-hour weekly program on air playing music and taking request calls, which was similar to what a lot of the local high schools did back then. I was pretty young at the time, but I was so enthusiastic that I volunteered straight away. I went along to the station and had an older couple, Karl Gottsche and his partner Rose, who really took me under their wing. They were just wonderful. They taught me how to operate the panel, how to pronounce words properly, and how to read on air. I’m incredibly grateful for the immense warmth they showed to a young kid from South Lismore.

2NCR was a trailblazing station at the time, operating on 92.5 FM back then before moving to 92.9 FM. A lot of local people listened, and a huge crowd of locals volunteered. In the days before we had a formal, paid station manager, there was a voluntary station coordinator who had to try to figure out the broadcast schedule. I remember going along to big quarterly station meetings where everyone would gather. You’d put your hand up in front of the room and say, “I’ve got an idea for a show. My show is going to be about X, Y, and Z. I’d like to do it on Fridays at five o’clock. Have we got room?” Then there would be a big, passionate discussion—”I’m not sure if it suits Friday at five, maybe Saturday at seven?”—creating a really interesting, dynamic community process.

Eventually, the Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education started bringing in formal managers. I’m pretty sure the first official manager or station coordinator was David Law, who later went on to lecture at the university for a number of years. Other early managers included Ian Peter, Chris Cruise, and Brett Gleason. They would come in to manage the station on a day-to-day basis, taking phone calls at four in the morning as well as at midnight. It was a deeply dynamic community project, and local residents felt strongly and passionately about it.

The sheer range and diversity of programming back then was amazing to witness. We had diverse language programs—including a Dutch program, a German program, a French program, and a Greek program. The Greek program was hosted by Harry Crethar, who was there right back in those early days. Bonnie Paff hosted a dedicated program for senior citizens, and Pastor Frank Roberts Senior hosted a wonderful Aboriginal program.

The late Marge Graham (who died in the 2022 flood) did the popular Saturday breakfast show. I remember filling in for her a couple of times to play some country music. Marge was so excited when she released her very first single on vinyl—a 7-inch record called Love, Love, Love. I still have a copy of it somewhere at home; it was a beautiful piece of local history.

Then there was Jeff Smith, who worked at the local record store for many years and did a folk music program on Friday nights. Gary Martin, a teacher from Albert Park School, hosted a program called Words and Music, which blended poetry with music. Gary was a fantastic mentor to a young nine-year-old volunteer named Robbie Buck, who started out presenting classical music on Friday nights.

The station ran a show called Gay Waves, hosted by Mike Bray and Vera Bourne. I knew them well because I went to school with Vera’s daughter, and Mike owned a local restaurant in South Lismore on Union Street called Double Dutch. Gay Waves was a very controversial program at the time, pre-dating the legalisation of homosexuality in New South Wales. The local newspaper, The Northern Star, took a really harsh stance against the show. Jim Brigginshaw, the editor of the paper at the time, wrote some terrible editorials attacking it. I even remember being at Double Dutch one evening when a bomb threat was called in. Mike had to walk around the dining room saying, “Everyone, we need to go outside, we’ve had a threat.” That shows you the strength of feeling in the community back then.

While most presenters focused on music, others did solid, current affairs and talk programs. Phil Hurst was at 2NCR back then doing newsy, current affairs shows before moving on to a big career at the local ABC station. We also had presenters like Jim McGuinness who hosted a very popular Top 40 program, and after many years, is now back at the station with a Saturday night 80s request program.

Another regular feature was our outside broadcasts, especially from the annual Lismore Show. My clearest memory of the show broadcasts was the year our mobile unit was parked way too close to the Dagwood dog stand. Whenever someone opened a microphone to speak, all you could hear in the background was a loud vendor yelling, “Hot, tasty Dagwood dogs!”

Over the decades, the station moved facilities multiple times. It started out at Channel 8, moved downstairs into its own ground-floor studios, shifted to the Northern Rivers College library, relocated out to Southern Cross University, and eventually settled in South Lismore in a building that used to be part of the massive Norco factory complex.

2NCR was an incredible launchpad for media careers. ABC announcer, Robbie Buck started at the station, aged nine, Craig Campbell went from Lismore High to a TV reporting career before founding the production company behind Rove McManus, as examples.

I stayed on at the station through high school and kept coming back on weekends to volunteer while studying at university in Brisbane. After graduating, a fellow 2NCR presenter named Bev Ferris, who used to host the Saturday night dinner music show, encouraged me to take a job at a community station out in Bourke. She said, “Go, you won’t regret it,” and she was right. That job led directly to my ABC career starting in late 1989.

When I look at community radio today, the stations that really stand out are the ones that sound local, authentic, and real. As I look toward retiring in the next couple of years, I reckon I’ll come back and volunteer at 2NCR again—coming full circle right back where it all started.