At the end of each episode of Newstalk ZB’s top-rated The Two (Friday and Sunday evenings from 8pm) Pam Corkery and myself like to conclude with a song that means something. “Means” in the sense that it should never just be a song to wash over you and that there should be a reason for playing…
Tag: Newstalk ZB
Backstage With Bee Gee Barry Gibb At The Mission Estate Concert
The Two went on tour this past weekend and despite inept road-signs, several u-turns, a missing map-book and an embarrassing absence of modern phone-internet technology, we made it to Napier and back to Auckland in one piece. In the process Pam Corkery and I also had the most welcoming, humbling, human and enthralling backstage…
My Favourite Memories Of Paul Holmes & Why He Was The Best We’ve Ever Had
This morning Sir Paul Holmes passed away, succumbing to a heart condition coupled with the prostate cancer that first reared its head to him just over a decade ago. Aged 62, he was too young. But when you are regarded as arguably the greatest broadcaster in your country’s history and few are arguing about it,…
The Timeless Genius Of Paul Simon’s American Tune
Over the last couple of weeks, Pam Corkery and I (Newstalk ZB’s The Two) have been doing ZB’s weekday evening show and have loved bringing what we do (which is normally once a week on Sundays between 9pm-midnight) to an even wider audience. For us a hugely important part of our shows is the music, even…
The Barry Gibb Interview 2012 – The Full Transcript Plus Another Forgotten Bee Gees Classic
A few weeks ago I interviewed (alongside my co-host on Newstalk ZB’s The Two, Pam Corkery) the last remaining Gibb brother, Bee Gee Barry Gibb. A feature article based on this interview will be appearing in New Zealand’s number one current affairs magazine The Listener in January ahead of Barry’s concert at the Mission in…
Ratings For Newstalk ZB’s ‘The Two’ Go Through The Roof
Pam Corkery Just a quick entry to say a heartfelt thanks to two colleagues and friends. One year ago, the Sunday evening 9pm-midnight show on Newstalk ZB was the number one rated show for its timeslot in New Zealand with a percentage of the Auckland listening audience at 13%. Six months later the show had morphed into…
John Mayer’s Song For Getting Older – ‘Born And Raised’
Yesterday it was my birthday – number 31 – and somebody who has become a dear friend in the short space of less than a year helped make it a very memorable one. Pam Corkery, my co-host on Newstalk ZB’s The Two (Friday and Sunday evenings from 8pm), organised me a succession of gifts –…
The Perils Of Discussing Gay Marriage In Talkbackland & The Rod Stewart Song That Saved The Night
The last two nights on talkback were undoubtedly the most challenging of my career. For those outside of New Zealand, a bill on gay marriage passed its first reading in parliament by a vote of 80 to 40. I tried to encourage nuanced thought on the topic, but when it’s an issue as emotive as…
Maori? Did Someone Mention The Word Maori? Dealing With “Challenging” Talkback Callers – Newstalk ZB, 2012
Maori? Did someone mention the word Maori? Sometimes on talkback it feels a bit like that, none more-so than on Saturday morning’s show with the flare-up of the water rights issue. The topic is draining (average pun intended) for many reasons, but from a talkback point of view mainly because for some reason it gives…
Why I Hate The Expression “PC”
Plaguing this country for at least the last decade has been the desire to describe everything we dislike as being “PC.” For a while it was “PC gone mad,” but now people can’t even be bothered saying that. Particularly in the land of talk-back radio and newspaper letters to the editor (not to mention nauseating…
Whitney Houston’s Death – Why Are We So Quick To Judge? 2 Of Her Most Poignant Songs
Last night on Newstalk ZB we did a three hour tribute show to Whitney Houston who died yesterday, possibly drowning in her Beverly Hills hotel bath, aged just 48. On the programme we had comments from the likes of Simon Cowell, Tony Bennett, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson and Lionel Richie, who said he would speak to…
A New Barry Gibb Song For Christmas, Working Full-time For Newstalk ZB In 2012
One week until Christmas and as is normally the case at this time of year, you look back and go “wow, that year went quick,” which is such a cliche, but most likely because it’s true. A year ago I was the sound engineer / DJ / unofficial tennis guy at Club Med in the…
