General News
9 January, 2026
VOICES: That are music to our ears — By Brian Lennen
When an infant emerges from its mother’s womb, it is immediately able to exercise its lungs.
Its loud crying is a good sign. Everyone is vocal around the infant and even the most sophisticated adult may indulge in “baby talk”.
For the remainder of our lives we are surrounded by the human voice. An infant soon recognises the voices of its parents and siblings.
Our lives are filled with the voices of advertisers and promoters. Often their subliminal messages impact on us. Many of the voices are instantly recognised.
The bearded, tragic Fitzroy supporter John Flaus, Wilbur in Jack Irish, features over and over again as a voice-over specialist.
Australia has a long list of eminent voices. The recent loss of John Laws (who started at 3BO Bendigo in 1953) saw the departure of a voice famous for his interviews with prime ministers and dignitaries.
He was born in Papua New Guinea and overcame bouts of polio.
Referred to as “the Golden Tonsils’, his talk-back radio was followed religiously by a devoted audience, and his reading of classic Australian literature was brilliant. He even made the charts with his country and westerns — part of them were sung and part narrated.
Few of us would forget the Max Gillies Show, where his Bob Hawke and John Howard were unforgettable vocally and physically.
As a young fellow, Leonard Teale’s radio performances of Jarrah and his reading of the Paterson and Lawson classics commanded attention. For over a decade he starred in the highly popular police drama, Homicide.
Watching a documentary recently about Barry Humphries, I was reminded of his genius.
“Bazza” McKenzie, his stereotypical “Ocker”, fascinated the Brits both with his language and attitudes. He has added considerably to Australia’s vernacular.
Barry Crocker, a star in his own right, played McKenzie. His singing of the Neighbours TV theme is familiar to us all. Some of his rhyming slang classics are “Charlie Wheeler”, “dog’s eye” and “dead ’orse”. Ironically, his name is rhyming slang for “shocker”. He is still alive at 90 and resides in Geelong.
Dame Edna, the girl from Moonee Ponds, is immortal. While Les Patterson makes us shudder with his inappropriate behaviour, Don Tyrel (a leading Victorian educator) had a cup of coffee with Barry Humphries at a cafe in Carlton.
His alter ego was the epitome of sophistication. Judy and I attended his show while in Montreal. The Canadians at first were bemused as he berated and involved the audience.
Norman Banks was the voice of radio. His smooth and mellow tones made for relaxed listening. He partnered a contrasting Jack Dyer while broadcasting the VFL football.
One of his special contributions was the founding of Carols by Candlelight at the Myer Music Bowl.
Quizzes were once the most popular radio and television programs. Bob and Dolly Dyer’s “Pick a Box” was the most rated show on both mediums and was a not-to-be-missed in most households. Barry Jones was the quiz master and became a leading political figure.
Jack Davey was the Dyers’ on-air rival and they constantly took the mickey out of each other.
Moviegoers were entertained by Davey’s presentation of the Cinemasound news. Davey presented a tongue in cheek view of local and international news.
On the serious side of the news, the dignified Eric Pearce presented a sophisticated news bulletin for decades.
Alan McGilvray was the voice of cricket. Several Ashes series were covered in the studio, with the tap of a pencil used to emulate a scoring shot in far-off England. We followed ball by ball in our beds.
Presently, Jim Maxwell has continued the entertaining and informative coverage of the cricket.
Ron Casey compered World of Sport, a must-view on Sundays. Bob Davis (the son of a Clunes barber), Lou Richards, Jack Dyer, Jack Elliott, Neil Roberts, Doug Elliott, Sandy Roberts and Bill Collins (Mr Versatile) were all household names.
Of course, Ron Casey presented TV’s most popular show, TV Ringside. The pugilists were essential viewing on Friday nights, with the show running for a decade from 1966 to 1975.
Merv Williams, with his cauliflower ears and flattened nose, was a most entertaining commentator with his colourful language.
Its rival, Wide World of Sport, featured identities such as Max Walker, Ian Maurice, Daryl Eastlake, Mike Gibson and Ian Chappell.
The Olympics and Commonwealth Games were brilliantly covered for decades by Bruce McAvaney and Norman May. Bruce also featured on horse racing and AFL football.
My generation were glued to the TV to watch Six O’Clock Rock, featuring Australian talent and compered by the inimitable Johnny O’Keefe.
Bandstand, compered by the never-ageing Brian Henderson, was the starting point for many big stars, none greater than the Bee Gees. He was also a leading newsreader for decades.
Bud Tingwell, the archetypal lawyer in the brilliant movie The Castle, and Alwyn Kurts, the star of Homicide, are unforgettable voices.
In the world of opera, Australia has produced many stars. Dame Nellie Melba is a legendary figure and Dame Joan Sutherland is immortal.
American and British contributors will hopefully be covered in a future article.