NEWFM Mike Webb First song and opening short version 1989
Sitting around last Tuesday and the phone rings, “hello”, I reply, “it’s Mike Webb”, golly, long story short, as usual, I was reminiscing on the early days of N – E – W as it was 1st called, then it became 105 NEW FM – New for the 90’s, a great FM Classic Rock station, here is the very first few words, featuring Mike and Bruce Steggles
here’s what Mike says
Hi Andrew
Good to touch base with you, now here is something NOBODY has a copy of or has ever heard since the moment we switched the station on. In the building, the temporary station was housed top floor Nesca building for 12 months till we opened the 2 million dollar plus Darby Street station, was all the staff plus an invited throng of maybe 100 guests and clients for what became the first of three NEWFM opening partys , the first was that one we called the TONE party. That’s the moment we switched off the test tone and started two weeks of test broadcasting playing just music back to back no commercials or joks. Many I have spoken to say that was the best two weeks of radio they had ever listened to. The next party was the moment we played out first commercial for the Newcastle Permanent and the second was a Coke commercial two later and the third was the quarter million dollar party I called SKYNOVA on the foreshore when we brought the Collaroy up from Sydney to become the floating VIP centre whilst the foreshore packed in 100.000 people. I paid a professional team $10 grand to film that event and I have the master video doco end production.
NEW FM was amazing back in the day, and that was great to listen to I don’t recall hearing it as N-E-W FM. Like most radio stations these days NEW FM has lost most of it’s personality and charm.
So sad to hear of Mike’s passing on the weekend. We had some great times in the early nineties at NEW FM and it was all thanks to Mike’s dream of having an FM radio station in Newcastle. Vale Mike Webb.