Perth’s 96FM is celebrating 40 years since launch with 40 days of celebrations.
Celebrations kicked off on Saturday, Aug 8 at 4pm, exactly 40 years to the day and minute, that 96FM debuted in Perth, and as part of the commemorations, one Fender guitar will be given away every day for the next 40 days and listeners will go in the draw to win $40,000 and a new Black T-Roc car.
The station has also launched a special website full of incredible photos, audio, articles and videos from across the 40 years.
96FM’s Managing Director Gary Roberts joined Botica’s Bunch on air to talk about the excitement of being in Perth to launch 96FM, after getting over the initial shock of being told he needed to pull it all together in just three weeks.
“I was told I had three weeks to get the station on air on August 1,” he said before negotiating an extra week, taking the launch date to August 8. “So, they had to change the billboards and all the publicity.”
Gary talked about how he personally was going through record label warehouses to create the 96FM library from scratch, “We played vinyl in those days, but we didn’t even have a record. So, there I was with a shopping trolley down at the EMI warehouse, throwing albums into a trolley… then we actually had to create a record library.”
He reminisced about sending a winner to the US to see Bruce Springsteen in concert and the launch of Skyshow in 1985, and how the simple giveaway of two new Ford Lasers turned into a huge news story when the prizes were stolen from the dealership.
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