Today Lee Simon would have been a 57 year old accountant, or banker, had he heeded the prophetic advice of his father who told him back in 1971 that one day accountants would rule the world. While he couldn’t avoid becoming 57, he did manage to avoid a life of counting beans to succeed in Radio beyond his father’s wildest dreams. This week he celebrates 40 years in the business and talks to radioinfo about what he’s seen in the past and what he sees for the future.
In fact, young Lee had already landed an internship at the ANZ Bank when on his way to work one day he encountered a sign. The sign was outside 3AW’s studios and it was for the radio school inside. Lee signed up and within three weeks was offered a full time job as a panel operator at the station.
The fact that he readily agreed to a drop in gross pay from $44 per week at the bank to just $24 at AW perhaps demonstrates that he was highly unsuited to accountancy. Having found his natural habitat in radio, Lee has survived 40 years of wholesale change in an industry that quickly spits out those who are slow to adapt.
Asked if he ever thought he would last this long he jokes, “I didn’t think I’d last this long as a human being let alone in radio. I never assumed that that would be the case, but the fact that it has ended up this way is very pleasing.”
And what a career it has been. It seems that he has always been at the cutting edge of radio at the stations that have been at the forefront of change.
After 3AW he found himself at the so called Digamae network, led by legendary programmer Rod Muir, which at one stage could boast the number one station in each metro market, including 2SM, 3XY, 4IP and 6PM, all clad in the famous denim zipped logo.
“A couple of years into my radio career,” says Lee, “I moved to 2NX, (Newcastle) and that changed everything for me. Then I worked at 2SM and then 3XY. They were the halcyon days of music radio – pure music radio – albeit high rotation top 40, spinning the A-List songs every 90 minutes.”
Lee has also been present at the birth of FM at EON. He was there when it became Triple M. And is still there.
“The introduction of FM was another massive watershed in my career. Us going to outright #1 in the market for the first time was an absolute thrill. And even though it sounds a bit ‘Oh shucks,’ the greatest highlight has been working with literally thousands of people I’ve worked with over the 40 years, some of whom are people I’m still in touch with and I love dearly and respect greatly. There are also the others who stumble past you on your journey whose whereabouts I have no idea of and what they’re doing these days, I don’t know either. It’s a very dynamic industry, it attracts all sorts of people.
“The beauty of radio is that it constantly reinvents itself. There are some things, though, that are constant. For example, I’m sure that somewhere around the country at the moment there’s a station doing a secret sound competition. But radio always seems to find the high ground when the waters are rising in other media. When you look at the other mainstream media, radio is the one that is surviving the best,” says Lee.
Now as an Austereo veteran, Lee puts his 40 years of music knowledge to air from 12-1pm every week day as he presents Rock of Ages. He is also the National Exec Producer of Sport for Triple M.
Lee is convinced that the future lies in digital radio. Like Mr Spock on the Starship Enterprise, Lee now boldly goes where few stations have been before, exploring the great possibilities at the dawn of the digital era.
“I think that the excitement of what is to come in radio lives in a digital age. We’ll just have to sit there quietly drumming our fingers on the table waiting for more and more people to be able to consume it.”
At this point in his life, Lee has no thoughts of retirement, “The day that I wake up in the morning and head for the car with some sort of dread or boredom will be the day that I think about giving it away. It’s a constant joy to me that I haven’t had those periods in my career. Its still a buzz for me every day.
“I think a part of having longevity in the business to not live, breathe and eat it every waking moment. That’s something you do in the early part of your career when you’re quite happy to spend 24 hours a day seven days a week in the radio station, but at some point a life balance is also important. I think that goes for any job.”
Lee Simon’s Career at a glance:
1971-3AW as panel operator on Peter James breakfast show
1971-72 – 2BE Bega: On-air
March 72 – 3DB Melbourne: production
Oct 72 – 7HT Hobart: producer / on air floater
1973 – 2NX Newcastle
Early 74 – 2SM Sydney
Mid 75 – 1980: 3XY Jock
Jan 1980 – started EON FM as Program Director / on-air
Late 80’s – GM for EON
Lee was instrumental in introducing football to Triple M. He pushed it alone and gained a licence to broadcast AFL in 1997. Lee has a lot to do with all the sporting shows, including The Stick Shift (motoGP) show on Triple M.
Television
Lee is also remembered for hosting the seminal late night album show on TV. ‘Nightmoves’ went for 10 years from 1977.
Well done Lee. You've been around a long time, not too many last so long in what can be an unforgiving industry! I too took a pay cut to get into this business back in 1970. Down from $65 a week as a clerk at the Electricity Commission of NSW to $27 per week at 2VM Moree. Never regretted it though, from day one it's been fun. So many great people, sensational radio stations, and generally, incredibly good time.
Congratulations on your 40 years Lee. You've given a great deal to this industry.
Congratulations, Lee. We share a number of crossed paths including 2BE Bega, you there in '71, me there from '81-'93. We also were both Managers in the 80's you at EON and me at 2BE (2EC) working with our good friend Glenn Wheatley and later Hoyts Media. We're both 57 and my 40 years in the biz comes up in November. I've jumped out for a brief 'breather' a couple of times, but the magnetism of the beast has kept me in the fold.
It's been a hell of a ride and I'm glad long distance friends like you & Ian Holland are still around to remember carts, reel to reels and Jim Angel reading the news and Frank Hyde calling the footy on 2SM.
Best wishes, IAN, Victor Harbor, South Australia.