1 June 2022
In the early 1970s, Melbourne radio station 3AK gained some ground with a cleverly crafted format of rock and pop singles and album tracks, using the slogan ‘Where No Wrinklys Fly’.
The station at the time was owned by the Packer family’s Australian Consolidated Press, which also owned GTV9. 3AK had studios at the former ‘Television City’ in Bendigo Street, Richmond.
3AK, which previously had announcers known as ‘Good Guys’, introduced the ‘No Wrinklys’ format in 1971, devised by Rhett Walker and heavily promoted on GTV9 and via print media.
A battle then emerged when 3XY adopted a Top 40 format of high rotation hits in 1973. The biggest songs of the day were on a 3-hour rotation. It was a similar format to that which took 2SM Sydney, 4IP Brisbane and 2NX Newcastle to ratings success. Together they initiated the annual Rocktober promotion with concerts and special on-air features.
3AK and ‘More Music 3XY’ went head-to-head, with the latter eventually gaining a bigger slice of the youth audience. 3XY’s weekly printed Top 40 charts became collectors items.
3XY’s success forced Rhett Walker to take 3AK in a different direction and on 1 June 1973, the station embraced the “wrinkly” audience they had previously shunned by switching to “beautiful music”.
With its Top 40 format and announcers like Greg Evans, Peter Harrison, Joe Miller and John O’Donnell, 3XY is fondly remembered by fans of Bang a Gong. 3XY is often mentioned in comments on radio-related Facebook posts.
BaG readers have also been curious about 3XY’s frequency which was 1420 kHz, then 1422. On 23 November 1978, all AM radio stations in Australia changed from 10 kHz to 9 kHz spacing on the dial, causing 3XY to move to 1422. Likewise, 3AK changed from 1500 to 1503, 3MP moved from 1380 to 1377, and so on.
The broadcast licences of stations previously known as 3AK and 3XY still exist today, albeit with different identities and frequencies.
3AK, which changed from 1503 to 1116 kHz, is now sports station SEN.
In September 1991, 3XY signed-off on 1422 kHz and relaunched seven months later as 3EE ‘The Breeze’ on 693. It later became Magic 693 and now Magic 1278. The 3XY legacy continues today, with Magic 1278 playing many hit songs of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.
FUN FACT 1: “I’ll sing my song and I’ll be gone…”
The last track played on 3XY on 23 September 1991 was the same one played on 3AK in 1973 before their change from “no wrinklys” to “beautiful music”: Spectrum’s I’ll Be Gone.
FUN FACT 2: 3XY actually had two “last songs” that day. Studio announcer Roxanne Bennett finished at midday with I’ll Be Gone. She said her goodbyes on behalf of the station and thought that was it. A few seconds later, a surprise pre-recorded tribute show voiced by Glenn A Baker came on the air. That show finished at 1pm with It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll). 3XY then fell silent.
FUN FACT 3: When 2CH Sydney was switched off on 10 June 2022, the final song played was Thank You for the Music by ABBA.
Also on Bang a Gong: Radio’s Rocktober
