Norman Banks on 3AW 1978.

Norman Banks was truly a legend in Australian broadcasting, with a career spanning over 40 years and dogged with controversy, he influenced Australian Radio in ways that are still heard today, pioneering the way football was called, talkback and even right down to the vocal delivery, Norman Banks stands tall in the annuals of Radio History. Starting broadcasting on 4th July 1931, Norman retired on 3rd July 1978 after 47 years. Check out the link in the biography below for more.

So here's a real treat folks, an exclusive to Australian Radio Airchecks, this is Norman Banks a couple of weeks before retirement on June 22nd and June 23rd 1978 with his talkback show Open Line on 3AW. The first file is about half an hour from 22nd June, and degenerates into static at the end, but has the advertising and live reads intact, the second file is longer and from 23rd June, but sadly when it was recorded someone made judicious use of the pause button, removing part of the news and all the advertising and live reads.

The third file is the short outro of the show on Friday 23rd June 1978, where he talks about selecting July 3rd as his last day of broadcasting.


Banks, Norman Tyrell (1905–1985)

by John Lack: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/banks-norman-tyrell-12170

Norman Tyrell Banks (1905-1985), radio broadcaster, was born on 12 October 1905 at Sandringham, Melbourne, fifth child of Victorian-born parents Charles Cecil Banks, a Hampton newsagent who had died six months earlier, and his wife Alice Mary, née Elliott. Alice went into business as a draper. After attending local state schools and Hampton Beach College, Norman studied for the Anglican priesthood in the mid-1920s. He did not complete his training but remained a regular communicant whose religiosity was to influence aspects of his broadcasting career.

While working for S. A. Cheney Motors (Victoria) Pty Ltd, Banks became a successful car salesman. The firm sent him to England and to the United States of America where, attracted to the booming radio industry, he gained some experience. Back in Victoria, and out of work at Colac, he dug onions for a farmer, Joseph Gilmore, whose daughter, Lorna May, he married with Anglican rites on 6 May 1930 at Christ Church, South Yarra. Desperate to find a job, Banks followed his mother’s advice to try radio. 3KZ had just started broadcasting from the Melbourne Trades Hall, and he pestered the management until he was offered an announcer’s position, starting on 4 July 1931.

3KZ had just started broadcasting from the Melbourne Trades Hall, and he pestered the management until he was offered an announcer’s position, starting on 4 July 1931.

When differences with 3KZ management led to Banks’s resignation in July 1952, he was quickly snapped up by the Macquarie Broadcasting Service Pty Ltd. On 3AW he duplicated most of his successes, including the quiz `Party Line’, the musical miscellany `Your Music and Mine’ and the comedy show `Rate Your Mate’.


Even in the more sophisticated and questioning world of the 1970s, his audience remained substantial and loyal. His broadcasting style survived among those who revered his memory and emulated his delivery. His name and the causes he espoused continued to arouse passion among his admirers and detractors.

Near blindness and failing health made Banks’s last years difficult. Survived by his wife and their two sons and two daughters, he died on 15 September 1985 at Malvern and was cremated two days later. Only then did the family announce his death.

Download