Martin Molloy added to Sounds of Australia registry

Each year, the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) recognises 10 sound recordings for their impact on Australian culture and history by including them in the Sounds of Australia registry.

Today it was revealed that one of the 2020 additions to the registry is the iconic Tony Martin and Mick Molloy radio show, Martin Molloy. 

The show ran between 1995 and 1998 from Austereo’s Fox FM in Melbourne, but went out to 54 radio stations across Australia.

The NFSA said such a fast-paced, sketch-based format was previously relegated to the Breakfast slot, and the idea of such a show working in Drive was “far-fetched to some radio insiders”.

“However, Martin Molloy was a ratings success, and quickly grew from being broadcast on just Austereo’s metropolitan stations to airing around Australia,” the NFSA said.

The show spawned three ARIA Award-winning albums: The Brown Album (1995), Poop Chute (1996) and Eat Your Peas (1998).

“An entire generation of drive-time radio comedy-talk shows followed and this format remains the backbone of the major commercial FM networks in Australia to this day,” the NFSA added.

Martin gifted the original recordings to the NFSA in 2013.

He said: “Not only have the NFSA finally completed the mammoth task of digitising the Martin Molloy archives, now they’ve gone and inducted us into their Sounds of Australia. As fans of our show would recall, some of those sounds were rather rude, but as a massive radio nerd – and a New Zealander – this is a huge honour.”

Also joining this year’s list is Gough Whitlam’s 1972 electoral jungle ‘It’s Time’, and 1994 Silverchair track ‘Tomorrow’. 

The newest Sounds of Australia for 2020 in chronological order:
● Starlight by Hamilton Hill – 1907
● Etude de concert in F minor and Etude de concert in A flat major by Eileen Joyce – 1933
● Olympic Games, Melbourne 1956: Official souvenir recording of Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony – 1956
● Nausicaa: Opera in Three Acts by Peggy Glanville-Hicks – 1961
● Arnhem Land Popular Classics: Aboriginal Dance Songs with Didjeridu Accompaniment by David Blanasi, Djoli Laiwanga and others – 1963
● Because I Love You by The Master’s Apprentices – 1971
● It’s Time by Alison MacCallum – 1972
● True Blue by John Williamson – 1986
● Tomorrow by Silverchair – 1994
● Martin/Molloy by Tony Martin and Mick Molloy – 1995-1998

Molloy now hosts the syndicated Triple M Drive show Kennedy Molloy with Jane Kennedy.