Arch McKirdy (17 March 1924 – 26 August 2013) was an Australian radio broadcaster, voice trainer, mentor and executive, who was best known for his evening

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

program ''Relax with Me'', "Australia's most popular radio program"Peter Martin and Peter Wall
"Broadcaster inspired generations of stars"
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', 21 September 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2019. in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Early life and career

McKirdy was born Archibald William McKirdy in

Swan Hill Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At , Swan Hill had a population of 11,508. Indigenous Peopl ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 1924. His parents were Archibald William McKirdy, Senior and Jessie Isabel Chadwick. His father ran country dances and encouraged his son to play the drums and guitar. In 1941, at the age of 17, he auditioned for the position of cadet announcer at radio station

3TR TRFM (Callsign: 3TFM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting from Traralgon, Victoria, Australia. It is currently owned by Ace Radio & broadcasts A Contemporary Hits Radio (CHR) format. It features both locally produced content & nationally ...

in Sale, Victoria. With the coming of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he moved briefly to radio station

3SH 3SH is a commercial radio station in Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia broadcasting on the medium wave band on a frequency of 1332kHz. It was opened on 27 August 1931. It is owned by Ace Radio Ace Radio Broadcasters is an Australian media co ...

for several months and then joined the army. He would later move to the army's entertainment unit and toured the South Pacific entertaining the Australian troops at the war front. While in the army he would meet some of Australia's top jazz musicians of the period.

''Relax with Me''

After the war McKirdy completed a music appreciation course and then, after another period at 3TR in Sale, moved to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

where he was employed by radio station

2UW KIIS 1065 (call sign: 2WFM) is a commercial broadcasting, commercial FM radio station in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 106.5 MHz. KIIS 1065 is one of the flagship stations on Australian Radio Network, ARN's KIIS Network. The station's ...

in the late 1950s (at least from 1956 until 1960). In June 1963 he was hosting the evening show ''Starlight with Arch McKirdy'' on radio station

2GB 2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by parent company Nine Radio, a division of Nine Entertainment Co., who also own sister station 2UE. 2GB broadcasts on 873 kHz, AM. In 2010, 2GB held 14.7% of the total rad ...

and in December of that year he was compering ''Relax with Arch McKirdy'' jazz music program on the same station . ''Relax with Me'' was being broadcast on 2SM in July 1963. In 1964 McKirdy was persuaded by the broadcasting executive

Clement Semmler Clement Semmler OBE, AM (23 December 1914 – 10 August 2000), often referred to as Clem Semmler, was an Australian author, literary critic, broadcaster and radio and television executive. Early life and education Semmler was born Clement Wil ...

to bring his jazz program from the commercial station over to the ABC. For many years McKirdy would present his smooth, mellow and low key blend of jazz standards and guide listeners through such greats as "Benny Golson or Oscar Peterson or Charlie Parker". John Doyle
2005 Andrew Olle Media Lecture - John Doyle
abc.net.au. Retrieved 12 June 2019. At the beginning of each program he would invite his audience to "relax with me". From 1962 McKirdy also concurrently worked as the lead compere, under the name of "Uncle Mac", of

ATN-7 ATN is the Sydney Flagship (broadcasting), flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of Fairfax Media, John Fairfax & Sons, was one of the ...

's children's television program, the

Captain Fortune Show ''The Captain Fortune Show'' (also known as ''Captain Fortune's Saturday Party'') was a popular Australian children's television show which first broadcast on ATN-7 in 1957. It starred Alan Herbert and featured various segments with puppets, ...

and in a similar role on the successor program, ''The Land of Make Believe''. In the same period he was a promoter of jazz concerts featuring Australian musicians such as

Don Burrows Donald Vernon Burrows (8 August 1928 – 12 March 2020) was an Australian jazz and swing musician who played clarinet, saxophone and flute. Life and career Donald Vernon Burrows was born on 8 August 1928, the only child of Vernon and Beryl a ...

and

Judy Bailey Judy Ann Bailey (born ) is a former news presenter for ONE News, the highest rated evening television news programme in New Zealand. Bailey joined the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (now Television New Zealand) in 1971 and worked as a re ...

. In December 1972 McKirdy, at the age of 48, ended his association with ''Relax with Me'' and accepted a promotion to a management role with the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, namely Director of Radio Presentation."Arch McKirdy signs off", ''

'', 30 November 1972, p. 42. The jazz program would continue under a new name, ''Music to Midnight'', and with new presenters: first, with Ian Neil,

Doubly Gifted: Whither Jazz?
The Fifth Annual Bell Jazz Lecture, delivered 20 September 1997, Bondi Junction, N.S.W., Waverley Library, 1997, p. 5. Retrieved 11 June 2019. and then in the mid-1980s with Ralphe Rickman.

ABC management

In his new role McKirdy became a voice teacher and mentor to many ABC presenters, including

Norman Swan Norman Swan (born Norman Swirsky in 1953) is a Scottish-born Australian physician, journalist and broadcaster. Life and career Swan was born in Scotland as Norman Swirsky. ; 1953)Datelines: Norman Swan, ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 7 November 19 ...

Margaret Throsby Margaret Ellen Throsby AM, (born 1941) is an Australian radio and television broadcaster. She is known for having interviewed thousands of notable people for Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio programs. Early life Margaret Ellen Throsb ...

Geraldine Doogue Geraldine Frances Doogue (born 29 April 1952) is an Australian journalist and radio and television presenter. Career After graduating from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Doogue intended to train as a scho ...

and

Fran Kelly Fran Kelly is an Australian radio presenter, current affairs journalist and political correspondent who hosted the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National program ''Radio National Breakfast, Breakfast'' from March 2005 to early Dece ...

, teaching them not only how to speak with the

received pronunciation Received Pronunciation (RP) is the Accent (sociolinguistics), accent traditionally regarded as the Standard language, standard and most Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestigious form of spoken British English. For over a century, there has been ...

standard English In an English-speaking country, Standard English (SE) is the variety of English that has undergone substantial regularisation and is associated with formal schooling, language assessment, and official print publications, such as public service a ...

but how to speak naturally "in groups of words, breathing and pausing naturally"Remembering Arch McKirdy, the man who made the ABC real
petermartin.com.au. Retrieved 10 June 2019. and speak to their audience as if they were talking to a personal friend. In 1978 he was appointed to perform an extra role, that of Managing Director of the

ABC-FM ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. ...

radio networks which included being the director of the just created ABC-FM station in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Late career

In the early years of the new century McKirdy worked with the

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

(SBS), training its ethnic presenters to speak more naturally and helping video journalists speak "to viewers as if they were on location". He also performed a similar role at the

Australian Film and Television School The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) formerly Australian Film and Television School, is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast school. The school is a Commonwealth Government statutory authority. History Establish ...

, where people he trained included Ian Henschke.

Legacy

McKirdy was variously called a "magnificent jazz compere" and "a discerning and reliably informed jazz broadcaster". The magazine ''Jazz Notes'' pointed out that he had "no trouble persuading hundreds of thousands to 'Relax with Me' ". In 1972 his program had "the largest national radio audience in Australia"Fran Kelly and Margaret Throsby
Death of a broadcast legend
abc.net.au. Retrieved 12 June 2019. with "about 400,000" Australians listening in "at least once a week". and was "Australia's longest running personality radio show".

recalled that "Arch's program was a fixture: at 10 o'clock at night everyone would start listening to ''Relax with Me''". For writer and comedian John Doyle, delivering the 2005

Andrew Olle Media Lecture The Andrew Olle Media Lecture was established in 1996 by the presenters and staff at 702 ABC Sydney (formerly 2BL) to honour the memory of ABC Radio and television broadcaster Andrew Olle, who died in 1995 of a brain tumour. It focuses on the role ...

, "Arch always struck a warm yet authoritative tone. He was a master of the medium having the easy confidence of one who has made the time, the moment, his own and he knew his subject and somehow gave the impression of having left the ego behind." McKirdy, along with Semmler, Eric Child,

Kym Bonython Kym may refer to: *River Kym, in Cambridgeshire, England *Kym (singer) (born 1983), or Jin Sha, Chinese singer and actress *Know Your Meme, an internet meme documentation blog * Kpatili language's ISO 639 code People with the given name *Kym Bonyth ...

and a few others, successfully fought for a place for jazz music on the ABC in the 1960s and 1970s, which hitherto had been largely ignored by the national broadcaster's senior management.

Personal life

McKirdy was married twice: first, to Frances with whom he had three sons, Grant, Mark and John, and second, to Margaret with whom he had a daughter, Megan. A grandson,

Lewis McKirdy Lewis McKirdy (born 12 October 1987) is the outgoing host of ''Lunch'' on triple j. References External linksProfileat Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio st ...

, was a broadcaster at the ABC radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

and currently lives in the United Kingdom. He died on 26 August 2013 at the age of 89.Arch McKirdy - Death Notice
legacy.com. Retrieved 12 June 2019.

References

External links

Arch McKirdy ''Relax with Me'' program introduction

Arch McKirdy - Relax With Me - final programme (Part 1)
3 December 1972
Arch McKirdy - Relax With Me - final programme (Part 2)
3 December 1972 {{DEFAULTSORT:McKirdy, Arch 1924 births 2013 deaths Radio and television announcers Australian radio presenters Australian radio executives Australian television executives Jazz radio presenters Australian children's television presenters Australian Army personnel of World War II People from Swan Hill