HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Norman Tyrell Banks,
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language of t ...
(12 October 1905 – 15 September 1985) was a radio broadcaster of
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metrop ...
for over 50 years from the 1930s. Banks, a noted charity worker is also famous as the founder of the annual Carols by Candlelight. In later years, he was known for his strongly conservative viewpoint on talkback radio.


Early life

Banks was born at
Sandringham, Victoria Sandringham is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Bayside local government area. Sandringham recorded a population of 10,926 at the 2021 census. History Sa ...
on 12 October 1905. Banks studied for nine years for the
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
priesthood, first at St Aidan's Theological College, Ballarat, and then at
Ridley College Ridley College (also known as RC, Ridley) is a private boarding and day university-preparatory school located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, 20 miles (32 km) from Niagara Falls. The school confers the Ontario Secondary School Diploma ...
, Melbourne. At age 24, he decided he could not proceed as a priest, and went to work as a car salesman and married Lorna May Gilmore. He then had four children: John, Beverley, Felicity and Rodney. Banks had an interest in public speaking, drama and the creative arts, and the emerging medium of radio soon provided an ideal opportunity to display those interests.


Radio career: 3KZ

Norman Banks started at 3KZ (now 3KKZ or Gold 104.3 FM) on a salary of four pounds a week in December 1930, but within a month his instant success had seen his wages rise to eight pounds a week. Over the next 20 years, Banks was a leading figure in broadcasting in Melbourne, initiating programs such as ''Voice of the Voyager, Voice of the People, Voice of the Business Girl, Voice of the Shopper, Husbands and Wives, Junior Information, Spelling Bee, Victoree Varieties, Myer Musicale'' plus "OBs" (outside broadcasts) of football, tennis, athletics, swimming and other events. Although not the first to broadcast VFL football (Melbourne's 3AR was broadcasting ex-Carlton player Rod McGregor's descriptions of play at least as early as 1927), Banks was certainly a pioneer of football radio broadcasts, often overcoming extraordinary working conditions. At Princes Park, Carlton in 1931 he broadcast his first football match standing on a ladder at the end of the dressing room. On another occasion at Princes Park, he had the luxury of broadcasting from a hardwood plank protruding from a ladies'' toilet, with no protection from the weather. At Lakeside Oval he broadcast from an 18-meter steel tower. One of Banks’ notable broadcasts was on
VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...
1945 to celebrate the end of World War II. Banks broadcast continuously from the Manchester Unity building, opposite the Melbourne Town Hall at the corner of Swanston and Collins Streets.


Carols by Candlelight

On Christmas Eve 1937 Banks saw a woman listening to carols alone by the light of a candle. The image prompted him to try to organize a community event to overcome what to many people was a lonely time of the year. With much effort, Banks overcame skeptics and difficulties to stage the first Carols by Candlelight in 1938. On that first night, 10,000 people gathered at midnight in the Alexandra Gardens to sing carols with a 30-strong choir, two soloists, and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Band. Since then the event has grown dramatically to become a tradition the world over and is often a fundraiser for charitable purposes. In Melbourne, it is a fundraiser for Vision Australia.


Move to 3AW

Banks applied to 3KZ management in 1952 to be allowed leave to attend the Helsinki Olympics. Banks told the station boss that if he was not allowed to go then he would resign. His resignation was accepted on the spot. Within a matter of days he had signed with the rival station 3AW at about double the salary he was getting at 3KZ—what was described as a "five-figure sum". And he was allowed to go to the Helsinki Olympic Games (indeed he published his notes as ''The world in my diary; from Melbourne to Helsinki for the Olympic Games'' in 1953). At 3AW he covered the Olympics, football, current affairs, outside broadcasts around Melbourne and in-studio programs as well. He became effectively the station's News Editor for a time. He was an agile broadcaster, with a fast-thinking brain to boot. He worked at 3AW until 1978, a 26-year career. Although Barry Jones was actually the first to talk to people live on air in Australia, Banks pioneered talkback radio in 1960. Banks became well known on radio in the 1960s and 1970s for his strongly conservative viewpoint, including a strident defense of apartheid in South Africa, and the monarchy. These views were often played out on air in debate with the radical journalist Claudia Wright or the broadcaster Ormsby Wilkins, who called him "a sanctimonious old hypocrite". Furthermore, despite his moral conservatism and appeal to the traditional Anglo middle class, his own personal relationships were subject to press speculation. Nevertheless, he had a very large radio following. An accident at the football, followed by another in the 3AW corridors, severely reduced his vision (bringing to an end his legendary football descriptions); his vision was so impaired that he qualified for the Australian Government's free of income and assets test Blind Pension. His final on-air words were "the humble people, the little people . . . for your trust, loyalty and support".


Honours

Banks was made an
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language of t ...
for his services to broadcasting. He was inducted to the
Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern ...
's ''Rogues Gallery'' in 1998, with his citation reading— :''An original football caller with 3KZ in 1931, he later moved to 3AW, combining sport and current affairs. (He) Called football for three decades. (He) Covered Helsinki and Melbourne Olympics.'' In 1996 Banks was an inaugural inductee into the
Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coac ...
in the Media category. His citation read— :''A pioneer of football broadcasts on 3AW and 3KZ. In 1931, (he) broadcast his first match from Princes Park standing on a ladder at the end of the dressing rooms. (His) Broadcasting career spanned 60 years.''


References

*
Melbourne Observer – Wednesday, 22 June 2005
accessed 25 February 2007.
Australian Football Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Norman 1905 births 1985 deaths Radio personalities from Melbourne Members of the Order of the British Empire 3AW presenters Australian rules football commentators Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Alumni of St Aidan's Theological College, Ballarat Alumni of Ridley College, Melbourne People from Sandringham, Victoria