SAFM’s big gun stunt as ratings season kicks off

SAFM’s Bec and Soda didn’t hold back on their on-air debut. We review the first morning of Adelaide’s new brekky radio teams.

Making their on-air debut as a breakfast radio duo, 107.1 SAFM’s Rebecca “Bec” Morse and Mark “Soda” Soderstrom are bringing out the big guns.

Literally, on day one, Monday, January 9, in the form of a tattoo gun for what was to be a most memorable radio stunt for swimming superstar Kyle Chalmers.

Also known as The Big Tuna, the Port Lincoln-born Rio Olympics 100m freestyle gold medallist was the guest of honour on SAFM’s new Bec & Soda show.

Rebecca Morse, Kyle Chalmers, Mark Soderstrom and tattooist Laz Gein Picture: Supplied by 107.1 SAFM

And how was their “beast of the pool” repaid for signing on? With an addition to some existing ink in his extension collection of tattoos.

“Most of them are very, very meaningful to me, so … I hope today’s is no different,” Chalmers said, as Morse and Soderstrom got to work.

Under supervision, the pair tattooed the letters “SA” to a map of Australia on Chalmer’s left arm.

The new Bec & Soda show is part of the long-running saga of the who’s who in Adelaide breakfast radio. It has been given a huge shake-up for 2023, with no fewer than four teams introduced for 2023. Let’s take a look at, or rather, have a listen to the new crews.

The Advertiser channel-surfed, listening to stations in 15-minute blocks, to see how the new line-ups fared.

NOVA 919

Who: Ben Harvey, Liam Stapleton and Belle Jackson

What: Ben, Liam & Belle

Show time: 6am - 7am

When we listened: 6.15am – 6.30am

Belle Jackson is no ring-in. She is Ben & Liam’s long-time producer and it shows, or rather, you can hear it. Talking about the Harry tell-all and what not to wear to a fancy dress do, the three had an obvious rapport. Big names Harvey and Stapleton are not precious – they are generous when it comes to giving Jackson her share of airtime.

Nova's new breakfast team Ben, Liam & Belle

While the likeable lads were already on the money, Jackson adds value. She has rich radio voice and the show – which runs for one hour only – would be poorer without her. It’s a prerecord – because the trio are Nova’s new brekky crew in Melbourne – but you can hardly tell. Apart from the listeners interacting with them being from Shepparton, Victoria and the Melbourne suburb of Coburg, that is.

The Verdict: Three’s not a crowd, but we are really going to need to hear from some SA listeners in future. Just saying.

MIX 102.3

Who: Ali Clarke, Eddie Bannon, Shane Lowe and Max Burford

What: The Ali Clarke Breakfast Show

Show time: 6am - 9am

When we listened: 6am to 6.15am, 6.45am – 7am and 7.45am – 8am

Where were Ali & Co.? The first 15 minutes of the show were taken up with news, U2’s Beautiful Day, I’m Good (Blue) by Bebe Rexha and David Guetta and Kenny Loggins’ 1984 hit Footloose. Meanwhile, Ali, Eddie, Shane and newbie Max were nowhere to be heard.

Ali Clarke and Eddie Bannon. Picture: Simon Vaughan

Max Burford Picture: Russell Millard

When we tuned in again at 6.45am Mix wasn’t kidding when it said it was a “more music” station. There was still no Ali & Co., with Pat Benatar’s We Belong, and Ed Sheeran’s Overpass Graffiti, before Lowe and behold (you’ll see what we did here in a sec) there was a voice. Shane Lowe introduced himself, saying it was International Hot Air Balloon Day.

So, was he full of hot air? Not at all. Lowe is up there with the best of them when it comes to being a one-man show – doing station ID calls and name-checking himself, plus talking about the tracks and artists played with a bit of humour – yes, late 1990s-early noughties cheesy pop group S Club 7 should really be S Club 4 because that’s how many of them are left – thrown into the Mix.

The Verdict: It’s not easy to whip up that all-important brekky radio show ingredient that is banter when there is just one of you, but Lowe is upbeat and likeable. BTW, it turns out The Ali Clarke Breakfast Show will be back for 2023 on Wednesday, January 11. Yes, that was mentioned on-air, but Mix was giving mixed messages because the audience was also told they were listening to The Ali Clarke Breakfast Show in what had to be prerecorded promos.

NOVA 919

Who: Jodie Oddy and Andrew Hayes

What: Jodie & Hayesy

Show time: 7am - 9am

When we listened: 7.30am to 7.45am, 8.15am-8.30am and 8.45am-9am

In the lead-up to her return to weekday brekky radio, Jodie Oddy was talking up her soon-to-be new co-host Andrew Hayes. She told The Advertiser they were “genuine friends”.

Jodie Oddy and Andrew Hayes. Picture: Emma Brasier

And she wasn’t exaggerating. You can hear the love in the room between Oddy, Hayes and the rest of their colleagues. Addressing Hayes as “dear friend”, Oddy described the whole gang – which includes newsreader Abbey Smith – as a “beautiful team”.

Known – and loved – for being nice, Oddy, it was revealed by Hayes, had sent a message to a rival brekky team to wish them well for day one.

While it wasn’t said, it was pretty obvious that team was SAFM’s Rebecca Morse and Mark Soderstrom when she quipped, “I got one message back, the old co-host didn’t seem to want to wish me well”. Ouch! Hayes’ “Hayesy on the Day-sy” – an on-this-day style segment – was charmingly quirky, and he knows how to take a joke when ribbed by Oddy and special guest Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald.

Overall, the show had a feel-good vibe and the interaction with a listener, who won Sam Smith tickets, was truly heartwarming.

The music, which included Smith’s latest hit Unholy and Snap by Rosa Linn, was also great.

The Verdict: Jodie & Hayesy is like a big hug. They make one another and their listeners feel so good, but it would be great to have a little less gushing and more gut-busting laughs.

SAFM

Who: Rebecca ‘Bec’ Morse and Mark “Soda” Soderstrom

What: Bec & Soda

Show time: 6am - 9am

When we listened: 6.30am – 6.45am, 7am-7.15am, 8am-8.15am and 8.30am-8.45am

There have been rumours doing the rounds that Rebecca Morse and Mark Soderstrom weren’t exactly each other’s biggest fans once upon a time, but the same could never be said of the on-air Bec and Soda. If there’s any tension behind the scenes, you would never know. That said, their on-air play fighting, or banter as it is known in the biz, was best on ground for the first day of brekky radio in 2023.

SAFM breakfast hosts Mark Soderstrom and Rebecca Morse Picture: Supplied

They aren’t taking themselves or each other too seriously and that makes for great radio.

Soda – making a comeback to brekky radio after a year – has his own segment “Soda Stream”, which flowed beautifully thanks to a hilarious tale about a man, fiancee, mum and blow-up doll.

He also couldn’t resist having a dig at his former station Mix 102.3. After it was revealed his favourite movie is The Wizard of Oz, Soda had fun with the “There’s no place like home” line saying SAFM feels like home “because the other place never used to”.

They also signed on a great guest for day one with their “beast in the pool” Kyle Chalmers – chatting to him about his ink – and played a good mix of music including Nickleback, Pink, Dua Lipa.

The Verdict: Bec and Soda know how to laugh at each other and themselves. They are having fun and are also funny. That said, sour grapes are not to everyone’s taste, so it might be a good idea to keep references to Mix out of the mix.