Triple j biggest success stories and most controversial scandals
From staff suspensions for playing banned rap tracks to the birth of the Hottest 100, this week marks 40 years since triple j switched from AM to FM and the youth radio station’s four decades haven’t been without controversy and scandal.
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Forty years ago this week 2JJ moved over to the FM band and morphed into 2JJJ and then national youth network triple j.
Here’s some of the highs and lows from Australia’s most uniting — and divisive — radio station.
1. BANNED ON THE RUN
2JJ burst on the AM airwaves in Sydney in 1975 playing Skyhooks’ racy (for 1975) You Just Like Me ‘Cos I’m Good In Bed, which was banned from commercial radio at the time.
2JJJ christened their switch from AM to FM with Gay Guys, a b-side by Perth band Dugites, which was also blackballed from commercial radio.
By July 1981 they were officially triple j (and officially lower case).
2. THE NWA PROTEST
Clashes with ABC management are in the news but nothing new. But in May 1990 triple j held an on-air protest after being told to stop playing NWA’s incendiary F--- the Police.
Acting news editor at the time Nick Franklin played 22 seconds of the explicit rap track that contains 64 expletives – ironically as part of a documentary on swear words in music.
Franklin was suspended by ABC management, so the station played NWA’s Express Yourself on repeat for 24 hours, 350 times in a row.
3. HOTTEST 100 IS BORN
Producer Lawrie Zion launched the Hot 100 in 1989, where listeners in Sydney sent in their favourite 10 songs via snail mail.
It aired Sunday March 5 and went national the following year, changing its name to Hottest 100 to distance itself from Brisbane radio station 4ZZZ’s Hot 100.
Initially the Hottest 100 polled favourite songs of all time – Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart was No. 1 for the first two years, Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit in the third year.
In 1993 triple j made the Hottest 100 a selection from records released that year.
It’s now the biggest music poll in the world, last year registering over three million votes.
There are even websites dedicated to tracking votes posted online to predict the winner.
4. CHANGE THE DATE DRAMA
The Hottest 100 didn’t move to January 26 until 1998, a time when the countdown was linked to music festival Big Day Out.
Listeners nationally would hold parties with the Hottest 100 as the soundtrack.
However in the last decade being linked with Australia Day celebrations became problematic for the station, concerned about alienated those who felt the day was disrespectful to indigenous Australians.
In 2017 after polling listeners, triple j moved the Hottest 100 away from January 26 permanently.
5. UNEARTHED
The station launched Unearthed in 1995, as a competition to discover unsigned musical talent.
Grinspoon were the first winners, launching a career that continues to this day.
In 2001 schoolgirl Missy Higgins entered a song she’d written called All For Believing to Unearthed – it won, got major airplay and saw her sign a record deal with Silverchair’s label.
She’s now sold over one million albums in Australia alone.
Other Unearthed discoveries include Flume, Courtney Barnett, Rufus Du Sol, The Rubens, Gang of Youths, Killing Heidi, Thelma Plum, Vance Joy and Tones And I.
6. NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES
When Barry Chapman was appointed triple j GM in the late 80s he started prepping the network for national listeners.
In 1990 some of the station’s most loved Sydney-based presenters, including Tony Biggs and Tim Ritchie, were axed, leading to protests outside the studios and even a public meeting at Sydney Town Hall to protest against the ‘bland out’.
Some claim the station never recovered, however the national exposure has helped thousands of local musicians get exposure across all of the country – allowing them to extend their tours to city and regional areas.
7. LAUNCH PAD
The triple j airwaves have given many personalities a launch pad, before leaving to more lucrative commercial pastures. HG and Roy, Merrick and Rosso, Wil Anderson and Adam Spencer, Doug Mulray, Charlie Pickering, Jono and Dano, Judith Lucy, Matt Okine and Myf Warhurst all owe triple j a major debt, while the most recent acts to be lured over to commercial radio (in Adelaide) are recent breakfast hosts Matt and Alex.
8. STALKER DRAMA
Triple J host and comedian Gen Fricker was on air in September 2018 when a stalker got into the Sydney studio and managed to kiss her.
Fricker said ABC management had ignored her warning that the man was a security risk after he’d previously approached her at a comedy gig.
The incident made her realise that despite “the cool glasses and jumpers” the company was run by “straight, white, old dudes who are oblivious to women and the issues they face.”
Fricker, who left the station in 2019, took to Instagram in June this year to call out the station for letting racism brew in its workplace (she said she had damning evidence) and failing to champion people of colour.
“If you work at triple j and you’re white you’re part of the problem,” she posted.
The station said they were proud of their diversity but could do better.
9. LIKE A VERSION
The station has many staples – such as Live at the Wireless, One Night Stand and The J Files – and Like a Version has joined them.
Launched by Mel Bampton in 2004, the segment where an artist performs a cover version live in the studio has become part of the triple j brand.
It also spawned a lucrative sideline with now 15 CDs released and millions of YouTube views while international acts now include it as a pit stop when down under.
Like a Version got Guy Sebastian on triple j in 2016 when he guested on a track with indie act Paces, and regularly delivers surprises like Tame Impala covering Kylie Minogue.
10. SHAKING IT OFF
The Hottest 100 is part of pop culture but pop stars rarely score any votes – although Madonna, Miley Cyrus and more recently Beyonce have made the grade.
In 2015 Buzzfeed started a campaign to get Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off in the Hottest 100, with KFC even getting on board once it gained momentum online.
It really riled up Hottest 100 purists, who felt their countdown was being attacked.
Shake It Off wasn’t eligible as the station hadn’t actually played it, but it was the fast food connection that really shook the station – they encouraged people to vote for Swift to win a voucher.
In the end Shake It Off would have made No. 13 had it been eligible and there’s been annual poll trolls ever since.
Ironically Swift’s new album folklore is total triple j bait (from the lower case title down) and now she’s had her duet Exile with Bon Iver played on the station this year, she could finally make a legitimate appearance in next year’s poll.
And the way Swift’s fanbase mobilises, imagine the triple j snowflakes if she wins.
