Genius of broadcasting ‘listened to by half the available audience’

RON E. SPARKS: 1951-2024

Not that one would wish to, but finding anybody in Sydney radio with a bad word to say about Ron E. Sparks would be a fruitless exercise. Their descriptions are remarkably uniform: Polite, charming, gentlemanly, reliable, dedicated, generous, a consummate professional and honestly funny. They fall even from the most unlikely mouths, like those of celebrated “bad boy” Kyle Sandilands. “Anyone who’s anything in radio reveres Ron E. Sparks – he has the greatest voice and knows everything about every single band and artist that’s ever released music.”

He was able to command that level of respect and admiration over a career of more than 50 years which saw him broadcast on 2SM, 2UW, 2MMM, 2DAY, Nova, The Edge and 2WS-FM. There was even a stint in Los Angeles on the famed 93/KHJ, where he played AC/DC for the first time on American radio, plus a programming role at 3XY in Melbourne.

During a stint at 2Day FM – Sparks broadcasting in 1996.Credit: Fairfax

Raised in Brisbane, he gravitated to radio in his teens. In a recent interview he spoke about how he was “one of those young teens pressing their nose up against the studio glass at most Brisbane stations in the late ’60s. I got a break when 4BC advertised for “a young swinger” (the exact words) to panel for their many horse racing broadcasts with the opportunity of training to be a DJ later on”.

Ron E. Sparks in 1972.Credit: Fairfax

Sparks’ quiet determination soon had him on the station in his own shift, though even then he failed to be impressed by “most of the long-serving announcers who seemed to be pretty jaded by the radio business. I made a promise to myself never to be like that, and always reminded myself how radio excited me and how much I wanted to work in the business. It’s a good reminder for all of us. To this day, when a new kid appears at the station, I’m always happy to help and I try to give them some early confidence.”

But Sydney was the mecca and he was just in his 20s when he landed a midnight to dawn slot on the fast-rising 2SM. “I thought getting any shift and actually living in Sydney would be the coolest thing that could ever happen to me,” he would recall. He was very soon “king of the kids” on the powerful afternoon shift.

Apart from being an avid listener to him on 2SM in the early years of the ’70s I first encountered him mid-decade when I was the creator and manager of the band Ol’ 55.

He was so popular then that it was said that he was listened to by half of the available audience – something that has never been repeated. Back then 2SM was the centre of the universe. If they played your record, the Harbour City was yours for the taking – particularly if Ron E. Sparks was on your side.

Ron E. Sparks with Muhammad Ali.

The Sparx studio played host to such visitors as Muhammad Ali and, after my perseverance, Frankie J. Holden as well as a range of the stars of Countdown invited to the studio. Later he made good-humoured mileage about having David Bowie hang up on him.

No one is entirely sure where the “Ron” came from, but it is known that he was born Gregory James Sparks – the name that remained on his driver’s licence.

The E. in his name did not stand for anything. It was originally added by 2SM’s program director Rod Muir, who thought that Ronnie Sparx sounded too immature, and wanted Sparks to transition gradually to using just Ron. He suggested Sparks use the initial E, with the aim of eventually phasing it out altogether. “But Ron Sparks sounded a bit too old, so I never quite got round to it,” he says.

This all-powerful 2SM era did not really last beyond the end of the 70s and Sparks moved over to 2UW as both announcer and programmer, where he introduced what was then a revolutionary format … “the new 2UW … better music … less commercials”. Ian Grace, who now runs Virgin Radio for the world, has said: “To this very day, highlighting commercials …or even the lack thereof … is considered a ‘no-go zone’. However against the prevailing view of the time, 2UW became Sydney’s number #1 contemporary music station for three or four years.”

Ron E. Sparks as 2UW Program Manager in 1979.

But then came FM, with which Grace was closely involved. Doug Mulray’s reign at breakfast had given his Triple M station incredible clout. So when driving around one day, hearing the dulcet tones of his old 2SM comrade Ron E. Sparx, doing a fill-in spot on his competitors 2DAY, he gave him a call and heard that he did not have a full-time radio job – he was only “filling in”.

“Stunned by this news, I hired Ron E. for Triple M Sydney immediately … he went back to his beloved afternoon drive time slot and dominated the Sydney radio landscape again … now for the third time … over a period of approximately six or seven years. I was well aware of his incredible radio brain, as a student of US broadcasting and of developing trends,” Grace said.

From the very early ’70s to 2017, Sparks dominated the Sydney radio airwaves for more than 45 years, sounding just as comfortable on AM pop as FM rock. Truly we have lost one of Australia’s greatest ever radio presenters.

Before this, Sparks made one of his very few departures from radio. He ran into some burger chain executives and opted to attend the “McDonald’s university” to train as a franchisee. He went so far as being offered a choice of outlets, on Bondi Beach and on Oxford Street, but at the last moment concluded that fast food was not the right move for him, and rang Cherie Romaro at 2DAY to see if any casual shifts were available, if he were to return to radio.

They found a space for him (the only one, as it happened) just as Ian Grace was listening. He justified his sudden abandonment of what appeared to be a lucrative pursuit with the words: “I dunno, once you’re driving around the city listening to other people on the radio, something happens to you! You gotta get back onto a transmitter!”

After Triple M, he made his way back to the station that had rescued him from the deep fryer, though his stay at 2DAY ended rather unceremoniously. He took serious objection to overflowing butts, some floating in cups, left by those who preceded him at night and, when complaints to management yielded no positive results, and tired of “working in a pigsty”, he grabbed a permanent marker and inscribed “Hey No Smoking” on any available surface, including computer screens, occasioning considerable damage.

The station allowed him to complete his shift, then sacked him when he came off air, after a 7am run. He was out of work for a week before new kid on the block Nova FM grabbed him for the 2001 summer break.

Sparks celebrating a birthday at 2UW in 1980.

Before then, Sparks had rarely granted an interview request, fearing that he would be seen only as a veteran radio star, but with the press attention to this incident, he felt he had to speak out, if only to defend himself.

“It has been an advantage that I sound contemporary. 2DAY liked the fact that older listeners knew me from the early days and could identify with me, but the younger listeners weren’t put off by an older-sounding guy. I think one reason I’ve lasted so long is I genuinely enjoy current music and contemporary pop culture. I’ve always liked to live in the here and now,” he said.

The last throw of the dice turned out to be the most productive and long-lasting of all. With Charlie Fox, with whom he worked at Triple M, at the helm as content manager, Sparks moved over to 2WSFM (with side shifts at youth-leaning The Edge) where he stayed for almost 16 years.

Fox, who readily refers to Sparks as “a genius at broadcasting”, likes to point out that “he didn’t like radio awards and never applied – so he worked 55 years in the industry without recognition, though he no doubt had the most #1 surveys of any music jock over that time”.

After WS, Sparks pursued some of his private passions. He’d always done voice-over work for brands such as Coca-Cola, game shows Wheel of Fortune and Hot Streak and even speedways – “TV voice-overs were the most fun way to make a dollar, ever!” – but now he was able to concentrate on his own online station.

Sparks at Australian Radio Network.

Graham Mott, general manager of Fairfax Radio, now Nine Radio, says: “A lot of people label Ron E. as a legend, and he surely is. But I would add that he was a great mentor whose passion for radio was so infectious that those around him can truly be thankful that Ron E. gave them a magnificent education and experience in radio. I can’t thank him enough.”

2GB’s Ben Fordham put it more succinctly in a statement on X: “A great man died today.”

Presenter Jackie O. (who would be one of those discarding her cigarette stubs) attributed her start in radio to the endorsement he provided. Tributes flowed plentifully after cancer claimed Sparks at 72, closely following the death of fellow radio icons Graham Webb and Bob Rogers.

Sparks, a resident of Cammeray, leaves behind wife Nell and children Dan and Michael.

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