Curtin Radio

03/10/2026

SATURDAY NIGHT FLASHBACK PARTY

Your Saturday Night Flashback Party with Lawrence Noakes is heading your way once again with all your favourite music from the 70s and 80s from 9pm – midnight. Get ready to unwind, let your hair down, get into party mode to dance the night away. Don’t miss it!!

Richard is in the Producer’s chair this evening and you can give him a call on (08) 9484 1927 or, alternatively, email [email protected] with any dedications or comments.

To livestream go to: http://www.curtinfm.com.au/livestream

03/10/2026

50s & 60s FLASHBACK PARTY

Kevin Clune takes listeners back to the golden age of popular music. Relive the excitement of early rock ’n’ roll, the British Invasion and the unforgettable sounds of the 1960s and beyond. It’s a celebration of the music, memories and moments that shaped a generation.

Janis is in the Producer’s chair this evening and you can give her a call on (08) 9484 1927 or, alternatively, email [email protected] with any dedications or comments.

To livestream go to: http://www.curtinfm.com.au/livestream

02/10/2026

Born on 3rd October 1941 and celebrating his 85th Birthday, Chubby Checker is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist". In September 2008 "The Twist" topped Billboard's list of the most popular singles to have appeared in the Hot 100 since its debut in 1958, an honour it maintained for an August 2013 update of the list. He also popularized the Limbo Rock and its trademark limbo dance, as well as various dance styles such as the fly.

Chubby Checker was born Ernest Evans in Spring Gully, South Carolina. He was raised in the projects of South Philadelphia, where he lived with his parents, Raymond and Eartle Evans and two brothers. By age eight Evans formed a street-corner harmony group, and by the time he entered high school, took piano lessons at Settlement Music School. He would entertain his classmates by performing vocal impressions of popular entertainers of the day, such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Fats Domino. One of his classmates and friends at South Philadelphia High School was Fabiano Forte, who would become a popular performer of the late 1950s and early 1960s as Fabian Forte.

After school Evans would entertain customers at his various jobs, including “Fresh Farm Poultry” in the Italian Market on Ninth Street and at the “Produce Market”, with songs and jokes. It was his boss at the Produce Market, Tony A., who gave Evans the nickname "Chubby". The store owner of “Fresh Farm Poultry”, Henry C**t, was very impressed by Ernest's performances for the customers. He, along with his colleague and friend Kal Mann, who worked as a songwriter for Cameo-Parkway Records, arranged for young Chubby to do a private recording for American Bandstand host Dick Clark. It was at this recording session that Evans got his stage name from Clark's wife, who asked Evans what his name was. "Well", he replied, "my friends call me 'Chubby'". As he had just completed a Fats Domino impression, she smiled and said, "As in Checker?" That little play on words ('chubby' meaning 'fat', and 'checkers', like 'dominoes', being a game) got an instant laugh and stuck, and from then on, Evans would use the name Chubby Checker.

Checker is the only recording artist to place five albums in the Top 12 all at once. The performer has often claimed to have personally changed the way we dance to the beat of music. He told Billboard, "Any place on the planet, when someone has a song that has a beat, they're on the floor dancing apart to the beat and before Chubby Checker, it wasn't here." Clay Cole agreed: "Chubby Checker has never been properly acknowledged for one major contribution to pop culture. Chubby and the Twist got adults out and onto the dance floor for the first time. Before the Twist dance phenomenon, grownups did not dance to teenage music."

In 2008, Chubby Checker's "The Twist" was named the biggest chart hit of all time by Billboard magazine. Billboard looked at all singles that made the charts between 1958 and 2008. He was also honoured by Settlement Music School as part of the school's centennial celebration and named to the Settlement 100, a list of notable people connected to the school.

Checker received the prestigious Sandy Hosey Lifetime Achievement Award on 9th November, 2013 from the Artists Music Guild. He was the host of the 2013 AMG Heritage Awards and was given the honour during the television broadcast. The award was presented to him by longtime friend and labelmate Dee Dee Sharp.

02/10/2026

02/10/2026

ERNIE MANNING’S RACING AND PACING TIPS

On the Afternoon Programme at 12.40pm today, Ernie Manning from The West Australian will share all his racing and pacing news and his tips for this weekend 2nd & 3rd October:

Gloucester Park on Friday night:
Race 2 No.3 Iseeubaby
Race 4 No .1 Delightful Peg
Race 10 No.1 Seagrass

Kalgoorlie Boulder Racing Club on Saturday afternoon:
Race 5 No .5 Marcos
Race 7 No .5 Immortal Bliss
Race 8 No .2 Opportunistic
Value Bet: Race 9 No.5 Just Yes – quoted at $3.40

02/10/2026

ALL THE LATEST COMMUNICATION NEWS…..

Join Jenny Seaton on the Afternoon Programme today at 1.20pm today for our regular talk with Boyd Brown, Regional General Manager for Telstra WA.

Boyd has over five years of experience in the telecommunications industry and has seen many developments in the industry including the expansion of Telstra’s mobile networks across Regional WA. Firstly with the introduction of the Next G network, the expansion currently via the Regional Mobile Communications Project, and also more recently with the expansion of the 4G network. Boyd is currently Area General Manager for Telstra in WA South & Central and works closely with Telstra’s team to deliver world class communications to Regional WA.

You are welcome to call with any telecommunication issues you may be experiencing on (08) 9484 1927 or, alternatively, email [email protected].

02/10/2026

On the Afternoon Programme at 12.20pm today, Jenny Seaton will be speaking to the Mayor of Mandurah, Amber Kearns about the Mandurah Arts Festival which runs until 11th October.

The Mandurah Arts Festival is a month-long programme of fun, creativity and artistic excellence. Throughout the festival Mandurah showcases some of WA’s finest talents with an eclectic and exciting program of events that include exhibitions, performances, workshops and so much more. Immerse yourself in arts and culture this Spring! Be the first to hear about event updates and what you absolutely must see at the Mandurah Arts Festival.

For more information go to: https://www.mandurah.wa.gov.au/events-arts-heritage/major-events-and-festivals/mandurah-arts-festival

01/10/2026

Born on 2nd October 1945 and celebrating his 81st Birthday, Don McLean is an American singer-songwriter best known for "American Pie", an RIAA "Song of the Century". The song is about the changes in American society from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, through metaphorical references to the music industry during those years. The 1971 album of the same name also includes "Vincent", about the painter Van Gogh.

Though some of his early musical influences included Frank Sinatra and Buddy Holly, as a teenager, McLean became interested in folk music, particularly the Weavers' 1955 recording “At Carnegie Hall”. Childhood asthma meant that McLean missed long periods of school, particularly music lessons, and although he slipped back in his studies, his love of music was allowed to flourish. By age 16 he had bought his first guitar and began making contacts in the music business. He became friends with folk singers Erik Darling and Fred Hellerman, both members of the Weavers. Hellerman said, "He called me one day and said, 'I'd like to come and visit you', and that's what he did! We became good friends - he has the most remarkable music memory of anyone I've ever known."

When McLean was 15, his father died. Fulfilling his father's request, McLean graduated from Iona Preparatory School in 1963, and briefly attended Villanova University, dropping out after four months. After leaving Villanova, McLean became associated with famed folk music agent Harold Leventhal for several months before teaming up with personal manager Herb Gart for 18 years. For the next six years he performed at venues and events including The Bitter End and Gaslight Cafe in New York, the Newport Folk Festival, the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C., and the Troubadour in Los Angeles. He attended night school at Iona College and received a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1968.

He turned down a scholarship to Columbia University Graduate School in favour of pursuing a career as a singer/songwriter. He performed at such venues as Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs, New York and The Main Point in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Later that year, with the help of a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, McLean began reaching a wider audience, with visits to towns up and down the Hudson River. He learned the art of performing from his friend and mentor Pete Seeger. McLean accompanied Seeger on his Clearwater boat trip up the Hudson River in 1969 to raise awareness about environmental pollution in the river. During this time McLean wrote songs that would appear on his first album, “Tapestry”.
McLean recorded “Tapestry” in 1969 in Berkeley, California, during the student riots. After being rejected 72 times by labels, the album was released by Mediarts, a label that had not existed when he first started to look for a label. It attracted good reviews but little notice outside the folk community, though on the Easy Listening chart "Castles in the Air" was a success, and in 1973 "And I Love You So" became a No.1 Adult Contemporary hit for Perry Como.

McLean's major break came when Mediarts was taken over by United Artists Records, thus securing the promotion of a major label for his second album, “American Pie”. The album spawned two No.1 hits in the title song and "Vincent". “American Pie”'s success made McLean an international star and piqued interest in his first album, which charted more than two years after its initial release.