Demise of the Kyle and Jackie O breakfast show

There is monumental drama in Radio Land this month with the demise of the Kyle and Jackie O breakfast show on KIIS FM. Apparently Jackie decided she couldn't handle Kyle's one-liners any more and fled the studio. The $200m team is finished. Jackie O has left the building. Can you imagine what happened after that? Massive, Massive PUBLICITY! The story is on the front pages of the papers (although I haven't checked the Fin Review), a permanent fixture in the TV headlines, and the gossip Queens are beside themselves in a social media frenzy, "OMG... OMG... Kyle and Jackie O are finished... What will we do? How will we make it through the week? OMG... OMG." And yet here I am with a group of radio old timers wondering to ourselves what would happen if the KIIS mediators moved in and made Kyle and Jackie O an offer they couldn't refuse. What would it be like if they managed to get the pair back together, say in time for a May on-air reunion? Well... Massive, massive PUBLICITY again... Front pages, the TV news and of course social media would return to its normal level of hysteria. And, we could all sigh in relief as all would be well again . Just sayin'. Oh and there is actually a bit of drama ON AIR as well, with SMOOTH FM taking over as Sydney's number one station overall, hitting its best ever number, 13.5 just ahead of the old news warhorse, 2GB at 11.2 (survey 1/2026). GB's Ben Fordham is super strong in Brekky, well ahead of Kyle and Jackie O on KIIS. Survey two of course is all about KIIS minus K and J. In the Southern capital, 3AW is up the top in both breakfast and overalls.

I hate this news from the world of music but we've lost a maestro from the 50's and 60's, a Prince from that classical era of rock ‘n roll – the beloved pianist-composer-singer Neal Sedaka – dead at the age of 86. You were one of the superstars mate... Up there at the peak with top 40 giants like Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and Carole King. Talk about writing the music of the times... "Oh Carole", "Calender Girl", "Happy Birthday Sweet 16", "Breaking Up is Hard to do" (number 1), "Stupid Cupid" and "Where the Boys are" (for Connie Francis), "Love will Keep us together"(number 1 Captain and Tennille), "Laughter in the Rain "(number 1)... It was my great privilege to see Neal Sedaka live in Melbourne back in the 70's. Let me tell you, watching this legend sing "Breaking Up", sitting at his piano right there in front of me, is one of the best memories of my life.

Ok, I sort of promised not to take politics seriously – continuing a long Australian tradition – but really as we sit here watching Coalition MP's claw each other to death can you honestly remain silent? This is like watching an early episode of Seinfeld. Now the Libs have dumped Sussan Ley as leader,replacing her with Angus Taylor. We kept screaming out to Sussan, month after month, "For heaven's sake do something... Please!" Now I'm looking at Angus and thinking that he's not exactly the most charismatic figure we've seen in politics. Is he really the man who can lead the Coalition back from the dead? It's always the same old story in politics. Bring in the right policies for the nation and promote them with simple and direct messaging. Kick off with the cost of living. Get it down. And tell the country that you will get the natural gas flowing back into our power stations and cut energy costs IN HALF in the first eighteen months in charge. See if that gets any traction out there. The whole Coalition thing has now been further confused by the election of Matt Canavan as Nationals leader. Matt is a very direct "see ball, hit ball" politician who argues that, "Australia grows what it needs, mines what it needs and builds what it needs, with no requirement to import these goods." He also believes, "We can make enough of our own babies here in AUSTRALIA, with no need for mass immigration." Simple huh? The idea of the political landscape for the next four or five years featuring Canavan, Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce is absolutely exquisite.

Time to salute some of the early colonists as we record the first marriages celebrated at Sydney Cove on February 10, 1788. Five couples were declared man and wife that day... William Parr/Mary McCormack, Simon Burn/Frances Anderson, Henry Kable/Susannah Holmes, William Haynes/Hannah Green and William Bryant/Mary Brand.

I was sitting gazing out into the distance recently when this memory bobbed up. "Cocky's Joy" it said, completely out of the blue. We're talking here about "Golden Syrup", a variation of treacle which dates back to the 1860's. I remember lapping it up on my sandwiches in the 40's and 50's and you can still buy it today, down at your local supermarket. As long as I can remember it was always "Cocky's Joy", a nickname dating back to the Aussie outback of the 1800's when it was virtually a staple diet. The famers always had their supplies on hand for their toast , dampers and puddings. The name came from the hard-pressed farmers who, just like the cockatoos, were desperate to scratch a living out of the harsh landscape. This was often the only thing they had to look forward to... Their favourite "Cocky's Joy".





Just updating Darleen's latest "Apple Report" as we continue to measure our cost of living. You'll remember last time we were costing an apple at $1. That is for ONE APPLE. Sadly Darleen is now recording the cost of an apple up to $1.10. Incidentally, for those taking notes the actual realistic cost of an apple from the farm to you local shopping centre is just 20c. Scary huh?

"If a kid like me can come to this country at twelve with no English and become Mayor of this great city, there's no limit to what you can achieve".
(Bilal El-Hayek, Mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown. Australia Day 2026)

UP THERE CAZALY

"Up there Cazaly, in there and fight.
Out there and at 'em, show 'em your might.
Up there Cazaly, don't let 'em in.
Fly like and angel, you're in there to win."

Written by Mike Brady in 1979, it immediately became an anthem for the AFL. Roy Cazaly was one of the legends of Aussie Rules through the 1910's, 20's and 30's, famous for his high leaping marks over the pack to take a "screamer/speccy". The crowds used to yell out, "Up there Cazaly," and this went on to become the rallying call for our soldiers in WW2.