Wow. One of the last intelligent talkers in radio who wasn’t just a right wing mouthpiece. Condolences to his family, and to Dale and Norman the Nark as well.
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Wow, such sad news. What a legend of Australian radio (and the media in general).
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Article on this. I was able to access it as it was complimentary so here’s a brief summary for those who get a subscribers only prompt.
Known as the “Golden Tonsils”, Laws was one of Australia’s most recognisable voices in talkback radio. He started his career at Bendigo’s 3BO in 1953.
Laws capped off a 13-year stint at radio network 2SM in 2024, ending a career spanning 71 years.
He became widely known during his several stints at Sydney station 2UE, and for his rivalry with Alan Jones.
After stepping away from the industry for four years, Laws returned to radio in 2011 with The John Laws Morning Show on 2SM.
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Very sad news- he was a true legend and icon of Australian radio.
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Definitely someone who despite his political views, was quite enjoyable to listen to otherwise and a stellar career to boot.
Rest in Peace.
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Really sad to hear. It’s good he was doing what he loved well into his 80’s. Personally I listened as a kid in the 1980’s through until his last broadcast on 2SM. RIP John.
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Two legends lost in the last 2 days
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Hearing that little John Laws theme unlocked a memory of having the radio on when I was around 5 years old on the way to Daycare when 2ST used to air his show for an hour a day from 9-10am.
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I wonder how Dale is going these days?
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Matt Roberts earlier said he still calls in periodically, mainly to whoever’s on Saturday Afternoon.
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He had a 20 minute or so interview on his show with Alan Jones in 2021 after Jones left 2GB, where they just yarned about radio and so on. Not sure if anyone has a link to it? Could be interesting.
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Radio Today has an eight minute extract of it https://radiotoday.com.au/alan-jones-john-laws-interview/ but I haven’t found the full version yet. There’s probably an archive of the full show podcast from that day floating around somewhere.
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He calls semi regularly. Loves his church choir.
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Vale John Laws. That is big news.
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Another sad loss for the NFL family this week: former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue passed away overnight
As a Saints fan, he will be best remembered as the man who was instrumental in keeping the team in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
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Lawsie was a unique talent in a particular time and place, no doubt never to be repeated. I wish all the old shows were recorded, I would listen again.
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@Frankster has been putting up some old John Laws material and no doubt more will follow.
Vale to the golden tonsils. One must also remember his Top 40 days as well, going back to the 50s and 60s.
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My memory of going to Darwin on my own for a holiday (in the early 2000s), one of the only times I did and listening to John Laws on MIX 104.9. It was a novelty, John being on FM. I really enjoyed the show as being alone I could listen to the radio more. Look forward to hearing more old clips. In some ways I wish I could go back in time and tune to the start of top 40 radio. It would have been a real exciting time. Radio was going through a revolution back then with TV coming in. John Laws was part of that transformation and launched radio into a new successful era.
Graham Richardson was also on 2GB as well! Remember those days before Alan came to 2GB. What I like about Graham he wasn’t afraid to confront/debate with the conservatives side of politics despite being one of the most labor person going around. I have a vague memory 2SM doing talk back in the early 2000s, Andrew Moore did the evening show, and I think Graham moved to 2SM then. It wasn’t long and I can’t remember if this was under the BOG ownership.
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The print journos miss the finer details. Stepping away wasn’t of his choice for four years. Was a non compete.
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