'Mouth’ returning to South

Press, 29 June 1982, Page 1

'Mouth’ returning to South

By

FELICITY PRICE

Murray Inglis, the popular disc jockey who earned himself the nickname “Mouth of the South” at Radio Avon five years ago, will return to Christchurch to work for Radio New Zealand. “Muzza," as he was known, to his many fans, will begin on Radio 3ZM on Monday morning as the station's regular breakfast announcer.

The move represents a coup for Slate radio, which managed to persuade Mr Inglis to move over to Radio New Zealand for the first time since he' began his career in radio announcing many years ago. He took the 3ZM job over several offers from other stations, after resigning from Wellington's Radio Windy two weeks ago.

“He didn't take a lot of persdading," said the 3ZM station manager, Mr John McElhinney, yesterday.

"He was keen, to come back to Christchurch. He. says he loves the place.”.. Mr Inglis left Christchurch 41'2 years ago amid controversy. He was, at the lime, cnristchurch's most" popular

disc jockey, attracting just over 50 per cent of the listening audience in Radio Avon's halcyon days. Since then, the station’s ratings have fallen slowly but surely to just over 20 per cent at the last survey, in May. Eight months before his dismissal, Mr Inglis gained wide publicity when he barricaded himself in Radio Avon's studios and broadcast non-stop for a week-end in an alleged protest against a disciplinary cut of one hour in his morning programme. A memorandum was said to have been sent to him from the station’s programmedirector. Mr Graeme Parsonage, which said that some of Mr Inglis’ humour left a lot to be desired and that he had ignored certain directives. Although it was denied at the time by Radio Avon, it was generally thought that Mr Inglis’ studio sit-in was a publicity stunt and a successful hoax, turning the spotlight on to Radio Avon at a time when Radio New Zealand was going to air with revamped programmes and formats for 3ZB and 3ZM.

• Ironically, it was 3ZM. for whom Mr Inglis will work, that was supposed to be the focus of Radio New Zealand’s publicity at the time of Mr Inglis’s diversionary action. Under the name Radio Nova (which everyone (mew was Avon spelt backwards). 3ZM was switching to "beautiful music’’ in an effort to pull in new listeners and raise its ratings from a pathetic 3 per cent.

Since the demise of “beautiful music" some years ago, 3ZM has gradually pushed up its ratings to 19 per cent al the last survey — only 3 per cent behind Avon. .'

When Mr Inglis begins his breakfast show on Monday. Ken Ellis will remain on the programme as newsreader. The present breakfast announcer, Mark Morgan, will move to the .9 a.m. to noon slot on 3ZM, and James Daniels will move into the afternoon slot. Mr McElhinney said he did not think that “Muzza's" distinctive accent would be a problem on Radio New Zealand. “Admittedly, it has been a long time since he has worked for a State radio station." said Mr McElhinney. "But he did start off his career at IZH in Hamilton, a Radio New Zealand station. They didn’t seem to mind him then. "After all, the main thing is whether he can communi-

cate, and he has certainly proved that he can." Mr Inglis, in an interviewin "The Press" in 1978. said that he had once been told by Radio New Zealand that he would never make' it as an announcer.

After a brief career in State radio in New Zealand. Mr Inglis went to work for private radio in Australia and Auckland before joining Radio Avon when it first went on the air in 1974. When he left in 1978, he followed his programme director. Mr. Graeme Parsonage, to Radio Hauraki, in Auckland. After a stint there, he moved on to private radio in Sydney, before returning to Radio Windy. In 1976, Mr Inglis was named "South Pacific Radio Personality of the Year." •