Extract from ABC News
C.O.F.F.I.N. play one of 4ZZZ's beloved car park gigs, keeping Brisbane culture loud and proud. (Supplied: Visuall Photography, 4ZZZ)
4ZZZ, Brisbane's first FM stereo station, is celebrating 50 years since hitting the airwaves.
Birthed by students who shared a passion for music, politics, and technology, 4ZZZ hit the airwaves on December 8, 1975, broadcast from a hand-built transmitter in a DIY studio on University of Queensland's St Lucia campus.
DJ John Woods, a former Channel 9 presenter, offered an editorial on the importance of free speech before dropping the needle on The Who's revolutionary anthem Won't Get Fooled Again.
And for many listeners, they wouldn't, drawn to the station's radical alternative to mainstream music, current affairs, and motto of "agitate, educate, organise".
Most guessed 4ZZZ would last only a few years. Instead, it has endured a turbulent history and, even after five decades, stayed true to its founding principles.
"It's just passion, people power, and belief in what we do and how we do it that keeps Triple Zed going," says outgoing station manager Jack McDonnell.
Quentin Ellison, host of Friday Neon, is one of many 4ZZZ presenters beaming out a diverse playlist. (Supplied: Catherine Schusler, 4ZZZ)
4ZZZ didn't just play good tunes — it ushered in a cultural shift to what was once derided as a backwater town, amplifying marginalised voices rarely heard on the FM dial.
There were pioneering programs Dykes On Mykes, platforming LGBTQI+ voices in an era when homosexuality was illegal; Murri Hour, the first Indigenous broadcasting of its kind, and Locked In, a show dedicated to prisoner requests.
Never mind the countless specialist shows dialling into local scenes and genres.
Even after half a century, 4ZZZ has never lost sight of its mandate as a community radio pioneer, relying on volunteer staff and the financial support of subscribers and fundraisers.
"There are so many times throughout history where Zed should have ended, but it hasn't happened," McDonnell says.
"And it's because at every juncture there's people that believe in what we do and will fight incredibly hard, and they will get us to where we need to be."
It's a legacy of passion and perseverance that begins with a resilient group who struggled for what they believed in.
A history of resilience
1970s Brisbane was ruled by the ultra-conservative Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, whose totalitarian government suppressed dissent and public protest, earning Queensland the nickname "The Deep North".
Under his regime's heavy-handed tactics, shutting down concerts and monitoring activists via a secretive Special Branch, Queensland felt like a police state.
Amid this tyrannical backdrop, a counterculture was brewing. A group of student activists from the UQ Student Union Media Committee saw an opportunity in the Whitlam federal government's initiative to expand radio broadcasting.
They successfully lobbied to secure an FM license, just months before Whitlam's dismissal, establishing Triple Zed as a dissenting voice, one that loudly championed the city's blossoming independent music scene and challenged Bjelke-Petersen's corrupt government.
Founding 4ZZZ staff members from the station's second day of broadcasting on December 9, 1975 (Supplied: Gordon Curtis, 4ZZZ)
Presenters would frequently phone the premier at his Kingaroy residence, as documented in the podcast series From A To Triple Zed, prodding him with hard-hitting questions and exploiting his outdated approach to the press — "feeding the chooks", as he called it.
His condescending responses were then turned into comedic soundbites, establishing 4ZZZ's irreverent tone.
In the early 1980s Zed journalists broke major stories later picked up by mainstream media, such as the notorious Boggo Road Goal riots or the widespread government corruption that led to the Fitzgerald Inquiry.
Armed with a license and a strong relationship with the university, the student union had full administrative support and only paid tokenistic rent fees. Money wasn't a stretch, allowing up to 12 full-time staff to focus on running the radio.
But by the late '80s, 4ZZZ was about to face the diciest challenge to its survival.
The cost of change
As the Bjelke-Petersen era was coming to an end "people were really burnt out", says Dr Heather Anderson, a Griffith University academic, long-term Triple Zed volunteer, announcer, and author of People Powered Radio: Fifty Years of Australian Community Radio Station 4ZZZ.
"There was a mass exodus from Brisbane of pretty much all the Triple Zed-minded people. There were very few subscribers and slowly there were no wages left to pay anyone, and it turned to being completely volunteer-run run.
"Triple Zed was holding on by the skin of its teeth until the eviction happened."
Dr Heather Anderson, who literally wrote the book on 4ZZZ's history. (Supplied: Heather Anderson)
In the pre-dawn hours of December 15, 1988, the Young Nationals-led student union raided 4ZZZ.
Having already cut off the station's funding, new union president Victoria Brazil now wanted to forcibly evict 4ZZZ and shut down broadcasting. (In a 2019 interview she offered "no comment … I've moved on.")
Ultimately, they failed.
A few bright sparks realised they could plug directly into the transmitter up on Mount Coot-tha, immediately resurrecting 4ZZZ.
"That completely confounded the conservative union," recounts Anderson, "because all of a sudden Triple Zed came back on all the speakers. They're like 'What!? We've cut the power!' They had no idea how the broadcast chain worked."
The clash ended up being a blessing in disguise.
"That was the first time that Brisbane's larger alternative community was faced with the idea that Triple Zed might not exist anymore," Anderson explains.
"It went from literally nobody subscribing over months and months to hundreds of people showing up at the station in solidarity.
"The idea of Triple Zed not existing? We won't stand for that!"
The victory was short-lived, however.
After months of tense university negotiations, 4ZZZ left the campus in July 1989, relocating to Toowong.
The costs of paying commercial rent, building an office space from scratch, and remote broadcasting from a caravan at Mount Coot-tha began piling up.
In 1991 Anderson got involved, motivated by a desire to get more local punk on 4ZZZ.
"I was blissfully unaware of how dark things were for the key people that were keeping the station going at the time," she says
"It wasn't a great vibe. All the people who'd managed to get [to Toowong] were exhausted and just couldn't do it anymore."
The station was forced to reconsider the tough ethical stance on sponsorship it'd made "back when they had the full support of Queensland University and weren't paying rent".
Some of the "really wacky" financial solutions included renting out parts of the signal bandwidth to Citizens Band radios and, surprisingly, "broadcasting music that was piped into Pizza Hut[s]" through a lucrative multiplexing deal.
Thankfully, a more on-brand economic saviour presented itself — live music.
Market dazed
Market Days had been a Triple Zed staple since 1982, outdoor events aligned with annual fundraising radiothons to boost subscribers.
But 1992 marked a major revamp as Andrew Stafford writes in his book Pig City:
"Boasting a festival-sized line-up of 13 acts including Custard and the Dreamkillers, the event attracted 3,000 fans and turned a miraculous $6,000 profit, most of it through cheap beer sales."
There are mythical yarns of Market Days draining local beer suppliers, or "tens of thousands of dollars" worth of booze stashed in a car boot outside the station "because there was nowhere to put it," chuckles Anderson, who regularly worked events.
"Every six months we'd put on these big festivals, completely volunteer-run, all the bands playing for free, even the interstate bands would just be paying for their flights and accommodation."
The 90s are when Market Days "really kicked in", says Anderson. (Instagram: @zedfifty)
Unofficial finance coordinator Peter Rohweder can remember many times 4ZZZ was "literally down to their last cent" before Market Day would pull them out of the red.
This made the bottom line hazardous, especially if a Market Day risked being rained out or shut down by the increasing attention of the police.
The 1996 "Cybernana" Market Day was a victim of both.
Riot police descended upon Musgrave Park as a storm broke out, making upwards of 70 arrests.
"Once again, there was big rallying cries around that," says Anderson, who assisted in servicing a complaint to the Criminal Justice Commission that the police offensive was premeditated.
4ZZZ staff circa 1995, shortly after relocating from Toowong to new premises in Fortitude Valley. (Supplied: 4ZZZ)
Like Market Days, Beerstock was another fundraising initiative that launched in the late '90s as a mini-festival with cheap drinks that grew to a multi-venue, multi-band scale.
What began as a way of keeping the studio lights and mics on evolved through the late '90s and into the 2000s as a touchpoint for local community, and a breeding ground for Brisbane's most notable bands.
Loud and proud
From The Saints and The Go-Betweens through to Powderfinger and Violent Soho, 4ZZZ has a long, storied history of advocating for Brisbane acts.
McDonnell believes that "each era has their own idea of what the ideal 4ZZZ band is. That's what makes the place really special".
He points toward the bevy of 50th anniversary concerts tailored toward different scenes and epochs, including 2025 revivals of Beerstock, Joint Effort and Gig City.
Meanwhile, October's marquee Zed 50 was a recreation of the classic Market Day spirit, returning to the historic Roma St Parklands with a decades-spanning bill featuring Regurgitator, The Saints, Tropical F**k Storm, Screamfeeder, Full Flower Moon Band and more.
Just as important, if not more so, than the groups who've achieved wider national recognition are the innumerable bands that thrived at a grassroots level.
Flangipanis are an obvious choice for Anderson "without a doubt. But that is my punk rock musical bias".
"Three out of the four members all volunteer at 4ZZZ and have done for a really long time," she reasons. "They always play for free at all the 4ZZZ events."
Flangipanis have also topped the Hot 100 — the station's annual listener-voted countdown which made its way to triple j and became a cultural institution — more than any other artist.
Flangipanis topped 4ZZZ's Hot 100 consecutively from 2015 to 2017, and have been voted second place three times. (Bandcamp: Flangipanis)
She's also fond of 1996 Hot 100 topper Fish and Chip Bitch From Ipswich by Escape From Toy Town, and shouts out First Nation singer-songwriter Kev Carmody.
"The earlier version of Thou Shalt Not Steal was recorded at 4ZZZ during Murri Hour," Anderson says.
Compiling any list of significant 4ZZZ acts is a thankless task, says McDonnell, "because if you miss a band, you're going to hear about it!"
"For me, I started around 2016, so it's bands like Good Boy, Sweater Curse, Emily Wurramara popping up on the scene. But I'll kick myself later for forgetting someone."
4ZZZ, he says, is about championing up-and-comers as much as established artists.
"It's that balancing act of just being here for all kinds of music," McDonnell says.
Looking to the future
The 50th anniversary celebrations have spanned "44 events in 4 months," says McDonnell, featuring concerts, panel conversations, exhibitions, and even an historic bus tour. And the focus is as much on the present as it is the past.
Tabatha Saunders, host of 4ZZZ First Nations show Soul-Jah Sisters. (Supplied: Ezarco Dos Santos, 4ZZZ)
"It's nice being able to have the nostalgia while marrying it with 'Where are we now? Where are we going?' And having the opportunity for these intergenerational Zed meetings to happen," McDonnell says.
"To have those stories passed down is really important and energising."
Alternative music, journalism, representing marginalised groups — the principles on which 4ZZZ were founded — remain the same, passed down and updated to adapt to contemporary community issues, particularly diversity.
"We have a show called Tranzmission, which is run by and for the trans community, and their fight is where we're represented right now," McDonnell says.
"First Nations rights has always been a part of [4ZZZ], from the starting of Murri Hour to where we are with the government walking back on the truth-telling commission. So those tenets are still the same.
"You're instantly aware that you're a part of something bigger, a legacy. You respect where you've come from and you also push to where we're going."
The 4ZZZ Board has developed a Rights Framework to inform strategy and future planning, involving sustainability, inclusivity and acknowledging an anti-colonial stance.
"Accessibility is a big one for the future," notes Anderson.
4ZZZ's home since 1994 — the former Communist Party headquarters in Fortitude Valley — is "very old … with no elevator. And though the studios are on the ground floor … it's difficult to get in and out with a wheelchair," she says.
"It's about finding ways everybody who wants to be on air can be on air [without] being remote. That's a challenge Triple Zed is still working on."
People-powered lifestyle
4ZZZ is "doing better than it ever has before," says Anderson, with nearly 3,600 subscribers — each one surveyed about why they're committing.
"More and more the answer is about the values of the station. Lots of people say 'I love what Triple Zed stands for and I'd like to financially support that'."
There's an immense cast of colourful characters who've shaped 4ZZZ's history and identity, and many, whether they swing in and out of the broadcaster's orbit, end up forming life-long bonds.
"It was just the best place in the world," gushes McDonnell.
"All the good stuff I've been able to do in life has come from Zed, whether it be starting a record label with my friend, running festivals, we get to meet all these people and it's all just through Zed."
Anderson heartily agrees, "All of my closest and best friends were made through Triple Zed."
"Some of the original Triple Zed founders still hang out as friends. Two met and became a couple during that time and they're still together," she says.
"It's more than a radio station. Absolutely, much more."
Her book wasn't titled People Powered Radio for nothing.
"I don't think it's just a slogan," reflects McDonnell. "Triple Zed really is powered by people inside and subscribers outside that keep us going.
"At each juncture there could have been a moment where it ended but there's always people around that believe in what Triple Zed does. That's the enduring legacy of how it all works."
4ZZZ celebrates its 50th birthday on Monday December 8 with a special live broadcast hosted at VENTspace in South Brisbane on Turrbal Jagera Land.
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