Triple J staff celebrated 50 years of Triple J on Sunday 19th January. Even the ABC itself did the same thing later that day.



Hear from Rusty Nails, Dr Karl, Sarah Macdonald, Craig Donarski, Andy Marinos, Dame Lush, Hannah Thompson and other ex ABC staff and current Triple J listeners.



The expectant crowd at ABC Ultimo await a tight set of 15 minutes of stand up comedy from the Prime Minister.


Here’s what happened at the Triple J 40th staff party…









Maynard Triple J Breakfast show 1989



Here’s a transcript of what transpired this time, at the 50th….Rusty Nails: An audio dildo!Maynard: At Triple J’s 50th birthday, and who’s the first guy I run into … drinking a cup of coffee! Is there anything in that Rusty Nails?Rusty: Just coffee this morning, Maynard, I’ve got some serious professional work to do.M: What year of Triple J are you covering?Rusty: I’m covering the 79 to 85-ish era, which is sort of like the Uncle Doug Mulray, Jono and Dano, Off The Record, and the J Team of course, and the Oils on the Water.M: How come commercial radio never snapped you up from your breakfast show at Triple J?Rusty: I was probably too rebellious. I did actually, funnily enough, talk to Trevor Smith at one point. He said, “Nothing wrong with your talent, but we don’t like your voice, it’s not Aussie enough.”M: Everyone knows that when an English guy speaks there’s authority. Or he’s a geezer, it’s either one or the other.Rusty: Oh, I’m a geezer.M: What do you reckon has been the greatest moment of Triple J over the last 50 years?Rusty: At this fiftieth, I’m proud to announce that I’ve almost finished writing, no, not finished, but I’ve almost finished writing my book for my daughter, and it’s called “Dear Emily, Extraordinary Moments in an Ordinary Life”, and it’ll be on the bookshelves by Christmas.M: I’ll look forward to that. Why do you think there’s never been a book about Triple J? Is it too complicated?Rusty: Well, there was one …M: Toby Cresswell was supposed to write one.Rusty: But there was that Twenty years of Double J and Triple J. They never reprinted it.M: All David Wales’ artwork through it, too.Rusty: It had the wonderful stories like Russell Gay answering the phone to the General at Victoria Barracks.M: I tell you what, Rusty, because I’ve got a lot of reel to reel tape, which I recorded stuff on, at the end of it, there was stuff that I hadn’t recorded over. And I’ve heard a lot of your unedited interviews, one with the Homecoming Queen’s got a Gun, Julie. I’ve got your interview with Julie Brown!Rusty: Wow! Unfortunately, I lost a mass of tapes moving continent to continent and stuff, but I think I might even have a Yahoo Serious interview somewhere.M: What’s the song for you that epitomises your time at Triple J?Rusty: Oh, shit. I suppose it’s gotta be when we were doing the Breakfast Program and Midnight Oil came in and world premiered their Place Without a Postcard album.M: Well, you have your coffee and I look forward to seeing you on stage, Rusty.Rusty: Yeah, yeah.M: Now, remember when you say you’re finished, wait for the applause to die down before you tell them what you finished.Rusty: Can I dance with you later Maynard?M: I hope so. See you, Rusty.Rusty: See you, Maynard.



Maynard: So over the years, you’ve got all the people you hear on the radio, but then you’ve got the people who make you hear the people that you hear on the radio, like Scott. Scott, you were the technical guy. You did everything, really. You, at one stage, held up the antenna during a rainstorm.Scott Wyatt: Yeah, well.M: The transmitting mast.Scott: Of course!M: What was the most challenging thing about being a tech guy try...