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OMBLive
Intro
OMBLive, a weekly community radio programme broadcast in Toowoomba, Queensland on local station 4DDB (102.7FM). The programme, hosted by Isaac Burton and Dom O’Mara, began on May 30, 2005 and ended on October 9, 2006. OMBLive was broadcast every Monday night from 10pm to midnight, except for the first show (from 11pm to midnight) and a three hour show in early 2006. The programme was a mixture of alternative and rock music, as well as live advertisements, karaoke and “mindless chatter”.
The Beginning
Dom O’Mara and Isaac Burton, whose surname initials combined to create the show’s title, first met at the University of Southern Queensland in March 2003, where they were both studying. After much deliberation, coupled with the fact they shared an almost identical class timetable, O’Mara and Burton each decided to expand from their Mass Communication degrees and took up an opportunity to host campus radio. Radio USQ, colloquially known as RUSQ, O’Mara and Burton both co-hosted the show at different times, but never worked as a duo at any stage.
Associates of O’Mara, Danny Ford and Dave Tilburey later joined together to begin Fang Radio in early 2005. Fang Radio broadcast on 4DDB on Thursday nights from 9pm. Ford and Tilburey were the oblivious catalysts for OMBLive’s inception. O’Mara heard Fang Radio’s first broadcast and was inspired to begin a further expansion from his and Burton’s studies, which were entering their final year. At this stage, RUSQ was no longer broadcasting and O’Mara and Burton (who, for the sake of convenience will be referred to as ‘the boys’) were gaining professional insight to radio as a direct result of their studies. While the boys were applying for a position on 4DDB, O’Mara made a guest appearance on Fang Radio in April 2005. Weeks later, 4DDB gave the boys the green light to begin broadcasting.
The Show
OMBLive officially began on May 30, 2005. O’Mara later pointed out that quiz show Temptation, hosted by Ed Phillips and Livinia Nixon, began on the same day. Burton later pointed out that Temptation was destined to last longer than OMBLive. Burton was the man honoured with speaking the first words on the programme, and A-ha’s “Take On Me” was the first song ever played on the programme (the boys agreed the inaugural broadcast had to begin with ‘just a classic song’). Interestingly enough, OMBLive’s first show ran for only one hour rather than the usual two-hour timeslot. The only other time the show was when Steve Single (whose show Did You See was broadcasted before OMBLive on Monday nights) was ill and asked the boys to deputise, thus making OMBLive’s only 3 hour programme. When the length of the show was changed to two hours in the second week of OMBLive, the first request was made. An associate of O’Mara’s, Curtis Perri, insisted that Don Henley’s “The Boys Of Summer” be played. The boys did not hesitate.
Very often the musical direction of the show sailed away from the boy’s initial plan. The idea that a show made up of youth music was largely foreign to 4DDB and OMBLive sought to fill a void that was also being filled by Fang Radio.
“When A-ha, Bachman Turner Overdrive and Kiss are the bands that are getting attention, you just know the show’s not doing what it should be doing.” (O’Mara, 2006)
For the most part, OMBLive provided more music unable to be provided by any other local broadcast. Musicians including, but not limited to M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem and Morningwood, all had their first exposure to a Toowoomba audience on OMBLive (while it could be argued that national broadcaster Triple J exposed the artists initially, the impact was not felt locally until OMBLive broadcasted).
One of the many running elements that appear randomly throughout OMBLive’s tenure was the ‘Significant Songs’ list. This was one of the many ‘in-jokes’ shared by the boys. These were songs that, in the mind of the two co-hosts, surmised the joy the show endeavoured to bring, as well as highlight the rare unity of the boys differing musical tastes. The first of these songs was “My Doorbell” by The White Stripes. The song, which appeared in the fourth week of broadcast, heralded a new wave of the ‘latest and greatest’ songs, something that was lacking from previous shows. The second song was “Gold Digger” by Kanye West and Jamie Foxx, broadcast in late October 2005. The third song came about after a haul of CD’s were given to Burton as a Christmas present. One of these CD’s O’Mara also happened to own, and the track “Hold The Line” by Toto became a part of OMBLive’s history. The Strokes filled out the list with “You Only Live Once”. An unofficial 5th song was “Nothin’ But A Good Time” by Poison. Though the boys deemed it offensive to add “one of the great songs of all time” (O’Mara) and “the best song ever” (Burton) to a list populated by other inferior songs.
Another of OMBLive’s numerous quirks and perks was the introduction of theme nights. Originally introduced by O’Mara, the theme night tradition only grew momentum when Burton became suitably impressed with the very first theme night. Titled ‘A to Z’ by O’Mara and later renamed ‘The Alphabet Soup Special’ by Burton, a 26 song theme night was the first of OMBLive’s many attempts at centralising a theme to each broadcast, thereby eliminating “all the chatter we go on with. I remember listening back over old shows and I tell you this, the talking was not always enlightening. I know it’s hard to believe on community radio, but it’s true” (O’Mara, 2006). Other theme nights included ‘From 79 to 90’ (a night littered with 80’s music), SBS (aka Spiderbait Special) and Originals And Covers (which played a song, immediately followed by its modern cover version, eg. “Fight The Power” by Public Enemy, followed by the cover version by Barenaked Ladies). ‘The Women Of Music Special’ was another orchestrated by O’Mara, but the show drowned under a sea of insults and controversial comments from Burton. The comments, which included Burton referring to women as ‘a minority group’, may not have been so confronting if O’Mara’s then girlfriend wasn’t in the studio as a guest. Burton later admitted his own ignorance, ultimately after a sound ‘on air thrashing’ by O’Mara.
more about OMBLive coming soon....
