Donald "Donnie" Sutherland OAM (born 1946) is an Australian radio and television presenter, best known for being the host of Sounds on Australian television between 1975 and 1987. Sutherland has also worked extensively as a television producer and music journalist, and he is closely associated with the Australian greyhound racing industry.
Sutherland was born in Fairfield, NSW in 1946. He commenced an apprenticeship as a horse jockey in the early 1960s but increasing weight and an increasing interest in music ended this career after four years. Between the mid and the late 1960s Sutherland completed numerous recordings with various ensembles. He released his first solo single entitled "Fairy Land" in 1969; this recording was notable for being one of the first stereo singles to be recorded in Australia.
In the early 1970s Sutherland began his career as a radio disc-jockey with 2UW in Sydney. Around the same time Sutherland began writing for the influential music magazine Go-Set magazine, where Molly Meldrum was a colleague.
In 1975 Sutherland was engaged as the presenter of the Channel 7 Sydney music show Sounds Unlimited (later shortened to Sounds); Sutherland took over from original host (and former radio DJ) Graham Webb, who was also the show's producer. This show was broadcast every Saturday morning for twelve years until 1987, and was the only successful competitor during that period to the ABC's Countdown. During the early years of its run Sounds was seen only in Sydney, but later in the series, when it was relayed nationally, the first hour (9am-10am) was seen in Sydney only, mainly due to time zone differences, and the following two hours (10-12) were seen nationwide.
During the middle years of Sounds, Sutherland also hosted the late-night music and chat show After Dark,[1] which ran from 1982 to 1985 and was noted for its 'relaxed' style. This featured chat segments with Australian and overseas music and entertainment identities, interspersed with music videos; on occasions when Sutherland was unavailable, it was guest-hosted by music personalities Stuart Coupe or Glenn A. Baker. Notable international guests on the show included Steve Marriott, John Cooper Clark and Jello Biafra.
From 1977 to 1980 Sutherland also hosted several hours of disco music presented on Sydney radio station 2UW. The show originally ran live only on Saturday night from 7pm to midnight, but due to the popularity of disco 2UW added a second show on Friday night and extended the broadcast until 3am.
At the conclusion of his tenure with Sounds, Sutherland worked with the emerging Sky Channel until 1991.
In 2000, Sutherland was awarded the Order or Australia for his services to the Entertainment industries and for his charity work.