Farewell but not goodbye to Uncut & Unsigned

Farewell From All At Uncut and Unsigned  

Uncut and Unsigned, or U and U as it shall be called after this sentence, has been on the Victorian airwaves for some 30 years at various stations all over Victoria. 

Its premise has been to air unsigned or independent artists from mainly within Australia, but we have established contact with musos in countries as varied as Russia, USA, UK, NZ, RSA, Ukraine, Finland and many more. 

The main question is, how did it find its way to 3MDR? 

Looking back through the mists of time, it occurred because Tony arrived in Cockatoo from El Dorado in NE Victoria, where he was one of the founding members of a local station in Beechworth. 

Having read about 3MDR in the local press, Tony duly applied and was invited to a committee meeting to ‘sell’ his program. Phil (and Emma) became Tony’s mentors and U and U re-started in Emerald. (The premises were far from salubrious and yet all gave their best there. Upon Ren’s arrival, Phil and Ren started looking seriously for alternative premises as the building which housed 3MDR was to be demolished and not before time!) 

After a few years at Upwey, Matt came on board as a co-presenter with his main background being in sound and lighting. This meant that live artists could play on U and U more often as previously a Tech had to be booked ahead, so to have one on board was a great positive. At least 50% of every year has had live artists on U and U in the studio, with the other 50% being interviewed via Zoom. 

Many well-known artists, as well as up and coming ones, have been on U and U with 5 musos/artists releasing their single/EP/Album on the program; our latest such release was by THE WILLIAM STREET STRIKERS (from Adelaide, who chose us over any of their home grown stations). 

Over the years, U and U has had several short-term additional co- presenters, such as ‘Trash’ (a Melbourne based muso), a male producer/guitarist whose name I forget (apologies to the person concerned!), Jellybeans (A Sydney based person) and latterly Shippa63, a multi-instrumentalist and recording artist (who is based in Kingscliff NSW). What would we do without Zoom and its likes? 

Matt has the ‘problem’ of pulling all this together, as well as looking after the in-studio guests, due to the fact that Tony and Shippa are distant from the studio. Sometimes this has resulted in hilarious confusion and mayhem whilst at other times it has been very ‘ABC’ like! 

We’ve had some great guests, but we have also had some who just did not know how to respond to various questions, and we virtually had to end up speaking for them! We had one muso who flew down from Sydney, drove to Upwey, undertook the interview, and then flew back-and no, that was not before the days of Zoom. 

We have had our session playing segments turned into both CDs and wav files for sale- one, mastered by Matt, also had video with it and can be seen on YouTube, being by The Sunflower Band (Now with new personnel and known as BIG WHEELS).  

We’ve had ‘firsts or radio virgins’ on U and U; Abbey, from the Little Quirks had her first radio interview with us and look where they are now! I also recall a VERY shy Clint Wilson playing on U and U in Emerald, having been suggested by The Hunter Express. There are others, but this is no time for a Top Twenty list of firsts.  

We’ve also had a well-known muso turn up in his pyjamas (he had a camper van) and hurriedly finished off his dressing in the studio. We have also had several artists Zoom in late or having had to be contacted, on the day, to ask where they were! Musos, they have their own universe and time zone that they inhabit-not all of them, but some. It makes for interesting programming. (We also congratulate all those musos who we challenged to record a well known song and reinterpret it in their way-thank you! One of those challenges was to record DON’T LET IT DIE (originally a hit for The Beatles producer, Norman Hurricane Smith); Seraya Young even placed it on her latest EP, giving credit to us for suggesting it and also, now deceased, Ron Humphries who was a local Blues player.) 

Overall, it is good to have been part of 3MDR for so long and we are leaving with Matt furthering his sound and lighting career as well as undertaking further training at RMIT and Tony and Mark will be heading to NE Victoria to continue the ‘saga’ of what is U and U. Our last program is on Tuesday Jan. 28th, complete with live and local band, Honey Thunder in the studio.  

So no, we are not finishing, solely moving on and we’ll have our own Website and Podcast, as well as a program. The U and U Facebook page will continue too, so do follow our adventures and keep in contact. 

All 3 of us thank past and present management for their ongoing support and assistance over the years and wish all presenters (current and in training) all the very best at what is, without doubt, Victoria’s best Community Station. 

One thing that remains firmly affixed in Tony’s mind, is when Ren arrived and was introduced to all at a meeting and a certain person made comment that: ‘’With Emma having left, Ren has some very big shoes to fill”. 

Ren, never being one to let certain things pass her by, responded: “…..and I have very big feet”. 

Farewell to you all. 

Tony and Matt. 

And from Shippa:

As we come to the conclusion of Uncut & Unsigned excellent stint as a part of 3MDR 97.1FM’s fantastic showcase, I would like to thank 3MDR’s management for helping out unsigned and independent artists, like me, over the years. I do not think that you may realise the importance of your support for the Australian music industry, which is going through a rather tumultuous time at the moment. Without your encouragement of shows such as Uncut & Unsigned, young, and older, artists would not be heard by as many people throughout the world…yes, this show is streamed worldwide, and that means so much, not just for the artists themselves, but for community stations like 3MDR.

So, keep up the awesome work that you are doing for presenters, the community and local talent. A huge thanks to you for giving this bloke a go…I really do appreciate it.

Mark “Shippa” Hoy