A DECORATED World War II veteran and celebrated artist respectively, Charlie Miller OAM and Kelvin Smibert can now add radio disc jockeys to undoubtedly long lists of defining characteristics.
Both in their early nineties, the pair have teamed up to host a weekly classical music show on 5GTR FM.
They spend two hours in the studio every other Sunday morning, talking Bach, Beethoven and offering insightful anecdotes.
“Two other gentleman in their mid sixties host the show every second weekend – we have 20 years on them,” Kelvin said.
At first reluctant to accept the station manager’s offer to host the program, Charlie instead suggested his friend Kelvin might be a good fit.
“A few months back I was approached as a leader of the U3A music appreciation group to host the show and I said ‘no I don’t want to do that,’ so I put the station in contact with Kelvin,” he explained.
“Kelvin said, ‘it might be alright if Charlie shares it with me’ and here we are.”
“We enjoy it and Kelvin and I have similar minds in that we have had experiences and we like to share our knowledge with people – that’s the basis, sharing.”
Kelvin agreed the show presented a unique opportunity to share their combined 188 years of life experience.
“We were worried we were talking too much so we did an assessment,” Kelvin said.
“We found we talk for 10 percent of the time, which is plenty.
“The ads are five percent of the time so we are outstripping the ads,” he added with a laugh.
Charlie conceded he was “computer illiterate” and allowed Kelvin to handle the technical aspects of the broadcast.
“Kelvin is a computer whiz, he is able to do all the work and I make commentary,” he said.
“We balance each other very well.”
Kelvin said broadcasting live had been a steep learning curve.
“Last Sunday we were on and I made every technical error you can possibly make on air,” he said.
“The first show we did was pre recorded which was alright, this time I couldn’t work out how to turn Charlie’s microphone on, then I played two tracks at once by accident.
“I was thoroughly embarrassed, but there won’t be any problem next time – now I have it down pat.”
Charlie said the duo played classical music they both loved.
“We choose the music ourselves and most of the music we play is optimistic music,” he said.
“It’s jazz music played in 1700 really, you can pick the rhythm through it and it’s quite uplifting.”
He said his interest in classical music was born when his family moved from Melbourne to Mount Gambier in the late 1930s.
“When we lived in Melbourne we tended to listen to the B class stations or commercial stations,”
“We moved to Mount Gambier when I was 13 or 14 and we became attached to 3WV, which played a lot of classical music – it was new to me and I loved it very much.”
Kelvin said he was surrounded by music during his formative years on the family farm.
“We had a piano in the house and a big family and there was always someone singing or playing the piano,” he said.
“It was mostly light opera I suppose – I don’t like it now.
“I grew up as Charlie did during war time and the popular music was the Big Band era – Glenn Miller and Louis Armstrong, traditional jazz or Dixieland.”
Charlie recalled one of his most vivid memories, forever synonymous with classical composition.
“I joined the Air Force and I became a pilot and at one stage in my career I was flying from Mildura doing a fighter acclimatisation program,” he said.
“We were flying Kitty Hawks – an American aircraft – and I was told to go up and fly the thing around and become accustomed to its controls.
“The aircraft had a radio linked to various buttons and I found one button picked up 3WV – I was doing loops at 22,000ft listening to Bach and Beethoven and I’ll never forget it.
“I should have been tuned to the ground stations just in case, but I got away with it.”
Both Charlie and Kelvin agreed that in terms of modern music, their favourite was jazz.
“I love Jazz and it is absolutely wonderful upstairs at Morrisons Jazz Club – he’s a tremendous musician,” Kelvin said.
“I’ve been trying to get Charlie set up on YouTube but his internet isn’t fast enough.
“All the music he loves is there – he would get a lot out of it.”
Charlie attributed the pair’s good health to “luck and staying active.”
“We don’t sit back and let the world go by, we try to keep active and stay involved in various things,” he said.
“When we wake up we have something to look forward to.”
Charlie and Kelvin are on air from 10am to 12pm every second Sunday on 100.1fm.
