Profile of a Volunteer: Jack Revill

(An article that originally appeared in HEARSAY Volume 2,
Issue 4, the newsletter of the Hills AM 1575KHz community
radio station in Dunedin, dated 15 May 1997.)

The Legendary J.R.

J.R. is becoming more than just a legend around Hills AM
and Dunedin - tapes of his show are being enjoyed as far
away as Australia.

J.R. is Jack Revill, a man who's had a lifelong interest in
music and radio. He began his musical career at the age of
seven when he started learning the classical violin. He
persevered with the instrument through his school years,
playing at school concerts and shows.

When he left school, Jack swapped the violin for a double
bass and switched from classical music to jazz. His career
flourished in the days when live music was much more to the
fore. Jack has played in big bands all over the country, in
small groups and in pit orchestras for pantomimes and other
shows.

He was in his early twenties when he first appeared on radio
along with blind pianist Julian Lee. Further achievements
came his way. He recalls accompanying Dunedin soprano
Vincente Major and the Majorettes when they won the Mobil
Song Quest.

Jack was also a part of that Dunedin institution of the fifties
and sixties - Joe Brown's Town Hall dances.

"I played every Saturday for 14 years - that's a long time,"
he muses. "Joe Brown's Town Hall dances were known throughout
the country because they were broadcast all over New Zealand."

In those days Jack was a member of Harry Strang's Excelsior
Dance Band. At some stage he was also a member of the Calder
Prescott Big Radio Band whose live shows were broadcast from
the basement of Burns Hall on Friday nights.

He says the broadcasts were never repetitious. "We had the
same musicians but we sounded different every time. We'd have
Julian Lee, Calder Prescott, Mal Chisholm, Wes Faulkner and
others taking over and using their own arrangements."

In those days practically everything was broadcast live.
"There was no such thing as pre-recording so if you made
mistakes that was too bad," he explains. His experience has
stood him in good stead with his programme on Hills AM.

While Jack was heavily involved in music, he wasn't a full time
musician. He had a regular job as well. Interestingly, his day
job was indirectly involved with broadcasting.

"I worked for Turnbull and Jones in the radio department, then
at Eclipse Radio, and then I became managing director of Radio
Accessories," he recalls.

Along the way Jack met his wife Dulcie.

"I was working in the operating box at a picture theatre when
Dulcie came in to give me a hand," he says. She's been helping him
ever since.

Jack admits that being married to a musician was not easy for
his wife.

"For her it was the beginning of many many years of not seeing me,"
he confesses. Jack is quick to add that his wife was very tolerant
of his frequent trips away from home.

Jack is now retired but his love of music and radio have continued. He
has been presenting his show on Hills AM for about three years. He
admits he didn't know much about the station before then. However,
once he found 1575 on his radio dial, he decided that Hills AM was
the station for him because it played his type of music.

He joined the Otago Community Broadcasters' Society and became J.R.,
the volunteer who presents a show on big band music twice a week.

"I knew a lot of musicians around town who were like me - they felt
there was not much jazz being played on the radio, except on Hills AM,"
he says.

Jack's friendship with professional musicians has two way benefits.
They enjoy the music he plays on his shows and he's not backward in
asking if he can borrow recordings which he doesn't have in his own
collection.

Naturally, presenting a two hour show means much more than just
turning up at Hills AM five minutes before he's due to go on air. Jack
estimates that he spends about three hours preparing for each two hour
show.

He reckons there are times when he wonders why he does it. But he admits
it's worthwhile when he gets positive feedback from fans hungry for big
band and jazz music. And it gives him a buzz to find that some people
regularly tape his shows so they can enjoy the music again and again. His
programme is so popular some listeners have even sent his tapes to friends
in Australia.

J.R. - he's our local legend. Catch his show on Monday and Thursday
afternoons.