Tim Smith: “It was an incredible time in my life”
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Tim Smith calls it his four acres of heaven.
Surrounded by the lush, rolling hills of Victoria’s South Gippsland, the former Triple M Melbourne breakfast host never tires of the view from his home on the outskirts of Korumburra.
It’s now two decades since he co-hosted the high-rating Timbo and Bedders for Breakfast with Steve Bedwell.
By the time Tim and his wife Jules decided to do the ‘tree change,’ he was well and truly over city life.
Tim tells Radio Today “We moved from beachside Sandringham after it started to get really crowded. I’d been doing a TV travel show for over five years and had been spending a large part of my life in rural Australia. When that wound up, I had my pilots’ licence and spent even more time flying folks around the country.”
Tim – who rose to prominence on the hit TV show The Comedy Company – fell in love with the small town lifestyle.
“After a bit of a discussion, Jules came onboard when my daughter, her partner and the grandkid moved to the area with us.”
It’s light years away from the cut-throat world of cap city FM breakfast radio, but Tim holds fond memories of those times.
“I remember the amazingly talented people, on and off air, laughing ’til tears rolled down our cheeks. I remember the unrelenting pressure to rate well. But most fondly I remember the listeners and callers who contributed so graciously to the show. Make no mistake, it’s their show.”
Does he miss those days?
“Miss is probably the wrong word to use. It was an incredible time in my life. I was a young stand-up comic working at clubs around Melbourne. I received an offer to bump up the PA to broadcast level. I started at Triple R, under the guidance of the late great Steven Walker. I then moved to the Richard Stubbs Breakfast Show on Triple M where Stubbsy supervised the prac and Lee Simon took care of the theory.”
“Before I knew it, my shaky hand was on the tiller and Steve Bedwell and I were presenting our own breakfast program.”
There would be twists in the journey.
Tim says “It all seemed to go pretty well … until I was sacked.”
“Management conducted an unholy experiment to see if the brain could survive without the heart. Sadly for them it was a complete failure. I was promptly reinstated and just smart enough to know that this heart could sustain multiple brains.”
Subsequently, The Cage was born.
“I got to do national breakfast, play with my friends and make lots of money. On reflection, who wouldn’t miss that?”
These days, Tim derives great enjoyment from his involvement with local community station 3mFM, where he does a weekly breakfast shift and morning shift.
“If Triple R and EON FM had a baby it would be 3mFM,” he laughs.
He’s a huge rap for his fellow 3mFM presenters, saying the shows they do are diverse … and at times unintentionally hilarious.
“The music direction is excellent considering the broadness of the audience, however luckily for me the playlist is a serving suggestion. And by saying that I mean that for the first time in my radio life I’m able to swap in songs from the library or mined from my own personal collection so that after a talk break I can go into a track that lends itself to the joke or topic just discussed.
“For me it’s a dream come true. I love music as much as the sound of my own voice.”
The scenery might be different, but one thing that hasn’t changed is Tim’s ability to find joy and humour in all facets of life. Life is fun with a capital F. In fact, all Tim’s passions in life are brought to you by the letter F:
“Family, friends, fun, fresh fruit, flying, frothies, saying f**k at funerals and Frisbee golf.”
Remember listening to him back in the day
Just like so many before him, no mention of his time hosting breakfast at 101.1. Expunged from the record!!
Seriously a great talent 20 times funnier than the current host!