Australian Radio & TV Personality Graham Webb Passes Away

Graham “Spider” Webb, an Australian radio broadcasting hero known for interviewing ABBA, The Beatles and The Monkees, has passed away at the age of 88. He died at the Gold Coast University Hospital, as reported by the West Observer.

Webb’s incredible radio career began at Tamworth’s 2TM in 1954 before heading to Brisbane to become 4BH’s “junior” announcer in 1955 and then 4GY Gympie.

Following time spent in the National Service, Webb returned to Australia in 1957 and was heard on 2CH – before scoring a massive opportunity to host the first-ever Top 40 radio show in Sydney.

In the late 1960s, after embarking on career opportunities in Europe and the UK, Webb came home to host the Australian end of the long-running Family Favourites radio series on BBC/ABC and even got on television, presenting Blind Date from 1967 until November 1969. Another notable show Webb presented was Jeopardy from 1970 until 1972.

His 1974 series, The Graham Webb Saturday Today Show, which eventually became Sounds Unlimited, became a pioneering movement for television as it was the world’s first-ever program to feature music videos.

The pilot episode contained 25 videos, and soon enough, Sounds Unlimited was met with—ahem—unlimited demand, with feature film director and Webb’s partner, Russell Mulcahy, filming videos for the likes of AC/DC and Marcia Hines.

In 2012, Webb began his weekly two-hour program, Webby's Golden Years Of Radio, where he stated (per RadioInfo): “Along with the amazing music from the past six decades, I am including personal interviews with stars such as The Beatles, Monkees, ABBA and many others, especially our own Aussie stars. I'm also including entertaining 'grabs' from radio shows of the past from my personal collection.”

In 1999, Webb founded Sunshine FM and hosted its breakfast program until 2009. This achievement followed a golden period in the ‘80s, when he was heard on Gold FM, ABC, 2GB, and many more.

While he was credited with starting the idea of MTV, Webb disagreed. “I didn’t; these Americans came into my studio and copied my show completely and went to America and started MTV using my format,” Webb stated in an interview via TV Tonight. He added, “Thanks very much, boys…”

Vintage FM boss Wayne Wilmington previously described Webb as a “national treasure” thanks to his contributions to radio and television and the broader Australian music industry.