In the early 1970s one of Melbourne’s most popular radio stations was 3AK, which played a pop and rock music format accompanied by the slogan “Where No Wrinklys Fly”. The station’s promotions featured pictures of various radical or pop cultural elements, declaring that anyone that turned their noses up at these images was a “wrinkly” — a fuddy duddy!
3AK’s sister television station GTV9 sought to tie in with the radio station with a weekly pop music series Fly Wrinklys Fly, screening on Saturdays at 6.30pm from 11 December 1971.
YouTube: Mike Squier
The new show, produced by 3AK program director Rhett Walker and Nine’s Jim McKay, featured live acts and experimental video clips — a precursor to the medium that would become commonplace for recording artists in future years — plus filmed performances from overseas artists and segments on topical issues of interest to young viewers. It was almost grungy in appearance and quite a contrast from Nine’s more neatly polished national series Bandstand.
The opening sequence for Fly Wrinklys Fly included a bullet being fired and shattering a plate of glass bearing the show’s title. No CGI or animated effects, here, as the gun shot and smashing glass was filmed under the supervision of a Victoria police ballistics expert at Melbourne’s RMIT.
The first episode featured performances by Russell Morris, Brian Cadd and Daddy Cool and had the theme of “hair” — discussing the latest styling trends and attitudes to long hair.
By the time episode three was to go to air on New Year’s Day, Nine pulled the plug on the show, despite a positive response from the audience. Nine’s station manager Eric Fisher was said to be impressed with the show’s innovative production techniques but “reluctantly” had to axe the show as the Melbourne studio facilities were needed to accommodate the transfer of some national program production from Sydney.
The third and final episode of Fly Wrinklys Fly is among the latest addition of Classic TV Guides:
- Saturday 19 September 1964 — VICTORIA VFL Grand Final
- Monday 11 September 1967 — VICTORIA Adventure Island begins
- Tuesday 2 September 1969 — VICTORIA
- Friday 22 October 1971 — VICTORIA TV Week King Of Pop
- Saturday 1 January 1972 — MELBOURNE Fly Wrinklys Fly
- Tuesday 19 September 1972 — MELBOURNE The Graham Kennedy Show
- Tuesday 16 November 1976 — SOUTH AUSTRALIA The Sullivans begins
- Monday 22 November 1976 — VICTORIA Willesee At Seven begins
- Wednesday 14 November 1979 — WESTERN AUSTRALIA
- Saturday 8 December 1979 — MELBOURNE First Super 66 draw
- Monday 22 October 1984 — VICTORIA Matthew And Son
- Saturday 7 March 1992 — MELBOURNE Olympathon
- Thursday 19 March 1992 — MELBOURNE Special: Sex
- Friday 17 April 1992 — MELBOURNE Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal
- Wednesday 6 May 1992 — MELBOURNE
- Saturday 25 July 1992 — MELBOURNE Opening Ceremony The Games Of The XXV Olympiad
Source: The Age, 9 December 1971, 30 December 1971. TV Times, 11 December 1971.
2 thoughts on “Classic TV Guides: Fly Wrinklys Fly”
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A happy 2022 to you.
I thought my memory had failed me, especially bad as when I Googled I found I had mentioned 3XY and its slogan in 2007. ‘Where no wrinklies fly’, was the slogan of 3XY, the station of my choice in my youth. The check on the net confirms my memory. It makes sense too as fly and (3X)y rhyme.
Maybe other stations mentioned wrinklies, but it was the slogan of the station I listened to on my tranny (hmm, the meaning of that word has changed).
And now I am of the age referred to as a wrinklie. Wonderful.
Happy new year, Andrew 🙂
Wrinklys was definitely 3AK as per the newspaper ad above, although I read somewhere (and no idea if this is true or verified) but the Wrinklys slogan was originally pitched by an agency to 3XY because of the rhyme potential, as you noted: “3XY Where No Wrinklys Fly”. But 3XY knocked it back and it instead was pitched to its nearest rival, 3AK. The slogan, like the related TV show, didn’t last very long in any case.