Grunt Machine - Paul Holmes

Television (Excerpts) – 1975

Grunt Machine takes a visit to Wellington radio station 2ZM in this 1975 report. Resplendent in an afro and moustache, DJ (and later Grunt Machine host) Paul Holmes is interviewed on the job, after giving away a record to Carol of Naenae. The motormouthed announcer isn’t a fan of music charts, believing 2ZM should drop its Top 20 list because people just want to hear good music, and are growing tired of the hit parade. Meanwhile radio station staff compile Top 20 lists from popular record sales, and rattle through the latest releases in rushed listening sessions.

English radio is terrible, but America undoubtedly leads the world in radio with their ideas, their music, their formatting, and we copy that to a great extent...
– Paul Holmes on influences to New Zealand radio