Stan Rofe - Career

Career

Stan Rofe was born in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne. He was a student at Faraday Street State School in Carlton and later at Collingwood Technical School. As a very young child Stan was a fan of radio station 3KZ. His favourite announcer was Norman Banks who set the trend for radio announcers in the forties. To impersonate Banks Stan would use kitchen pots for reverberation effects. This rehearsal went on for many years. Stan’s mother encouraged him to pursue a radio career.

Stan commenced work at sixteen and a year later he was teaching ballroom dancing and was a member of the Victorian Square Dance Championship Team that was third in their national competition. At eighteen Stan was called up for three months national service training, which was followed by four years in the Citizens' Military Forces.

In 1953, after three days tuition at the Bill Roberts Radio School, a position was secured with 7AD in Devonport, Tasmania. After a few weeks Stan was made Chief Announcer. He recalled that, “it was a frightening experience that was too quick to worry about”.

Returning to Melbourne, Rofe became an announcer with 3AK in 1956, before moving to 3XY alongside Bert Newton when the station broadcast out of the Princess Theatre in Spring Street. He then moved to 3KZ.

Stan commenced in an afternoon trial slot combining popular music with listener’s requests. Stan also presented “Call up KZ”, which required listeners to identify recordings. Phil Gibbs, the program manager of 3KZ, gave Stan the opportunity to call night football games at South Melbourne football ground. On occasions he would broadcast with Phil Gibbs and Harry Mueller at Saturday games. Stan was one of only seventeen Australian Federation of Commercial Broadcasting accredited commentators for the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956.

At the end of the 1956 Olympics Stan was presenting “Spin for the Stars” and was intrigued as to how DJ John Laws was securing American record releases. These records were often on the Memphis-based Sun label featuring artists such as Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. Stan incorporated these recordings into “Spin for the Stars”, where they were mixed with songs by Perry Como, Peggy Lee, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Doris Day and Frank Sinatra. So at the end of 1956 Stan was introducing rock-n-roll to Melbourne radio. He got access to the latest sounds after organising for Qantas pilots to bring in singles from the United States and Britain.

Rofe went on to work at 3KZ in the Trades Hall building in Carlton for eight years until Les Heile took over as General manager and changed 3KZ into a limp, middle-of-the road station. Stan moved to 3UZ, returning to 3XY as music director in the 1970s. He was known as 'Stan the Man' and well known for his 'Hi-de-hi, Victoria!' at the start of his broadcasts. He later broadcast on 3DB and finally was heard on Gold-FM, the successor to 3KZ

He made forays into TV, appearing on Uptight and Happening 70, and his popularity peaked in 1968 when he was crowned Prince of Moomba.