ABC radio in 1974 leaves Hindmarsh Square and its history of nurturing the nascent Adelaide symphony orchestra

Veteran ABC radio announcer Bob Calidcott (second from right) with Malkcolm Campbell, Bill Mudie and Bob Moore, toasting the 50th anniversay of 5AN, aboard the HMS Buffalo replica at Glenelg.
Image courtesy Warwick Kemp

The ABC radio studios moves from Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide, to the new eight-storey building on the old Tregenna mansion estate in North East Road, Collinswood, in 1974. It was the end of the era for long-time announcers such as Bob Caldicott and Arthur Winter.

Among his roles at the station, Caldicott also was stage manager and sound effects for the concert parties that the ABC presented from its Hindmarsh Square music studio, featuring Adelaide popular musicians such as Tom King, Joe Brennan and the Bray Sisters.

As it did around Australia, the ABC in Adelaide carried the banner for orchestral classical music. What became the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra started with 17 members in 1936, based at Hindmarsh Square.

E. Harold Davies, the head of Adelaide University’s Elder Conservatorium of Music, was the main activist for developing a professional orchestra in Adelaide. He wasn’t impressed by the ABC’s early practice of relaying orchestral concerts in Sydney and Melbourne to Adelaide. In 1932, he complained  to the ABC hierarchy that that relay programs to Adelaide from Sydney and Melbourne were increasing. He said this discouraged regional activities and accentuated the stigma of inferiority attached to Adelaide in the eyes of Sydney and Melbourne. He added: “I have listened to quite a number of relays from Sydney which have been lamentably poor.