Doug’s musical vision a hit on community radio

Losing his sight along with his career as a television camera operator and floor manager — Doug Spicer turned to his next great love, music!

Doug’s return as the highly-popular presenter on community radio after a hiatus of 18-months signal the upheavals of the past few years are finally-settled at 107.5FM.

“Most people on the radio know me as ‘Dusty Doug’; I grew-up in a country music family, my father was one of western NSW’s best-known country recording artists — they were known as ‘Roy Spicer and his Bashbox Buddies’,” Doug said proudly.

Doug’s own career started as a closed-circuit operator for the army before landing a role with the local television station when operating in Orange.

“I started doing stringer (freelance) work at Mid-State TV and then became a cameraman and floor manager at Prime,” he said. “I worked there from 1982 to about 1994, and it was the journo’s who I was driving to jobs who noticed my vision problems first,” he said.

“I hadn’t really noticed it, and yet when I got tested, I was already legally blind with Retinitis pigmentosa (degenerating retina),” Doug explained.

Retiring to Port Macquarie, he threw himself into bushwalking, a beloved hobby that he could still enjoy, until a move back to Orange forced his hand.

“There wasn’t a bushwalking club here, so I decided to occupy myself, doing a country radio show on community radio. It was called the ‘Big Country Lunch’ and I ended-up doing five three-hour programs a week, I was almost full-time,” he laughed.

He left the station during the upheavals of the past few years and only returned recently with a 9-12 noon slot playing “Dusty Rewinds” featuring baby-boomer pop, rock, country music, and crooners.

“I came back to Orange 7–8 years ago and found no-one was playing the type of music we grew up with,” he added.

“I like people like Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, Doris Day, Dinah Shore, and Bing Crosby, simply type music that’s easy to listen to,” he explained.

While small community radio stations normally don’t conduct formal listener ratings, anecdotally, his show is consistently popular.

“About 10 years ago, the station did a survey, and I was really bowled-over when it turned-out that mine proved to be the most popular program,” he said.

He said that his views as a broadcaster are based on an elegantly-simple philosophy.

“I went in to doing radio and didn’t follow anyone else’s ideas, I play a bracket of four songs without saying anything and keep the talk down,” he explained.

“A lot of presenters talk too much; they all want to all have a little bit of an ego. I know my limitations, not to talk all the time, that’s not why people are listening,” he said.

Long hoped-for installation of a new transmitter on Mt Canobolas, held up by inclement weather forecasts and technician availability at the moment, will really see the community station cooking with gas, Doug believes.

“The station’s coming back, we’re on the right track,” he said.

Doug is not the kind of person to let his condition keep him down, even, unbelievably, helping-out with photography for a local community group.

“I’m also known as the ‘blind photographer for Orange historical society,’ they line the image up, and I take it,” he explained.

With his father’s love of music (his Dad once defeated rock legend Johnny O’Keefe, then singing as a crooner, in a national talent quest), music has become his natural sanctuary after his retirement.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the best thing in the world, but I think it’s certainly one of the best,” Doug concluded.