Part 1 starts when Perth was still referred to as the Swan River Colony. Western Australia had been a penal colony from 1850 to 1868, receiving over 9,000 convicts transported over 43 ocean voyages. The colony’s first cultural centre was The Swan River Mechanics’ Institute, established in 1851. As well as housing an extensive library, and various specimens of our natural history, the Institute also provided a venue for entertainment. The population of Perth tripled in a decade to 27,553 in 1901, as a result of the gold rushes in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie from 1892–93. This led to...

Entertainment was evolving beyond live performers on a stage. A spate of inventions led to the recording of performances both in sound and picture. These innovations started a revolution in the way we amuse ourselves. No longer were people dependant on the family piano or folk enjoying a sing along, for we could now enjoy the work of musicians and actors from around the world.     Though the phonograph (record player or gramophone) was conceived in 1877, it would be many more years before the recording industry became a major factor in home entertainment, hence live music remained...

Vaudeville was the popular entertainment before the advent of motion picture houses, though it was not uncommon for live shows to be complimented by a few silent movies. Though there was an amateur theatre community in Perth, many shows were brought across from the eastern states. As people often entertained themselves, family or friends, it was not uncommon to be taught an instrument or attend singing or dance lessons. This created among the more talented a source of performers, even if they only engaged in this part time. Soon many picture houses would spring up, some as picture gardens and...

The next revolution was to provide remote entertainment to the listeners at home by the means of broadcasting. This initially impacted on silent films until cinemas were able to present movies with sound. The Perth airwaves were then populated by a variety of commercial and ABC radio stations.     The advent of wireless opened up additional opportunities for musicians and singers, with many theatre trained voices proving popular as announcers when in 1924, Western Farmers Limited (Wesfarmers) began operating radio station 6WF from the top floor of the company’s Wellington Street...

Hollywood created an illusion with performers becoming stars who were recognised world wide. The movie musicals offered a glimpse of Broadway well beyond the streets of New York. The sale of gramophone recordings also made stars out of singers, musicians and bands. Much of this conveyed American culture to the world, which was a big influence on our behaviour by causing us to follow these overseas trends. Amateur theatre went professional when the Repertory Club evolved into the National Theatre Company at the Playhouse Theatre. Locally, the Edgley family had a big influence on theatre and the...

With the loss of venues such as the Capitol Theatre, and the need for a new town hall, Perth’s culture experienced a lift with the opening of the Perth Concert Hall. Radio took a step forward with the introduction of FM stereo broadcasting. Perth’s third commercial TV station was launched in an era of colour television. NEW Channel 10 is now about to celebrate its 25th Anniversary on May 20, 2013. Digital radio was then introduced in all States and Perth enjoyed new theatre, ballroom and convention facilities with the opening of the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre and the State...

    Between 2010 and 2013, Digital will replace Analogue PAL TV transmissions in Australia. There won’t be much choice as analogue is being switched off in stages across the nation. Analogue has served us well over the years, but like the typewriter, steam train and horse and cart, technology has progressed and old methods give way to the new.     The first black and white analogue television transmission commenced in Western Australia when TVW Channel 7 opened on Friday 16th October, 1959. Within six months, Perth was to receive its second television station...

Bryan Dunne in 1981 Steve Worner has sadly advised the passing of Bryan Dunne. Bryan was a much liked TVW News cameraman from 1969 to 1988, a period that experienced the transition from film cameras to electronic news gathering (ENG). “Bryan – known as ‘BD’ around his colleagues – had served in both the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army prior to his working at TVW. 

He was the last survivor of that generation of TVW cameramen that included Digby Milner, Tom Hall, Lu Belci, Stan Jeffery, Matt Williams and Peter Makowski.” Other noted...

Anything Goes Peter Dean’s funeral service at the Fremantle crematorium West Chapel on Thursday 21st March 2013 was attended by many, where his brother-in-law Bob Pride filled in the historical elements in a moving eulogy. Family members then gave those assembled a private glimpse of Peter at home with loved ones, always the entertainer amusing friends and those closest to him. A good crowd had gathered outside the chapel waiting for the hearse with pallbearers to arrive, followed by a long line of folk paying their last respects. Arrival of the hearse More than 500 people attended...

Peter Dean     The local broadcasting legend Peter Dean passed away in the early hours of 13th of March 2013 at St John of God Hospital Murdoch, aged almost 76, following a short and courageous battle with Motor Neuron Disease. 7News : Peter Dean dies 7NEWS One of the great stars of West Australian television and radio has passed away. Peter Dean made people laugh and smile for more than five decades.     Peter entertained Western Australian audiences from the late 1950s. First from 6VA Albany, followed by 6PR, where he was one of the ‘Good Guys’,...