Appreciations

Derek Meloney, veteran broadcaster, radio DJ, news reader and TV presenter, passed away on October 16 from pneumonia at the age of 58 in Perth, Australia.

Derek joined the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation as a relief announcer for the English Services in 1977 and worked there until he left the country for Australia in the early ’80s. I was the technical assistant who worked with him on his very first shift on the SLBC commercial services live broadcast studio in 1977. Derek became popular among listeners and built up a huge audience within a short period. I can remember the amount of postcards and letters which he received from loyal listeners.

He used to come for the night shift from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. once a week. Those days the people-request programmes were popular among radio listeners. Derek prepared for this one-hour programme well in advance and wanted me to do my best. On his webpage he had made mention of me: “Thank you to Sisira Chandrasekera, the legendary operations assistant of the ’70s & ’80s and to the fans who termed the phase "Music Memories & Good Old Fashioned Meloney Magic ".

It was in 1962 when he first walked into the studios of Radio Ceylon as a 13-year-old schoolboy lucky to be picked for the Wesley College school choir that he made that first entry to one of the most famous buildings in the Indian subcontinent. This was Radio Ceylon, the home of some of Asia’s best known broadcasters. Livy Wijemanne, Jimmy Barucha, Shirley Perera, Mil Sansoni, Chris Greet, Leon Belleth and Nihal Bharetti to name a few. This was the place where he met "The Movie Man About Town", Jimmy Barucha; happy-go-lucky Greg Roskoskie, Gingernut Vernon Corea and shortcake Leon Belleth and the great Livy Wijemanne, the man whose voice was on air when Hillary and Tenzing received Radio Ceylon on their tiny transistor radio from atop Mt Everest.

After this brief foray, came an intense desire to be a part of this empire, filled with people who were fiercely possessive of their place of work and of the image it gave them. It was a few years later that he was introduced to the original "Mystique" of commercial radio Chris Greet.

Thus began Derek’s love affair with the microphone. He caught the eye of Hector Jayasinghe who was the head of the Drama Section of the SLBC, and so it was not long before he started attending the Corporation’s training institute down Jawatte Road. Soon he was on the way to becoming a guest producer English National Service and so followed the programmes Radio Quiz Club, Just For Fun, The Soul Searchers and Let’s Spin A Disc.

It was around 1974 whilst working for Lloyd's Advertising Services, he decided to apply for a position of relief announcer. To his amazement he was one of the lucky few, but alas his endeavours were all but lost, as the rules of engagement were that advertising agency staff were not permitted to work the commercial beams, a rule he found hard to accept. He was entirely out in the cold as his voice was now approved to present commercial programmes for clients of the agency he represented, his co-habitation with the station’s best known producer Harold Fernando was about to begin and so the commercial world of radio saw Derek Meloney team up with Leon Belleth to present programmes.

It was the beginning of the advent of "Music Memories and Good Old Fashioned Meloney Magic". By this time he had caught the attention of Jimmy Barucha and Shirley Perera who reminded him that the day he left the agency he could return to the panel of announcers on the commercial beam. This was incentive enough for him and in 1977 Music Memories And Good Old Fashioned Meloney Magic was heard on the commercial service on a regular basis.

He spent the last 19 years in Perth -- 15 of the last 19 years in the public service and part time broadcasting with the Overseas Service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He made the occasional appearance on the ethnic radio stations.
Whenever he came to Sri Lanka he did a spot of announcing and news reading at the SLBC. He was a faithful, sincere, dedicated broadcaster to the SLBC.

I lost a dear old good friend; the SLBC lost one of its best ever announcers and our listeners lost a great broadcaster. Derek although you are not among us, your voice is still echoing in our ears. I can remember the good old days we enjoyed so much working together as a team in Studio C. Although you are no longer with us your name will stay in our hearts and memories forever.

The voice still echoes in our ears