Reflecting on this Yarra Valley community member, people will come up with many different titles: award-winning bush poet, Vietnam War veteran, stroke survivor, and radio presenter.
Yes, he is Rob ‘Robberty Bob’ Burgess, who hosts three different radio programs at Yarra Valley FM.
Mr Burgess runs Steam Radio from 1pm to 4pm on Tuesdays, Edge of Country between 1pm and 4pm on Thursdays and Country Gospel from 9am to 10am on Sundays.
“Steam Radio is old school, old-fashioned and gives me a chance to be a bit opinionated and talk about social issues and stuff,” he said.
“On Thursday afternoon, (I play) music for country music fans, and on Sunday morning, (I play) Gospel music.”
Mr Burgess has been on the radio for more than five decades.
His radio journey began in 1968 when his girlfriend at the time, who worked at the 4BH radio station in Brisbane, suggested it.
“In 1968, I got a job as a radio announcer at 4NA Nambour, which was the commercial radio station for Sunshine Coast in Queensland. It was a night-time gig,” the radio presenter said.
“(My girlfriend) organised for her boss to spend an hour with me at 4BH in Brisbane, and he spent an hour with me, recording two 30-second scripts, and one week later, the manager of 4NA Nambour rang up and said, ‘We’ve got a position for a night-time radio announcer.’
“I went from there and after two years at Nambour, I got a job in 4CA Cairns, doing the morning sessions … The job lasted 15 years.”
The experienced radio presenter continued his passion at the local radio station in 2009 after he moved to the Yarra Valley.
“I started off with Tuesdays and Thursdays, which were both Steam Radio, but when we lost our syndicated country music program, we decided that we could turn the Thursday one to (The Edge of Country).”
Before he kicked off his radio journey, Mr Burgess was a Vietnam War veteran, serving in the Australian Army as a medic.
“I was doing what I thought was a pretty important job because I was working a portable X-ray machine in a base hospital,” the Vietnam War veteran said.
He had a stroke in 2004 at the age of 59 and said he’d like to encourage people suffering from a stroke to know that they can survive.
“Strokes have a long-term effect, and the long-term effect for me was emotional fragility,” Mr Burgess said.
“I just want to encourage stroke people that they can survive as long as they work hard at the rehab stuff.”
You can listen to Mr Burgess’ radio programs at yarravalleyfm.org.au/listen.html or 99.1 on your FM dial.
