When 2CC first went to air at 7am on October 31 in 1975, it was only the second commercial radio station in Canberra. In its first year, it quickly became must-listen radio, with an unapologetic emphasis on music, community and local news. The station was also a launching pad for a cavalcade of announcers and behind-the-scenes staff.

Many of The Originals, the people who worked at 2CC from day one, gathered on Friday in Canberra to celebrate the station's 50 th birthday.

The first general manager, Nick Erby, said the new station was primed to capture a Canberra market that comprised, at that time, mostly of young public servants.

Mr Erby had come from 2UE in Sydney to take on the top job in Canberra, later becoming the voice of country music on Radio 2TM in Tamworth.

He said the secr

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