Documentary #2: The PBS Years
Hi, this is Graeme Osborne here. I came back from the UK and I set up a business here to import and distribute jazz and blues records. Somebody at PBS in their wisdom got hold of this fact and thought that I might be a suitable candidate to join the ranks of jazz presenters on PBS, and went through the initiations that we all did, and started doing jazz programs. I guess that was back in the mid '80's.

Little did I know at the time, that lurking in the corridors of PBS was one Michael Geyer, who was always on the look out for allies, for kindred spirits I guess, in his steady assault on mediocrity in all areas. He approached me and we found that we had lots of things in common, musically, in literature, the arts - we generally got on very well, to the point that over the next few years we, on occasions, did some 'graveyard shifts' just for the hell of it. They were amazingly eclectic affairs, it was sort of like a 'fly by your seat of pants' affair - one of us would play a track and that would inspire the other to either play something in sympathy with that track or something in total antipathy to it and sparks would fly.

I thought my tastes were small 'c' catholic, eclectic until I met Mick. He swamped me. I mean his tastes and interest in music just seemed limitless, and that was because really, Mick I guess at base was interested in the message an artist was trying to convey. And no matter what the medium might have been, if they had an important enough message in Mick's mind and they managed to convey it through a particular musical medium, then that was fine, it didn't matter if whether it was jazz, reggae, gospel, country, classical, whatever. For my part, I came more from a straight jazz background, some would think the jazz police. Well, Mick certainly helped me break that one down.

(Also see the complete transcript of Graeme Osborne's Music Tribute broadcast on Sunday 16 April 2006.)