After a prolonged illness, former Geelong Collegian and veteran Melbourne community radio broadcaster David Andrew Cory Heard died Sunday 12 September 2021, surrounded by loved ones at the Caritas Christi Hospice, Kew Victoria.
David came from Noradjuha in the Wimmera to board at College from 1968 to 1973. He followed his brother Edwin (Dec) 1961 to 1967 and his father Cory (Dec) 1930 to 1934.
In 1979, David answered an advertisement in The Age Green Guide seeking people interested in radio broadcasting.
It was to be the start of a distinguished forty-year career in the Melbourne music industry and community radio sector.
As a founding member of 107.6 PBSFM, Australia’s second largest community radio station, David served on the Board of the station as well as the programming committee. He was instrumental in recruiting a number of announcers to 107.6 PBSFM, including, in 1989, fellow Old Geelong Collegian Hugo T Armstrong (1984), which lead to a thirty-two-year friendship that remained strong until the end.
The longest serving announcer on PBSFM, David’s death has been felt deeply throughout the Melbourne music industry, with many musicians publicly acknowledging that they owe their career to the support and promotion of alt-country on his weekly show, Acid Country.
David’s reputation as a skilled interviewer with a deep of knowledge and appreciation of the genre scored him a raft of exclusive interviews, including American singer-songwriters Steve Earle, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Young and legendary Australian artist Chris Wilson.
Along the way, David was the recipient of a number of radio-based awards, including the national 2013 Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) Community Radio Award and the 2013 106.7PBSFM Mick Geyer Award for his specific and sustained service to broadcasting.
A long-term resident of Fitzroy North, David’s contribution to the music industry and the community broadcasting sector was again recognised in 2014 with the City of Yarra declaring David Citizen of the Year. A worthy recipient, David approached his appointment with the same care and dedication he gave to his weekly radio show.
Never one to seek the limelight, week after week, David unflinchingly shone the light on his passion, the music and the musicians.
Universally admired and widely loved, perhaps David is best summed up in a tribute on the 106.7PBSFM website left in his memory “he (sic) was so generous & unpretentious, just happy sharing music to make the world a better place."
A private, humble, dignified man, with a cracking sense of humour, David’s impact on the Melbourne music landscape is profound. In many ways he can be credited for helping to shape the international reputation of the alt-country scene in Melbourne, adding to Melbourne’s reputation as the Music Capital of the World.
His death is keenly felt by those who knew him best, including his former partner and loving friend, Natalie Lupton and her extended family.
David will be sadly missed by his surviving family: his sisters, Joanne Thwaites, Fiona Heard, Jenna Lyons (his twin), his sister-in-law, Janet Heard and their families.
Vale, David Andrew Cory Heard, 8 March 1956 - 12 September 2021.
D. Jacobson, September 2021David was enrolled as a boarder at The Geelong College from 1968, starting in Form I. A member of Morrison House, he represented it on the Social Service Committee in 1972 and 1973. He was also a scorer for the 1st XI cricket team and goal umpire for the 2nd XVIII football team. He achieved the rank of Sergeant in the Cadets.