On Wednesday, 1 July 2009,
Good Hope FM will celebrate its 44th birthday with a big bang and an unconventional twist by letting several radio legends take over the airwaves on the day.
Mark Gillman; Dmitri Jegels; Graeme White; and Bongani Njoli were very popular regulars at the station in the nineties, and
Good Hope FM decided to invite them back to each host an on air show in celebration of our birthday.
“We felt confident that there was no other way to celebrate our birthday with a difference, other than to bring back the “pioneers” in Cape Town commercial radio. These guys were legends and icons in the Cape Town community and will remind us all how strong radio and the personalities were in those days and how big an influence they had on our listeners” says
Good Hope FM’s Station Manger, Natano Brache.
Good Hope FM’s original motor mouth, Mark Gillman, will fly in from London to present the breakfast show between 06:00 and 09:00 on the day; followed by followed by Graeme White between 09:00 and 12:00. The popular Dmitri Jegels will host the show between 12:00 and 15:00; followed by the station’s current loud mouth, Nigel Pierce, from 15:00 to 19:00. To end the day’s birthday celebrations, renowned Bongani Njoli will ease listeners into the evening from 19:00 to 22:00.
Mark Gillman joined
Good Hope FM in 1991 in the 22:00 to 02:00 slot and later progressed to host the breakfast shot (06:00 to 09:00) from 1995 until the end of September in 1997, where after he joined sister station,
5fm as breakfast show host. After leaving
5fm in July 2006 he started Gilly TV on
5fm and eventually hosted Mark Gillman International on
5fm live from London from September 2008 until June 2009.
Graeme White, also known in the nineties as the “Vanilla Thriller”, took his first steps in radio by joining
Good Hope FM in 1990. He hosted various slots on the station including the 09:00 to 12:00, afternoon drive and eventually the breakfast show between 06:00 and 09:00 from October 1997. In December 1999, he left
Good Hope FM to explore other options in commercial radio before he rejoined the station as the host of the afternoon drive show from April 2004 until March 2006. Graeme has been the breakfast show producer since then at the station, adding immeasurable value to the team with his wealth of experience.
Dmitri Jegels cut his teeth in radio when he joined the station on 1 March 1983. Also the host to various time slots, but the most popular for his mid-morning and lunchtime slots, he left the station 16 years later in 1999, to explore other opportunities at rival Cape Town radio stations. He is currently studying again.
Nigel Pierce, currently the breakfast show host on
Good Hope FM since April 2005, joined the station in May 1998 as weekend breakfast show host after kicking off his radio career at
UCT Campus Radio from 1990 to 1992 and
Peace FM from 1994 to 1995. Nigel is also host to Kinky Afro, one of
Good Hope FM"s most popular weekly features - resurrecting the best in classic hits from the "80s and "90s on The Nigel Pierce Show (Monday - Friday; 06:00 – 09:00) every Friday from 08:00.
Bongani Njoli, also cutting his broadcasting teeth at
UCT Campus Radio, joined
Good Hope FM in February 1994, hosting the 22:00 to 02:00 timeslot until he left in April 2002. Bongani is still a well recognised voice on television as a voice-over artist for both private and commercial entities.
Good Hope FM will celebrate its birthday during the course of July with many prizes to be won for listeners and also a special party on the 31st of July for its most passionate listeners.