LEGENDARY SPEEDWAY ANNOUNCER AND MEDIA ICON, STEVE RAYMOND, 81, DIES
By Dennis Newlyn
The doyen of Australian speedway commentators Steve Raymond (OAM) has died in Sydney after a long illness.
He passed away on Thursday, May 28 at Sydney’s Concord Hospital. He was 81.
Steve will not only be remembered for his years behind the microphone, starting at the Sydney Showground, in the early-sixties, but also TV Logie and Walkley Awards winner for news and current affairs mainstream media coverage. In 1996, he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his services to media and motorsport.
Whether calling the action seated at a small table beside the officials stand on the centre green of the hallowed Sydney Showground near the start/finish line, atop the main straight grandstand in the Liverpool Raceway commentary box, in earlier years at Westmead Speedway, later Newcastle Motordrome, or at Sydney’s former Parramatta City Raceway, Steve was there with his trademark velvet smooth and accurate calls providing a standard of professionalism that made him a luminary of the sport.
He was the man who was on the spot with the microphone to interview all the big names – from National Speedcar Champion Johnny Stewart and his national title hat-trick (Sydney Showground 1966, ’67, 68), to Jim Airey’s first Australian Solo Championship win at the Royale in 1968, to Johnny Fenton’s Australian Speedcar Championship victory (Liverpool, 1976) to Warrenne Ekins’ national Speedcar title win (Parramatta Raceway 1994), to the many interviews he conducted with 20 times American World of Outlaws Sprintcar Champion Steve Kinser at Liverpool.
Steve presided over some of the most significant moments and actualities in national speedway history.
He and legendary American Speedcar driver, the late Bob Tattersall, enjoyed a special camaraderie that showed out in Steve’s super-professional interviews as part of Bob’s incredible introductory hot lapping, fence scraping sessions at the Sydney Showground. Steve made it a very special show.
Steve was the man who conducted the last public – and very delicate – interview with Bob Tattersall in early May 1971 (at the Sydney Showground) after Bob had been diagnosed with cancer.
Steve and his brother Mike will always be remembered as the most competent, professional presenters of speedway this country has ever seen. Whether at the track, on radio or television, both had a style and class of their own that was unequalled, also both icons of the main stream media industry.
Steve’s very sad passing is truly the end of an era that put the Raymond brothers on a pedestal way above anyone else.
Steve’s incredible talent and timing behind the microphone was not only confined to speedway.
He had an outstanding media career in news and current affairs on both radio and television spanning close to 60 years.
Steve was the “voice” of Sydney speedway, the man whose uncanny ability was a vital part of the show – he made the show come alive!
His precision and presentation at the microphone was a Raymond trademark that had its earliest beginnings at Sydney’s former Bankstown Speedway in 1957 when he was given an opportunity to call a Stockcar race.
But it was his time at the Sydney Showground as the ringmaster of the golden era ‘sixties era that will always remain his signature trademark.
Given an opportunity in the early ‘sixties by Empire Speedway maestro John Sherwood, Steve, who took over the regular announcing gig from Mike Raymond, was a natural for the job.
Steve became an institution at the iconic Sydney Royale during that halcyon, golden Speedcar era.
He enjoyed a strong friendship with sensational Kiwi Midget driver Barry Butterworth and Steve was right there for radio 2SM to report a night of high drama during the 1966-67 season at the Sydney Showground when the fiery Butterworth was disqualified from the feature race.
The following morning Steve compiled an impressive news story and Butterworth interview “sound bites” recorded at the height of the incident that was aired in 2SM programming and news bulletins. Steve’s time at 2SM gave Sydney speedway a tremendous boost.
In 1967 at the completion of a night’s racing at the Sydney Showground, 2SM crossed live to Steve for a speedway news round-up of the night’s action.
Steve was a news reporter at 2SM and on Sunday mornings in the summer of 1966 he did a stint flying over Sydney reporting beach and surfing conditions.
But he really made his mark with 2SM a couple of years later (1968) when he reported the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles.
Steve had earlier checked into the hotel at the completion of an American tour of the United States Auto Club Midget trail with Tattersall.
Armed with tape recorder, he secured a news “voice actuality” with acclaimed American singer and entertainer Andy Williams and also voiced a news report that was recorded down the phone line back to Sydney’s 2SM news department and was played not only across Australia, but his news story was also picked up by the world media after being one of the first journalists on the scene to report the assassination.
On his return to Sydney he was immediately assigned the job of covering the Wally Mellish Glenfield siege as chief news rounds reporter.
His radio career commenced in 1960 as panel operator for John Laws at 2GB.
He later enjoyed some great years at 2UE before he spent almost two decades as News and Current Affairs Director of WSFM. He was one of the original stakeholders of 2WS (in those days on the AM dial). At 2UE he topped the Sydney radio ratings with his morning show in the mid-to-late ‘seventies. Such was his popularity with his runaway radio ratings success, he was given front page coverage in Sydney’s afternoon Daily Mirror newspaper.
He also made his mark in TV and the Steve Raymond Show on Network Ten in 1980 was a massive ratings winner that went up against the Mike Walsh-hosted Midday Show on Channel Nine.
He started at Channel Ten in 1967 as reporter and also read the weekend news bulletins. His time at TEN actually commenced with a cameo appearance in 1965 in what would almost certainly be his first television commentary – and under very tragic circumstances – when he was involved with the news story reporting the death of Speedcar hero Jeff Freeman at Westmead Speedway on May 9, 1965. He reported the tragedy on Bill Peache’s “Telescope” programme.
The commencement of full-time employment at Network Ten (1967) was preceded by a stint at Channel Nine as a speedway correspondent on Ron Casey’s Saturday morning World of Sport programme.
Steve was part of a double act for the popular speedway segment on the show, with former well known TCN Nine weather man Brian Bury a part of the speedway reports. In later years Steve was back at Network Nine on the Mike Willessee Current Affairs programme.
In addition to his golden years at the Sydney Showground, Steve also announced at Liverpool City Raceway for 19 years and also at Westmead Speedway during the ‘sixties when the track enjoyed its best years.
It was at Westmead where he struck up a long time announcing partnership with highly credentialled journalist and all-round good guy, the late Dave Booth. Steve and Dave continued as announcing duo through the great years of Liverpool Raceway and were together until the track’s closure in April, 1989.
Steve spent 18 seasons as lead commentator at Sydney’s Parramatta City Raceway before his speedway announcing retirement in May 2010.
VALE: STEVE RAYMOND – November 17, 1944 – May 28, 2026
