21 September 2019

Radio crew give Queanbeyan something to sing about

| Michael Weaver
Join the conversation
35
Nige

Mix 106.3FM morning show host Nige, in the parody to Queanbeyan. Photo: Screenshot.

While sittin’ at the table deciding which Canberra suburb to parody next, the morning crew from Mix 106.3FM threw the rule book out the window … and it landed in Queanbeyan.

To the strains of Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler, 106.3 has immortalised our cousins over the border with a song about a man on a bus bound for Queanbeyan.

“Our suburb songs are always really popular, but for a place like Queanbeyan, that was always going to be the best one ever,” the executive producer of the Kristen and Nige Breakfast Show, Tamara Cartwright, told Region Media.

“Usually we spin a wheel to pick a suburb, and whatever comes up, we write a song about it. We get our listeners to call up and tell us what makes their suburb special and what song we should sing it to.”

This week, breakfast show presenters Nigel Johnson, Kristen Davidson and newsreader Kate Rice dedicated an entire song to what they say is the spiritual home of Canberra and also the Raiders – Queanbeyan.

Watch it below.

https://www.facebook.com/mixcanberra/videos/2692787904118042/?v=2692787904118042

The video immediately went viral, attracting more than 300 comments, 600 shares and more than 21,000 views.

“Obviously everyone is very proud of their suburbs in Canberra, and we do the parodies because we want to celebrate all our listeners and everyone in the Canberra community with these songs. When we did our first one about Kambah, we knew we were on to something,” Tamara said.

“Nige said that we can’t forget about Queanbeyan as it’s the spiritual home of Canberra and the Raiders, but they’re over in NSW and they’re technically not a suburb. He was very keen to show them some love, so he wrote the song in an afternoon and came up with The Gambler to sing it to.

“Usually, we do just a parody of a suburb for 90 seconds or two minutes, but Queanbeyan was our first full whole song with the chorus and everything. We put everything into that song. This is one of the biggest years for the Raiders, so we just had to go large.”

The song mentions the famous green sausages at Lindbeck’s Butchery, Seiffert Oval and the bowlo.

Tamara said they weren’t surprised the video went viral.

“We love seeing friends tagging each other and the local businesses that we mention. We knew Quangers would be big, but we were still surprised that this one went as big as it did.

“It’s so beautiful that we get so many messages from people saying they are singing the song in their car on repeat, so it’s really nice that we can bring everyone together like that,” Tamara said.

Like the song says, “save yourself a house deposit, and move to Queanbeyan”.

Mix 106.3FM’s parody to Queanbeyan. Photo: Screenshot.

Join the conversation

35
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.