Unlikely as it might seem, when 2SM commenced broadcasting in 1931 it was owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. The original 2SM licence was held by Fr. James Meany, parish priest at St Mark's church in Drummoyne. 2SM officially fired up on December 24, 1931 with an address by Archbishop Kelly, followed by High Mass from St. Mary's basilica. The original frequency was 1270 kHz (236 metres). (In fact, the Catholic Broadcasting Company sold it only in 1992.) The "SM" call sign was taken from Sydney's St Mark's Church — not, as many believe, from St Mary's Cathedral.

In 1958, 2SM relocated to 257 Clarence Street, Sydney while maintaining its conservative, family-oriented style. At the time, General Manager Bill Stephenson, who received an OBE for services to broadcasting, ran the station. In September 1963 Stephenson oversaw a radical overhaul of 2SM's format when the station commenced 24-hour service. (In those days it was still common for radio and TV stations to close in the late evening and this practice persisted in commercial television well into the Seventies.) 2SM was re-launched as a Top 40 station, featuring Australia's first team of disc jockeys, dubbed "The Good Guys" — a US-inspired format subsequently copied by 3AK, 5KA, 6PR and others.

Bob Rogers

2SM rapidly gained popularity with youth audiences during the wave of Beatlemania in ’64, thanks in part to a coup scored by DJ Bob Rogers who had won the exclusive right to accompany the Fab Four on their tour of Australia. Battling its rivals 2UE and 2UW, and against stiff resistance from the station's own conservative board, Stephenson took 2SM to the top of the ratings, but this success was to be short-lived. By the end of 1965, the Catholic Broadcasting Company decided that the station's push to capture the youth audience had gone too far and the Good Guys team was disbanded in favour of a more “mature” approach, daggily called "King Radio". Teens deserted the station in droves, jumping ship to its competitor, 2UW and its charismatic groover DJ, Ward “Pally” Austin. For the next four years UW was Sydney's most popular Top 40 station.

Mike Walsh

Searching for a response to 2UW’s success, 2SM became the first station in the country to adopt the new "talkback" technology. 2UE claimed they were first but, according to radio historian Wayne McCardell, it was Mike Walsh on 2SMwho presented Australia's first regular talkback program.

In late 1968 former Good Guy Rod Muir was appointed as 2SM's new Program Manager and oversaw a complete overhaul of the station's presentation and programming style, based on trends he had observed in America. In November 1968, 2SM reverted to an all-music format. Exploiting the popularity of the satirical US television program "Laugh In", the station introduced a new positioning, "Sock it to Me" (which conveniently included the station call letters) and which included promotional gimmicks such as station messages voiced by “celebrities” such as NSW Premier Robert Askin.

In 1969, Muir developed a new team of Good Guys, including the return of "resident loon" Mad Mel and 2SM aggressively fought to regain the youth audience it had lost to 2UW.

2SM established itself as one of the country’s most promotionally active and innovative commercial stations. Muir successfully transplanted the American "More Music" format to Sydney and redefined the whole premise of music radio in Australia. The new format had several significant effects. First and foremost, it brought to an abrupt end the days of the "personality" DJs, as exemplified by 2UW's Ward Austin. The rigid new formatting restricted the on-air presentation freedom, replacing it with a largely faceless and interchangeable roster of an American-style "rock jocks".

Even more significantly, the More Music format took programming decisions out of the hands of DJs and put them into the hands of consultants and back room programming executives. As the More Music format took hold, support for local music content fell away drastically. A comparison of the charts from 1966 (the peak year for Australian charting records in this period) and for 1973 shows a massive swing away from locally produced music in favour of American product.

From around 1970 until the mid ‘eighties, 2SM dominated Sydney commercial radio. At its peak in the late ‘seventies it was the highest rating and most profitable station in the history of Australian radio. It epitomised and defined commercial Top 40 radio practice around the country for 15 years.

In the mid-seventies, the freewheeling programming policies of the ABC's new AM youth station 2JJ (Double J) were formulated in direct opposition to 2SM's rigid More Music formula, yet ironically Double J's FM successor Triple J eventually came to emulate its former rival after former 2SM program director Barry Chapman was appointed to manage Triple J's transition from its Sydney base to a national network.

Nevertheless, 2SM’s new "More Music format proved hugely popular and vastly profitable ­­– according to Barry Chapman, 2SM's profits increased from $1.5 million to $6 million in the first year. For the next six years 2SM reigned supreme in Sydney.

Muir sold,the More Music format and their programming expertise to other commercial stations and it was soon picked up by Melbourne’s 3XY, Newcastle’s 2NX, Brisbane’s 4IP, 5AD in Adelaide and 6PM in Perth, creating an informal network of sound-alike stations in almost every capital city. Backed by their obvious achievements at 2SM, Muir ran one of the most successful media businesses of the day.

2SM introduced its famous denim zipper logo.

At the start of 1975 2SM was faced with the first substantial challenge to its dominance over Sydney's youth market, although supporters of the station still tend to downplay or even dismiss its significance. In January the ABC launched Australia's first 24-hour non-commercial pop music station, 2JJ. Double J quickly made significant inroads with the youth audience, capturing around 10 percent of the vital 18-25 audience, placing it second only to 2SM in that demographic. The announcer chosen to host the inaugural shift was Holger Brockman and Double J gleefully played up the fact that in his previous job at 2SM he was obliged to work under the WASP-ish, whitebread pseudonym of “Bill Drake”.

Double J and the ABC’s new TV national pop show Countdown created a new interface between the record companies and the commercial radio stations. After a dream run of five years at the top, something had to give at 2SM, but the first hint of trouble was known only within the industry. Rod Muir's lavish jet-set lifestyle and his colossal success with his company Digamae created friction with the station's owners, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. Muir left the station under a cloud in late 1976; the ensuing lawsuit was settled out of court in January 1977.

Muir was succeeded as manager by former DJ Barry Chapman. Chapman didn't just continue 2SM's winning formula; he greatly expanded it and was responsible not only for maintaining 2SM as the top-rating station in the city for several more years, but also for greatly expanding 2SM's role in supporting local music — something Muir had largely failed to do. Chapman's arrival marked the beginning of what can fairly be considered 2SM's "golden age".

Many members of 2SM's news division went on to successful careers in radio and TV, including journalists Steve Liebmann, Brian White and Mike Gibson, commentator John Tingle, weatherman Alan Wilkie and features reporter David White. Chapman appointed Ian McRae to the breakfast shift and promised that if McRae followed his direction, he would be number one within a year. Chapman proved correct and the team of McRae and Nick Jones ruled the timeslot for years, creating a template that has been copied ever since. Jocks from this era of 2SM became household names — McRae and Jones, Mike Gibson and George Moore, Ron E. Sparx, Mike Drayson, Alan Steele, Peter Grace, Gordon "Googy" O'Byrne, Grahame "Durry" Rodgers, Keith Williams and Mal Hedstrom. McRae hosted breakfast for a record-breaking 13 years. In the "Chapman era" from 1976-80 2SM's classic weekday lineup was broken into even three-hour shifts, which ran as follows:

Breakfast (6-9 am): Ian McRae and sidekick "The Honorable" Nick Jones, with news, commentary and weather from Steve Liebmann, Brian White, John Tingle, Alan Wilkie, surf reporter Shane Steadman and overseas correspondents such as John Raidler. Morning (9-12 noon): Mike Gibson and George Moore, with talk and interviews. Early afternoon (12-3 pm): Gordon O'Byrne. Drivetime (3-6 pm): Ron E. Sparx.

This was the station's peak period, an era fondly remembered by 2SM fans. It was in this period, still riding on the crest of its phenomenal success, that 2SM moved from Clarence St to palatial new premises at 186 Blues Point Rd, North Sydney. Many will recall Ian McRae's madcap antics and his many memorable April Fool's Day jokes from this era, convincing innumerable listeners that 2SM would carry out such improbable stunts as towing an iceberg into Sydney Harbour, or the legendary “flying the jumbo jet under the Harbour Bridge” prank. Every weekend, 2SM's veteran footy commentator, the Brylcreemed, bespectacled, gravel-voiced Frank Hyde called the Rugby League match of the day. And, after all, it was still owned by the Catholic Church, so Mass was broadcast every Sunday night at 7.30pm, without fail, followed by earnest Sunday night religious affairs programs — hosted in later years by radio priest Father Jim McLaren.

Throughout the ‘seventies 2SM staged a string of landmark outdoor shows featuring the top local acts of the day. One of the most memorable was the huge free concert on the steps of the Sydney Opera House on 26 May 1974. It was attended by over 25,000 people and headlined by Stevie Wright — with Stevie reunited on stage with his former Easybeats bandmates Harry Vanda and George Young.

2SM's greatest event (and perhaps its last hurrah as a major force in Sydney radio) was undoubtedly the landmark “Concert Of The Decade”. The brainchild of Barry Chapman, again it was staged on the Opera House forecourt, and it probably remains the largest concert ever held in Australia, attended by a staggering 180,000 people — some of whom no doubt were staggering.

Chapman's concept was to bring together top Australian artists who had had major hits of the 1970s: Mental as Anything, Colleen Hewett, Russell Morris, Ted Mulry Gang, Doug Parkinson, Bob Hudson, Ol' 55, Max Merritt, Stevie Wright, Kevin Borich, Richard Clapton, Marc Hunter reunited with Dragon, John Paul Young, Marcia Hines, Jon English and Sherbet … not to mention Norman Gunston. Clips still surface on TV from time to time, and in particular Stevie Wright's electrifying performance of Evie, backed by the All-Stars remains a defining moment in Australian rock performance history.

In the early 80's
The Commodore Hotel
was 2SM's second office.

1980 marked the beginning of a sharp decline in 2SM's fortunes in particular, and the beginning of the end for commercial AM pop radio. The introduction of FM broadcasting that year proved to be 2SM's undoing. 2JJJ-FM (formerly Double J) was the first to switch to FM, but the most serious threat proved to be the two new commercial FM rock stations, 2DAY-FM and 2MMM-FM (Triple M). Despite these external threats, the irony is that the biggest single blow to 2SM was self-inflicted. To meet the FM challenge, Barry Chapman decided to reposition 2SM to catch the older, more affluent demographic that was expected to go to FM. He masterminded a bold new album-oriented format.

Managing director Garvin Rutherford sacked Chapman. With Chapman gone, veteran employee John Torv was drafted to replace him. The album-track play list was trimmed back, but this failed to arrest the ratings decay so Torv was removed and David White, former assistant program director under Chapman, was installed in his place. Drivetime king Ron E. Sparx moved to 2UW. The audience drift was serious and it was exacerbated by the continuing loss of the station's key talent. Mike Gibson had quit in 1979, as had Sparx. The "brain drain" continued into the 80s — John Tingle went to join 2GB; Ian McRae and Nick Jones left in 1982 and George Moore departed in April 1983 for 2DAY-FM. Another serious loss was the decision to downgrade its news service, once the best in the industry; even the faithful Alan Wilkie was eventually “let go”.

2SM struggled to hold on to a meager 6 percent audience share as more and more listeners switched to FM, and especially to 2SM's nemesis, Triple M — which, ironically, was owned by the station's former white knight, Rod Muir.

Another desperate re-branding as "2SM, The Power" failed to halt the inexorable ratings slide. At this point 2SM gave up the fight entirely and (like Melbourne's 3AK, once the top pop station in its home city) it briefly suffered the indignity of a name change and the switch to an “easy listening’ format as "Lite ’n Easy 1269". There was a final valiant attempt to regain lost ground with a return to rock music and a new "Rock of the 80’s" branding in 1984-85. 2SM put up a valiant fight and briefly went back into double figures in the ratings, but in the long run nothing could halt the ascendancy of FM and 2SM's gradual slide into obscurity.

The pop audience had almost totally migrated to FM, abandoning the AM band to the talking heads, and 2SM's ratings plummeted ever lower. Finally the Catholic Broadcasting Company surrendered to the inevitable in 1992.

In 1992, 2SM was sold to arch rival 2WS. Under WS, there were further bids to salvage the station with re-brandings — first as " Sydney’s Hottest Country" station and then with a “hits and memories” format as "Gold 1269". U nder the leadership of General Manager Ian Walker, “Gold 1269” reached a 7.4% market share becoming number 5 in the Sydney market . After another change of ownership there was an ambitious attempt to establish an alternative adult-oriented country/rock/blues format as KICK-AM, with former 2SM alumnus Trevor Smith directing the programming.

The last, poignant gasp for 2SM came in 1996, when Rod Muir made a surprise return and bought the station which had launched his career. On Christmas Day 1996 — 2SM's 65th anniversary — KICK AM was axed and the old-style 2SM was reinstated, complete with an update of the faithful old denim zipper logo. But despite the goodwill and the presence of industry heavyweights including Muir and breakfast supremo Doug Mulray (Muir's brother-in-law) the re-launch flopped dismally.

In 1997 Muir unloaded the station to former INXS and Midnight Oil manager Chris M. Murphy.