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From: 2010-09-23
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Nic Ciro
Nic Ciro has been involved in radio for much of his life. The surname “Ciro” is an abbreviation of a long Croatian surname. Nic didn’t shorten it – his dad did on arrival in South Africa. His father was born on the Croatian island of Vis, which is also the birthplace of the tennis player Goran Ivanisevic.
Nic fantasised about being a radio presenter from about the age of six, when he became weirdly fascinated by headphones and seven singles. He grew up hearing Douglas Laws and Paddy O’ Byrne. Later he listened to John Berks and Stan Katz.
After forays into acting at school, and inspired by the television series “WKRP in Cincinnati”, Nic ventured into radio at Wits University on “Voice of Wits”. There he hosted a top show as “Dr Spock”. Accompanying him were Nick Haines as “Superman Nick”, and Irma Fuchs as “Laura De Crock”. (Nick is now in the banking world, while Irma is a leading light in the publishing world.)
Radio “proper” for Nic was initiated by his winning a 702 audition. This led to several years work on Capital Radio, where he was trained by Kevin Savage. “Kevin was a master”, says Nic, “and I was really fortunate to be mentored by him”. Capital Radio was the spark that ignited commercial radio presentation in South Africa, and Nic fondly remembers the presentation styles of Alan Mann, Jim Ellery and the legendary Allan Pierce.
After Capital Nic joined 5FM, the nation-wide station that eventually attracted the likes of the afore-mentioned Savage, Alex Jay, Brian Oxley and Tony Blewitt. Nic spent hours listening to Chris Prior and Rafe Levin, and being able to work with them was inspirational. He stayed at 5FM for twelve years before taking a break, and is perhaps best remembered for his Sunday night shows and for the controversial movie reviews that were broadcast by Alex Jay.
Nic’s first love was jazz, although he has always been drawn to classical music. As Leonard Bernstein said, “It’s all jazz!” Listen to Nic on the FMR Drive show on weekdays between 4 and 6 pm. (He takes a break on Wednesdays, when Dirk Binneman is in). Every 2nd Thursday, he entertains Michael Oliver at 17:30, for the Pick n Pay "Talking Wine" feature.
