‘Uncle’ Ray always a hit with listeners
- After 72 years spinning everyone’s favourites, record-breaking DJ Ray Cordeiro is hanging up his headphones owing to fears over Covid-19
Institution is a word that usually describes an organisation of one kind or another that is part of the fabric of society, like a university. But one dictionary definition also recognises a person who has been important to a place for as long as most people can remember.
Cordeiro’s signature show, All the Way with Ray, will end its more than half-century on-air run when he turns off his microphone tonight. Sadly, it, though not the man, is a casualty of the times. Having put off looming retirement for a long time, he says his hand was forced by the pandemic.
I have found working these past many months in the presence of Covid-19 difficult
“I have found working these past many months in the presence of Covid-19 difficult, especially knowing that I am in the high-risk demographic both for the virus and the vaccination,” he said last week in announcing his decision.
Born in 1924 to a large Hong Kong Portuguese family, he worked at Stanley prison and with his father at HSBC before his love of music playing in a jazz band got him into radio. He began his broadcasting career with commercial station Radio Rediffusion in 1949, first as a scriptwriter and then moving behind the microphone to host music programmes and talent shows.
He switched to public broadcaster RTHK in 1960 and, through his programmes, helped local talent find stardom and interviewed dozens of international popular music stars, among them the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Cliff Richard, Tony Bennett, Elton John, Ella Fitzgerald and the Bee Gees.
Uncle Ray could easily have had an “ordinary” Hong Kong life. Instead, he chose to entertain and he has earned a host of accolades for his contribution at home and abroad. He is truly a legend of local broadcasting. The man recognised by Guinness World Records as “The World’s Most Durable DJ” will be missed by people of all ages.
