‘Godfather’ of Hong Kong radio still pushing on with his passion for music
DJ with numerous records under his belt says his radio programme on RTHK is his life and that he has no plans to retire
“Uncle Ray” has been around for so long that even calling him the “Godfather of Hong Kong pop music” is inadequate to fully describe him or honour his illustrious broadcasting career.
“What about ‘Great Godfather’?” Ray Cordeiro jokingly suggested. The “Godfather” title was used in his Chinese Wikipedia page, under Kwok Lei-man, his Chinese name.
He was born Reinaldo Maria Cordeiro in Wan Chai on December 12, 1924, the fifth of six children to Luiz and Livia Cordeiro, both of Portuguese descent. His father was from Hong Kong and his mother from Macau.
“All the Cordeiros are gone. I am the only one left,” he said sadly during an interview at a studio at RTHK, where he has been spinning vinyls and CDs since 1960. Before that, he spent 11 years at Rediffusion, a now defunct cable radio service. In 2000, he was recognised as the world’s “most durable radio DJ” by the Guinness World Records and he has maintained the record up to this day.
With 67 years of airtime under his belt, the nonagenarian has interviewed a host of musical legends, including Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Patti Page, Frank Sinatra and Paul Mauriat. He also met a few artists, such as the Beatles and Matt Monro, more than once.
Cordeiro was instrumental in nurturing the first generation of local bands and musicians in the 1960s, such as Sam Hui and The Lotus, and Teddy Robin and the Playboys, with The Fabulous Echoes, a band made up of Filipinos, becoming Hong Kong’s first pop group to export its music to the West.
