Thirty years ago on More FM Auckland 91.8FM, Kim Adamson and Jeremy Corbett launched the radio station's first breakfast show Kim & Corbett - a show that became the voices Aucklanders woke up to for 16 years.
On August 16th 2023, More FM Auckland's 30th Birthday, The Breakfast Club's Lana, Adam & Paul reunite Kim & Corbett on air with their former newsreader Hilary Barry to talk about their early beginnings, radio pranks, Paul's start as their producer, and still staying friends today.
Listen to the full More FM Auckland 30th Birthday podcast:
How Kim & Corbett first started:
Jeremy originally started as Kim's producer on another station before the two were paired to co-host breakfast on the brand-new 91.8 More FM Auckland in 1993.
"We did [trial shows] for several weeks before we went on air... every morning for nearly three months. Then one day, they decided 'We're gonna turn the switch on'," says Kim.
Hilary Barry, Jeremy Corbett and Paul Ego sit opposite Kim Adamson and Lana Searle at More FM's studios (Photo: More FM/Tan Huynh)
Hilary Barry joined the show around 1998 as More FM's nationwide newsreader, which Jeremy jokes was "the start of the downhill."
But while she said she was never "on the original show", she was glad she "hitched her wagon onto them".
"I was thrilled to just be there and soak it up from these guys."
"It was an amazing opportunity for me because I had never been part of a breakfast morning show. I'd sit there between the news bulletins and if the guys wanted to ask for a female point of view, I'd be there to contribute. I learnt so much from the three of them. It was such an education for me as a broadcaster."
Former More FM newsreader Hilary Barry behind the station microphone (Photo: More FM/Tan Huynh)
Paul Ego also joined in the late '90s, first working as a part-time writer for the show, contributing to the series 'Millenium Moments' and eventually becoming the show's producer. Jeremy and Paul had previously known each other in NZ's comedy circuit, and Paul shares how he admired watching Jeremy doing stand-up before joining More FM.
"It really was like working with your idols. Some of the best times of my life."
"Then Hilary came along!" Jeremy jokes.
Hilary was 'Ginger Spice':
Hilary was the first to leave the show for sister station brand RadioLive in the mid-2000s, in what she defines as a "corporate situation".
"That was kind of the beginning of the end of the show," she recounts.
Breaking the news to Kim, Jeremy and Paul while their families were all on holiday in the Coromandel, she remembers how heartbreaking it was.
"I sat you down, and I remember my husband saying 'I'll leave the house'... It was like breaking up with a spouse. I didn't want to do it, and it felt so sad."
"A serious one". L-R: Adam Percival, Lana Searle, Jeremy Corbett, Hilary Barry, Kim Adamson, Paul Ego (Photo: More FM/Tan Huynh)
Producer Paul left to join "the radio station that's similar to a stone" soon after.
"That can be really rough... When that call comes from 'high above', that must suck, right?" Lana asks.
"That happened to both Hilary and I," Paul recounts. "I was certainly told that I had an interest in going to another station... which was weird because I had no memory of expressing that!"
He reflects "Yeah, that worked out in the long run and it hasn't affected our friendship. But it's hard when someone else decides your future, and it's not what you really want at the time."
Kim remembers when he and Jeremy went to confront the "higher-ups" when the word was given that Kim's radio contract was not up for renewal.
"It was interesting... Nothing happened," he laughs.
Kim finished his last More FM shift in 2009, and Jeremy was the last to leave More FM in 2011 after 18 years of hosting the breakfast show on the station.
"The family broke up... But we've kept in contact, and the bond is still there!" shares Hilary.
"It really was like working with your idols," Paul Ego (centre) on working with Jeremy Corbett and Kim Adamson (Photo: More FM/Tan Huynh)
"You can never fake chemistry".
"I never told the boss this for obvious reasons, but I would have done that job for free," Hilary reflects. "I was being entertained by these guys every morning. And it just set you up for the day!"
"I left that building with a spring in my step and then went off to my other job on the tele."
"It's just the best team I've ever worked with. Each of these individually massively talented people are so much fun. It really was a highlight of my broadcasting career," Jeremy recounts.
"Absolutely for me too," Kim reaffirms.
"I also quite liked it," jokes Paul, adding he needed to be careful. "My new family's here!" he says, gesturing to his current co-hosts Lana and Adam.
Jeremy and Hilary are now "big-time competitors" as hosts battling in the 7 pm slot (Seven Sharp for Hilary, and The Project for Jeremy). And they confess they didn't tell their respective TV stations that they were reuniting on More FM for the special show today.
"I've had occasions where I'll be on air and for some other reason, and it doesn't happen often, but we might text each other between the ads!" Hilary laughs.
"I wonder if the bosses at TV3 or TVNZ realise that the opposing presenters of this show are texting each other during their shows!"
And while we know Paul returned to his radio roots at More FM to be part of The Breakfast Club with Lana Searle and Adam Percival this year, Kim Adamson has remained the quiet legend still serving the radio industry. He's been busy training the next generation of radio stars who will take their jobs!
Working with the New Zealand Radio Training School, he explains that "I'm still 'hanging in there' doing that. It's fun." And he can recognise a number of his former students roaming the offices of More FM and MediaWorks today.
Kim Adamson sits behind the More FM microphone next to Lana Searle. (Photo: More FM/Tan Huynh)
"I hope [the students] know how lucky they are" Lana says, to which Kim responds "I hope so too!"
