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| Arnold Frolows was one of the founding staff hired for 2JJ. (ABC Archives) |
By Dan Condon - Double J
Arnold Frolows, a key figure in establishing the sound of triple j and steering its musical direction for decades, has died. He was 74.
Frolows died in Sydney's Mona Vale hospice on Sunday morning, with his partner Christine King by his side. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer less than a month ago.
From flower deliveryman to media trailblazer
In the mid-1970s, Frolows was delivering flowers around Sydney when the opportunity to interview for a role at the ABC's brand-new youth radio station came up.
Marius Webb and Ron Moss had been tasked with building the station and they hired Frolows before its launch after a tip from Webb's then secretary.
"Arnold joined Double J before it went to air, indeed, he was one of the first of its very first employees," long-term colleague Stuart Matchett said at Frolows's retirement party in 2014.
"He acquired much of the vinyl that made up the original music library. He programmed the music for many of the shows on Double J."
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| Arnold Frolows with his longtime friend and triple j colleague Stuart Matchett. |
Speaking with industry website RadioInfo back in 2005, Webb said Frolows's early involvement was key to establishing the station's early sound.
"Getting Arnold and Margot [Edwards, music librarian] on the team as quickly as we did was one of the key factors in building the station's early success as a proper 'music' station, which was what Ron and I had persuaded ABC management it had to be."
Frolows began at the ABC in November 1974 as a research assistant in the Contemporary Radio Unit, before becoming a presenter and producer on the new 2JJ from July 1975.
His initial stint at the ABC was short, as he decamped overseas in 1977 where he took up other music-industry roles.
By 1981, Frolows was back in Australia and back on the station now known as triple j. He worked as a presenter and producer on various programs, including the Sunday night program, Ambience, which became a cult hit as it introduced audiences to downbeat, often hypnotic music rarely heard on other stations.
His role as music director became official in 1993, but this didn't stop him from being on the tools. He served as the producer for Helen Razer and Mikey Robins' triple j breakfast program in the 1990s and would appear on triple j programs presenting new music through the early 2000s.
"As music director, Arnold had a huge effect on the musical sound of triple j, and therefore on Australian radio in general," Matchett said in 2014.
"Arnold constructed the triple j playlist, balancing new and familiar, variety of styles, male and female vocals, Australian content, tempo, tone, lyric content.
"He monitored how it sounded on air and talked to the presenters about their choices and how they related to the music when they were playing it."
A life after triple j
Frolows left triple j in May of 2003. Before his departure, he'd been subject to a raft of commentary regarding his suitability for the role given his age. But he left the role of his own choosing, and never believed his age precluded him performing his job effectively.
"I would say if you're still interested [in music] and your ears are still excited, it doesn't matter how old you are," he told the Sydney Morning Herald just before his departure.
"triple j is always ebbing and flowing with the currents of fashion and style. Questions like, 'Are we playing too much metal and not enough dance music and Aussie hip hop?'"
He remained at the ABC for another 11 years following his departure from triple j, first working on a project unearthing gems from the triple j live music catalogue, before becoming a key figure in the ABC's digital radio expansion, serving as music director for ABC digital radio for several years.
With Matchett, he set up Dig Radio, which launched in July 2009 and then became Double J in 2014.
The two men were also responsible for establishing the ABC Jazz and ABC Country channels around the same time, expanding the ABC's support for genres not always extensively covered on other radio stations.
"Arnold has been a superb example to the rest of us of what is possible at work and that it is possible, even in a public-service environment, to do something that is really bloody interesting," Webb said at Frolows's retirement.
The timing of Frolows's passing is especially poignant: it was just three days before his 75th birthday, and this Sunday marks 50 years since the original 2JJ first went to air.
First published at ABC News, January 13, 2025
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