Darren Andrew James (born 7 December 1960) is a long-established Australian radio broadcaster on Melbourne radio station 3AW where he first started working in October 1979. He is also an MC and hosts corporate and public events. A passionate adventure motorcyclist he is known to his cohort as "Afterburner"

Career

Darren James's radio career began in October 1979, when he started as an 'office boy' at 3AW. In that year he moved to a role as an audio engineer for 'Breakfast' and 'The

Derryn Hinch Derryn Nigel Hinch (born 9 February 1944) is a New Zealand-born media personality, politician, actor, journalist and published author. He is best known for his career in Australia, on Melbourne radio and television. He served as a Senator for ...

Program', and in 1986 commenced on-air as co-host of the 3AW Breakfast Show with Uncle Roy (aka

Bruce Mansfield Bruce Mansfield (24 April 1944 – 17 April 2016) was an Australian television/radio personality and narrator. Early career Mansfield began in radio at age 16, when he won a junior announcer's competition at the 3UZ radio station in 1960. The ...

), until 1990. In 1990–1991 James co-hosted (with Bruce Mansfield) 3AK's breakfast programBruce Mansfield. Australia Day website , Retrieved 15 April 2013
and in 1991, moved to TTFM where he co-hosted 'Breakfast' with Jane Holmes for a year and then was a general presenter there until 1994, when he rejoined 3AW. Since 1994, James has hosted twelve hours of 3AW programming on Saturday and Sunday mornings with 'Buy, Swap and Sell', the 'Big Backyard', 'The Big House' and the 'Sunday Morning' program. James has also appeared every week on the light-hearted one-hour feature ''Friday Lunch'', starting in 1996 with

Ernie Sigley Ernest William Sigley (2 September 1938 – 15 August 2021) was an Australian Gold Logie award winning television host, comedian, variety performer, radio presenter and singer. Known as a pioneer of radio and television in Australian, he was o ...

when Sigley was the afternoon host, and since November 2008, with

Denis Walter Denis Clive Walter OAM, (born 3 January 1955) is an Australian radio presenter, baritone singer, recording artist and media personality who also presented television news for 16 years. Career Walter's music career has lasted over forty years ...

's afternoon program, along with Andrew McLaren. Since 1994, James has been the almost-permanent fill-in on

3AW Breakfast ''3AW Breakfast'' is an Australian breakfast radio show hosted by Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft on 3AW in Melbourne. A daily podcast of the morning's show is also produced. History In 1989, Ross Stevenson, Denis Connell and anchor Dean ...

show co-host, firstly with

Ian Cover Ian James Cover (born 31 July 1956) is an Australian radio presenter, comedian, politician and author. He rose to prominence as a founding member of radio sporting comedy group the Coodabeen Champions, entered Victorian state politics in 1996, s ...

, and then from 1996, with

Tony Leonard Anthony Leonard (born 19 December 1955) is an Australian radio presenter. Career In 1982, he joined the radio comedy team Coodabeen Champions, who were then on 3RRR. Following them to 3LO and 3AW he stayed with this team until 2002. He be ...

covering for Ross Stevenson and

John Burns John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...

when they are on leave, usually for eight weeks per year. The exception was the December 2013 – January 2014 summer break when James hosted 3AW's afternoon show whilst Denis Walter took a break. For that period, Peter Maher took the breakfast shift with Tony Leonard. James was a regular contributor to the radio comedy team '

The Coodabeen Champions The Coodabeen Champions (often referred to as The Coodabeens) are an Australian comedy team with radio programs broadcast on the ACE Radio Network in Melbourne on 1377AM 3MP and across regional Victoria and Southern New South Wales. The ''Coodab ...

' when they were on 3AW from the late 1970s to the 1990s. Darren provided character voices for the Coodabeen's phone-in segments. During his long career James has been part of broadcasts from many parts of the world including London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Ethiopia, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Sudan, India and Alice Springs, while co-hosting 'Breakfast' with Bruce Mansfield and as the audio engineer for fellow broadcaster

. James is also an MC and hosts corporate and public events including gatherings of the

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

coterie group, 'The Woodsmen'.

Personal life

James is the son of veteran radio performer, the late Peter James, who worked in radio for around 30 years, including 17 years at 3AW. Darren James is married to Kathy (Kathryn Hopper James), a former television presenter, and they live in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. They have two adult children, Michael and Alice. Following in the family tradition, Michael is a content and executive producer and has worked at 3AW and

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...

and Alice James is a producer who has worked at

and KIIS 1011. James is a keen photographer and gardener.

Interests

Darren is a 'one-eyed'

supporter.

References

External links

3AW website
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Darren Radio personalities from Melbourne 3AW presenters 1960 births Living people People educated at Blackburn High School