| Lee Simon | |
| Birth Name: | Vassilis Simon |
| Birth Place: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Show: | Nightmoves |
| Station: | HSV 7 |
| Network: | Seven Network |
| Timeslot: | Midnight–1:00 a.m. |
| Style: | Adult orientated rock music |
| Country: | Australia |
Vassilis Simon, who worked as Lee Simon (born 1954), is a retired Australian TV presenter and radio DJ, programme director and broadcaster. He hosted adult, album-orientated music show, Nightmoves from 1977 to 1984. As a radio presenter he worked for 3XY (1975–1979), EON FM (1980–2018, rebadged as Triple M Melbourne in 1988). He retired from radio broadcasting in 2018.
Vassilis Simon was born in 1954 in Melbourne to Greek immigrant parents.[1] At age five, he changed his first name to Lee, as "it was easier to use."[1] He worked as an audio engineer from 1971 at local radio station, 3AW.[1] His first job as a DJ was for radio 2BE in Bega, New South Wales followed by stints at 7HT (Hobart), 2NX (Newcastle) and 2SM (Sydney).[1]
Simon returned to Melbourne as a DJ and announcer for radio station 3XY (from 1975) and then EON FM (from 1980), where he became their programme director.[1] [2] [3] He hosted Nightmoves, claimed as Australia's first adult and album-orientated music TV program for HSV 7, from 13 May 1977.[1] Initially trialled for six weeks it was subsequently transmitted nationally via the Seven Network for late Friday night programming from about midnight to 1:00 a.m.[1] [4] By 1982 it was being broadcast on Network 10 at about 10:30 p.m. Monday nights.[5] In 1985 it was re-branded as Rockit for the Nine Network.[6]
In 1995 Simon, as Program Director, was instrumental in Triple M Melbourne (formerly EON FM) beginning live radio broadcasts of AFL matches. As from 2010 he presented the retro music programme, Rock of Ages on Triple M.[7] In 2018 he retired and was inducted into the Australian Commercial Radio Awards Hall of Fame later that year.[8]