Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talk.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Said, B Hello, ayj Hey, here's Buzzo bumble Listen. He's
asking you if you've missed him. Have you missed Buzzo bumble?
(00:36):
How are you feeling? Buzzer bumblebee. He's so pleased to
hear from you.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
AJ.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
That is the voice of Lindsay Yo. Sadly, he passed
away at his home in Richmond, Nelson on Tuesday afternoons,
surrounded by his family.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
He was only seventy eight years old.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
Yo hosted news Talk, said b or twesdaid b as
what was called then in Wellington for twenty three years
between seventy two and ninety five, holding the number one
spot continuously until the late eighties. Two of his co
workers on that particular show what we would call in
the industry legends, Raylen Ramsey and John macbeth, and I'm
(01:14):
blessed to have them both on the show back where
they started in news Talks here b Wellington Studio.
Speaker 5 (01:21):
Good morning, Raylen, Hi, Nick, how are you?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
I'm great, Thank you, thank you for coming on. And
John McBeth, Good morning John.
Speaker 6 (01:30):
And Raylan doesn't sound any different. How do you do,
Raley Dust, that was thrilling to hear the Buzzo Bumble
piece that you played there, Nick, and that and the kids'
reaction to it. I think over the twenty five years
or so that Lindsay was in that role, he would
(01:52):
have touched thousands of families and the hearts of kids.
And I've heard on your show today people ringing up
people in their fifties and sixties probably who were kids
and listened to Buzzo Bumble, had their birthdays read out
by Buzzo Bumble and engaged with Lindsay. And he was
(02:13):
remarkably talented in that role.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
Rayleian, you would have been a very young broadcasting person
when you started working with him. And I know from
meeting him with a handshaker, that's all I could say.
It was a handshaker, that was all. He wasn't the
most mammummum easy guy to work with.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
Oh really, well, I think I think what is true
about Lindsay is that he came to life behind the microphone,
and as soon as he steps away from the microphone,
he was just a normal guy and a very private man.
So you know, we wouldn't say a lot to each
(02:52):
other when we're out in the programs area or on
meetings or anywhere, because he gave so much in his
radio show, and I think that's what everybody does that
is so talented, Like he gives us all, and then
when he steps away from the microphone, he just became Okay,
I'm just a normal guy, and I'm not going to
(03:14):
go home and be with my family and give to them.
So he was always very private, and I think everybody
just respected that because of his huge talent. So I
you know, the I started working with him actually in
the in the seventies, back back and broadcasting house days
when I used to answer the phone for him when
(03:35):
I was just an intern, and then after I started
reading news, we just kind of organically had a rapport
which was basically me just putting him down all the time,
which people love, but he you know, the thing was
I think, as John has kind of alluded to, is
that he was incredibly relatable on the radio. And one
(03:58):
of the things that you can always tell people that are,
you know, new to the industry is you can only
ever be yourself, and if you yourself, then you come
relatable and then you will be successful. And I mean
he proved it. And I'm reading the responses on the
Facebook post you put up today, John, and everybody is
saying that he was such an inspiration. And I don't
(04:21):
think we probably realized that John when we were working
with him, because I think we just all had, you know,
the three of us, I think with the sunniest on
radio pattern.
Speaker 6 (04:34):
Sorry, carry on.
Speaker 5 (04:37):
I was just saying that I think the three of
us on the radio were probably the funniest times I've
ever had in radio, absolutely shared. We all shared such
a similar sense of humor, and we just had so
much fun because we enjoyed each other so.
Speaker 6 (04:51):
Many And it wasn't all that people heard either in
the background. The three of us. We would go to
ear sometimes with tears in our eyes, didn't we because
we've been having such a good time, the hilarity. It
was the job in which I couldn't wait to get there,
although I got there a bit later than you, often
(05:12):
just getting there in time to read the six o'clock
sports news. But the banter that went on, and you're true,
it took a real chemistry, I think for the three
of us to work together so you know, successfully, and
it was a very successful show. But it really did
depend on that. You've mentioned talent, that Lindsay had one
(05:33):
of the most talented broadcasters ever. I think his energy
was unlimited. I couldn't believe it. And you know, he'd
be working at night, he'd be out doing shows, he'd
be working with his kids, he'd be you know, in
the family you know those Christmas families where the family
shows where the whole family would come in and Lindsey
and jam and the kids would be there and they'd
(05:53):
talk about their Christmas and they'd bring people in and
they'd have interviews. It was it was wonderful and it
was in a different time. Of course, running wasn't it
where the competition you know what really was too zb
that was it basically radio when he had kicked in
and that sort of thing, and it was all to
do with Lindsay. I think you mentioned earlier, the highest
(06:16):
rating radio show ever in the Wellington region. And it
went on and on until the radio scene changed and
suddenly listeners woke up and it wasn't Lindsay yoh, it
was Paul Holmes from Auckland doing the breakfast show. So
you know that was what sort of ended it. But
he had remote fall tenure.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
John he had and Railian he had over fifty percent
of the I can't even say that with a straight face.
You know, sometimes I celebrate getting to fourteen or fifteen
percent he was, you know, and I'm thinking, I'm pretty
dam good he was fifty percent.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
Yeah, but next there was as John said, there was
no competition, and so, you know, it is it's such
a different landscape. You really can't compare ratings wise. But
what you can think about is the fact that that
was the days when radio personalities were huge because there
was no Internet, there was no social media.
Speaker 7 (07:10):
It was television and radio and the radio.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
Like we would go out and do obs outside broadcasts
all the time because he always wanted to get out
and be with the people, and it was just a
whole different scenario where you know, you'd listen to him
in the morning and then you would have the chance
to actually meet him, and it was he was godlike really,
(07:33):
because we all grew up listen. I mean I went
to school and Wellington and I listened to him before
I joined him on the radio. So you know, I
think I think that that kind of tenure is very
rare these days.
Speaker 7 (07:45):
And it is one to be absolutely celebrated.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Can I just ask you both?
Speaker 7 (07:50):
Can I?
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Can I just ask you? No?
Speaker 4 (07:53):
No, I'll let you have your say, John, because I
want to hear from you. But I just want to
ask you your funniest, each of you your funniest. Lindsay,
oh moment. You know when someone passes you just think
automatically of one thing, Raylen, what was that one thing
that you thought of when you got the bad news
this morning?
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Well, to be honest, Nick, it wasn't actually being on
the radio with him. It was actually you know, I
mentioned this to my husband today. I said, do you
remember when Amy was born and I was in Wellington
Hospital and Lindsey and Jan came and visited us with
a big bunch of flowers, and then a few and
then a few weeks after that, he came to the house,
(08:31):
to our home and he took photos of Amy and
I because he was he loved taking photos, he loved
he was a photographer. And that's what I remember, because
those moments were crucial to me and everything else we
kind of just shared with everyone and just honestly, what
you heard was real, It was real. It was nothing
concoct it. It was all natural and by the way,
(08:53):
it was never planned.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
I was going to ask that question. I was going
to ask you, was he my costing planner prep by working?
Speaker 5 (09:00):
No, No, totally different. I mean there would be some planning, obviously,
but everything that you would hear, particularly amongst the three
of us, John was all off the cart.
Speaker 6 (09:11):
And it was well, you know what when I hadn't
seen Lindsay for many years after he left Wellington and
they went over to Richmond, but I was over there.
This is going back some years now, and we're doing
a bit of a wine trail in Nelson and someone
had seen me at a winery, had got hold of Lindsay,
(09:33):
said Macbeth's in town. Lindsay he said, oh, which way
was he heading? And about three wineries down the road,
here's Lindsay and jan Yoe waiting for us because they'd
heard that we were there. And they said, okay, he'll
probably go to these places. He won't stay long, he'll
you know, and so they timed and it was wonderful
to see him, and I thought, just you know, it
(09:55):
was like what he was. He went out of his
way to mix with people and to be friendly, and
we were quite close neighbors, and Carrory there for a while,
and he remember going around to his house night and
he said, come and have a look at this. He'd
set up this theater in his house. And that's the
sort of.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Guy he was.
Speaker 6 (10:12):
He was incredibly talented, not just with what he said.
Can I just is it breaking a confidence?
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Raylan?
Speaker 6 (10:20):
Do you think if we talk about buzz buzzo? And
I walk into the studio on my first day and
I thought, I've got to see what this buzzo bumble?
How does he do this? Buzzo bumble? And here he
reaches down into a little drawer underneath the announcer's desk
and hauls out of an old torch, and and he
had it all set up so that when he pushed
(10:42):
the button, rather than the light coming on, it went
and he could he could hold a conversation with already torch.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
Well, I cannot believe that I talked to that torch
on many occasion. I knew what it looked like, but
I still treated it as if it was buzzo bumble.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
You know what, guys, I cannot believe it.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
I always thought it was like a fingy thing, like
a hand but I always thought there was actually a
thing called buzzle.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
There was a buzzer Bumble. It was Aleman Torch.
Speaker 6 (11:11):
You told me we've shatted everyone's illusions. Now mate, we've
ruined fifty year old's dreams.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Can I just read something to you both?
Speaker 4 (11:19):
A lot of people wondered why this is from from
Lindsay himself. A lot of people wondered why I chose
to be and it was working at wait for it,
you guys know the answer.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
This to z B to be the obvious, and he could.
Speaker 6 (11:36):
Dress it and it was yellow and black like a bee,
which were Wellington's colors. He was a true Wellingtonian even
though he was born in Southland. And also really we
didn't realize at the time, I don't think, but we would.
We'd get messages from people in Nelson and whider Wrapper
and Hawk's Bay. The two z be Riach was absolutely extraordinary.
(11:56):
So it's not just Wellingtonians who will miss Lindsay or
who missed Lindsay when he was eventually off the air,
but it was people from a wide area. It was Yeah,
he was well. He was a unique person and a
wonderful entertainer and God, he's going to.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Be missed well.
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Thank you both so much. Raylan, I've got to say
that I always classify you as a Wellingtonian.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
You're a Tower College old girl. Like Jason Pine.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
The two of you are the Tarwo College old students,
so I always think of you as a Wellingtonian. Whenever
I hear you, which is every day of the week
of my life, I always think this is a Tarwer
College old girl.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
That's a Wellingtonian.
Speaker 7 (12:33):
And John m Yeah, you were a year below me.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
I remember you and you've done so incredibly well.
Speaker 7 (12:39):
Congratulations to you, Nick, oh, thank you for that.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
I didn't think you'd remember me, you.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
Know, oh my neck, of course I remember.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
Well, lots of love to you guys. Thank you both
very much. It was amazing to hear from your job.
I've got to say I've got a tear of my
eye from both of you. So it's been amazing to
talk to you both. Have a great afternoon and have
a glass of wine or have something and sit back
and celebrate the life of one super super superstar.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
That's what issue is.
Speaker 7 (13:08):
We will thank you for the thank you for.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
I've got shouting seven minutes to live and buy.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills. Listen live
to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio