Foxton disc jockey Bill Bodell, 83, broadcasting blind from a bedroom

Foxton radio disc jockey Bill Bodell from Foxy Radio 107.7FM.

Horowhenua Chronicle
29 Mar, 2021
By Paul Williams, Journalist

A Foxton man is broadcasting a radio station from an empty bedroom and would love to know if anyone is listening.

Bill Bodell, 83, is the man behind Foxy Radio, which can be found on 107.7FM.

“I honestly don’t know who is listening. I would love to know,” he said.

Bodell had been broadcasting a huge range of easy listening music for the past five months on the low power frequency station that was free-to-air, and could only be heard in the Foxton and Foxton Beach districts.

Foxton disc jockey Bill Bodell, 83, broadcasts from a bedroom.

He had a studio set up in a spare room at home complete with a microphone and played anything “other than that head-banging stuff”.

“The music I play is music. It’s very good … country and western, R and B, jazz, a lot of big band stuff … and a lot of New Zealand artists, and there is some good modern music out there too,” he said.

Music plays around the clock and he picks and chooses when he goes “live”, normally between 2.30pm and 5.30pm and 8pm and 11.30pm.

He said Foxy Radio was a non-profit organisation that offered free advertising for local businesses and events.

Foxton man Bill Bodell loves tinkering with electronics and old radios.

Now retired, he continues to indulge in his love of music. He has a recording studio at home, too.

Bodell spent his early days in the building trade and did music on the side, but in 1992 took an opportunity to work as a music teacher in Perth at the Joondalup School of Music.

He tutored saxophone, clarinet, trumpet and harmonica.

He returned to New Zealand in 1997 and tutored saxophone and clarinet and set up his own music studio where he recorded and engineered several music albums for local artists.

Foxton radio disc jockey Bill Bodell from Foxy Radio.

Bodell also worked as a DJ with the late Ian Little at the now defunct Radio Foxton, and also at Seabreeze FM in Himatangi with Stu Frith.

© Horowhenua Chronicle – March 29, 2021

This material remains © NZME Publishing Limited and is only to be used for non-commercial personal or research use. Any other use requires permission of the copyright holder.

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