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They were the halcyon days of community radio in New Zealand, with a heady mix of music, news, comedy and competitions.
In the days when Radio New Zealand and its predecessor the NZBC were based in Wellington, the station attracted many of the country’s top broadcasters - Sir Paul Holmes, Leighton Smith, Doreen Kelso, Dick Weir, Wayne Mowat, Paddy O’Donnell, Geoff Robinson, Relda Familton, and Murray Forgie to name a few.
And yet Lindsay Yeo was the star among them, with a huge audience who adored his quick wit, the banter with his newsreader and regular guests, such as Nancy of Naenae and Sir Nigel Noring, and most of all, the cheery upbeat patter.
He created a character for the children’s birthday calls - Buzz O’Bumble who became a phenomenon, sparking five records.
In an oral history recorded in 2005 Yeo described the creation of the character.
“A lot of people wondered why I choose a bee, and I was working at 2-Z-Bee ... and the bees seemed to be obvious ... I was influenced a lot by a trip I’d had to Anaheim and Disneyland, and I was in awe of Walt Disney and all he stood for, and his entertainment of children.”
When Buzz married Belinda in 1974, the happy couple paraded through Wellington and Hutt Valley with thousands flocking to the streets to see them.
Three children followed and Yeo also created a villain to extend the fictional family in Wally Weta.
Wellington radio host Lindsay Yeo. The popular host and creator of the Buzz O'Bumble character has died aged 78. Photo / Newstalk ZB
Yeo took Buzz on the road, running stage shows around the region for years, with young children filling town halls everywhere.
It was a family affair, with Yeo’s four young children dressing up as the O’Bumble family, in costumes created by his wife, Jan.
Yeo’s love of the stage and performing extended to the release of his own single in 1980 when he released a cover of The Sunshine of your Smile.
Yeo, a music buff, would sometimes create his own songs, to mark such community triumphs such as the Wellington rugby team winning the Ranfurly Shield in 1981.
Yeo said he rebelled against the radio tradition of sticking to a strict formula and scripted radio, and often didn’t decide what he would do or say on air until the moment arrived.
“I was loose because I would like to surprise, be unpredictable, and be fun. And sometimes you can’t plan unpredictability and fun, it has to just happen.”
He said he had internal battles over his style all the time, with bosses complaining he didn’t play enough music.
But Yeo believed his comedy was often better than the music.
“Some people who were in a position to put the wheel clamps on me had absolutely no idea, and it was sad ... Sadly I did work for many years in an environment which didn’t allow for full creativity, or it was poisoned by greediness with advertising.
“We had that constant battle which contributed to my disappointment with the way things petered out really.”
In 1987 2ZB’s Auckland sister station 1ZB shifted to a news-talkback format, ending the free-wheeling community radio format.
After initial problems, it was a ratings success, and by the mid-1990s Radio New Zealand’s chiefs wanted all its community stations to adopt the same format.
For a while Yeo tried to mix the format with some of the elements of his own programme, but in 1997 the call came that 2ZB would take Auckland-based Holmes’s breakfast programme, ending Yeo’s 25 year reign at 2ZB.
Yeo said he wasn’t unhappy with way his career ended.
“I learned from my father, never presume, and it has held me in good stead.”
Yeo briefly moved to another station, Classic Hits, but then decided to retire at the relatively young age of 52, moving to a lifestyle property near Richmond in Nelson.
Yeo is survived by his wife Jan and four children.
