Music to his ears

He may be 83, but DJ Eddy Cross can still get a crowd up on the dance floor.

In the seven years since he and wife Kit have been living at Forest Lake Gardens, Eddy has played a tonne of village gigs, drawing on his background in music and radio DJing to get the party pumping.

“Since arriving at the village in 2013 I’ve played for ten birthdays – 70ths, 80ths and 90ths – as well as anniversaries, four New Year’s Eve parties, two Wearable Art Shows, three ANZAC Days, two Variety Show concerts, St. Patrick’s Day and several barbecues,” says Eddy.

Not only that, but he is the “go to man” for social coordinator Pippa Bennett whenever she needs music for the village hip hop crew – and he has got his own weekly radio show at Raglan Radio.

I’m now in my 20th year at Raglan Radio and greatly enjoy the experience of playing all the music I love from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, as well as meeting all the interesting visitors who pop into the studio.
“Many of them are from overseas and they just love to chat with the DJ on duty, talk about where they’re from and take photos.”

Named The Pugwash Show after a nickname given to Eddy by a friend, the three hour slot features three decades of all the best classic hits and golden oldies.

The station

The station is on air 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and streaming live, which means people can listen to it from anywhere in the world via the internet. I record each show to be played on the following Saturday too.”
Not surprisingly, with so much airtime to fill Eddy has a large library of music.

Before moving into Forest Lake Gardens I had to transfer all of my 1000-plus CDs onto my laptop, giving me over 25,000 songs to call on, from many different music styles. It’s never enough, though so I am still adding more!”