Oldest DJ in town aims to stay on air at age of 91 to stave off boredom
ONE OF Britain’s oldest DJs, still broadcasting at the age of 91, has said he has “no intention of stopping”.
Patrick Murphy, from Odsal in Bradford, has had a twice-weekly show at his local hospital radio station for the past decade after he “got bored” with retirement.
“In 2012, I was a bit bored and I saw a story in the paper advertising for new DJs to help run programmes at hospital radio,” he said.
“I thought ‘That’s just the job for me’ so I went down to the station, had an interview, got the gig and have been there ever since. I absolutely love my time there… it keeps me young.”
Mr Murphy broadcasts on St Luke’s Sound Hospital Radio every Wednesday and Thursday, from 9am to midday.
“Hospital radio is an essential service, in my view. (It) means everything to me,” he said.
Mr Murphy, who is originally from the Curragh in Co Kildare, came to London in 1945 for work, before moving to Bradford where he was in the engineering trade until he retired in 1995.
The pensioner has “always loved music” and used to go ballroom dancing with his wife Doris at the Station Hotel in Clayton Road, Bradford.
It was around that time that he first tried his hand at DJing after getting “fed up” with the same songs being played.
He said: “I turned to a friend one day and said ‘If I can’t change the music, I might as well start DJing as I could do a better job myself ’, and that’s where it started.”
His signature tune is The Oldest Swinger In Town by Fred Wedlock, but there are certain songs that he steers away from, including anything that mentions death or heaven.
I absolutely love my time there… it keep me young. Patrick Murphy, from Odsal in Bradford, has had a twice-weekly show at the age of 91