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Definitely Aku. As a kid I soaked in Aku's Yiddish ambience without having a clue that that's what it was. Plus, where else on the Honolulu radio dial would I have been able to listen to Chicken Man and the Story Lady?
"Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain
I have only hazy memories of Aku, from when I was a kid chilling in the back seat of my mom's Mazda during the daily commute from Pearlridge to town, but they're enough to make me smile, so I'll have to go with him.
Ron Jacobs also has an unforgetable voice, but in style always seemed closer to mainland slick than local smooth. Then again, I only heard him late in his very long career, late '80s on KPOI. He goes back to the '50s!
Here's a remembrance from Ron (with audio from 1964). And here's Neil Ross' take on Aku, with a couple of audio clips from the early '70s.
I once won a Whodaguy? t-shirt by making a pair of Whodaguy? shorts! I wore them down to the station while he was on the air. He poked his head out of the studio, took one look at my shorts and cracked up.
My vote would go for Aku...I also remember those long drives in traffic from Nanakuli to Town and it would have been pretty boring had it not been for him...My whole family(Mother, Father,Sister,Brother and I) also waited religiously every morning for Chicken Man and the Story Lady....
But, I have to give credit to Ron Jacobs(I think it was him)who, for one day, had all of Honolulu running around looking for Shaun Cassidy in different places because Jacobs said he was at_______________place....I remember my poor dad driving us to Ala Moana Shopping Center and helping us look for Cassidy....That was great....But Aku was by far bigger and better than Jacobs. "Just my opinion...I could be wrong"(...as Dennis Miller says)....
From small kid time it was Aku because he also broadcast his show on radio station KMVI on Maui and KPUA in Hilo... or at least parts of it during the late 60s and early 1970s. Anyone who remembers Aku also remember the little programs he ran like "Chicken Man" and "The Story Lady." Plus the infamous Easter or April fool's parade. Read more about Aku here:
Ron Jacobs... most of my memories are when he was with KKUA in the mid 1970s. He was the morning guy and championed the issuing of the 4 "Homegrown" record albums that featured a variety of local talent. He moved to KDEO radio in the 1980s and after trying a hodge-podge format there for awhile, RJ ended up playing country music on 940 AM for a few years. I won one of those dark blue and white "Who Da Guy" T-shirts from KDEO when it was a country station.
I think Hal Aku Lewis made more money than Ron Jacobs so I'll have to vote for Aku. Since I worked with RJ and he had a temper that made Frank Shaner look like a pussy cat.
Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.
In 1963, I did the overnight at KGU; got to say hello to Aku (real name: Hal Lewis) every morning.
His main competition then was Lucky Luck.
I would say that he was the far more entertaining air personality. Smooth as silk.
Lucky was good at what he did as well.
Ron Jacobs? Only if you could stand the top 40 format at K-POI...
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