KSSK the way morning drive was back in the day!

[radio dx]

With all the talk on this website about how radio today is boring (I know I have expressed that feeling myself) but I have discovered KSSK in Honolulu that is not "The same ol". Their morning drive team
Perry and Price has been a Honolulu morning staple since 1985.

This morning show is how in my opinion how it was back in the day. They do skits based on daily topics
and have call-in celebrity sound a likes, and plenty of "drops" and they have one of the best radio station
websites I have seen. It's worth listening to on line but remember they are three hours back.

The thing that really blows me away is the fact that this is a ClearChannel Station and I am no fan of
ClearChannel but this station is an exception.

The other thing that amazes me is the newscasts, I found that they cover stories about the bay area and California. They have a play list that runs about the last thirty years along with a light blend of Hawaiian music as well.

I don't think they do much voice tracking as far as I can tell. Radio the way is used to be KSSK!

 

[LKellerIII]

Interesting. I spent six months in Hawaii in the early 70s, then a month or so again in the mid 80s. It may have changed by now, as the islands have become more mainstream, and probably due to technology (satellite, etc.)...but in those days, their media (both radio and TV) were wacky, and definitely marched to a different drummer.

Some of the music stations were identical in format to mainland stations, but some had Hawaiian music mixed in with Top 40. There were a few local DJs that spoke a combination of regular English and the local "pidgin." TV shows were time shifted to different days and weird times, and the male news anchors wore loud Hawaiian print shirts instead of coats and ties on the "late" news, which aired at 9:00 or 9:30 PM, depending on the station. A very eccentric place, media-wise.

Ron Jacobs (respected PD of Boss Radio KHJ (Los Angeles) in the late 60s, then later KGB in the 70s (San Diego) was a veteran of Hawaii radio in the 50s and 60s (Top 40 KPOI, and KKUA), and has been back there now for a long time. Naturally, he has a blog.

http://whodaguyhawaiicom.blogspot.com/

 

[radio dx]

Being in the "media" myself I can tell you that Hawaii still does march to a different drummer when it comes
to print and broadcast media.

They do have a back wards flair at times but in spite of that the moring show comes complete with a good selection of
jingles, drops and props things I just don't hear much anymore but it's done without getting on my nerves.

Perry does speak plain english but his 74 year old "side kick" speaks "pidgin" but between the age and the accent
some how it all comes together and works and has for over 20 years and to last that long at one station you've
got to be doing something right....yeah!

 

[tripton99]

Perry and Price are wonderful and Clear Channel doesn't deserve any credit other than for leaving them alone. They get incredible shares in the morning and they keep it clean.
Prior to their dominance, Honolulu had J Akuhead Pupule for 20 years with a similar dominance.

There is some pretty mediocre radio in the Islands, but once in awhile something surfaces that is more than worthwhile. Certainly P&P win by default to a degree, but they could succeed in many large mainland markets.

 

[davideduardo]

Radio the way is used to be KSSK!

You should have heard Aku (J Akuhead Pupule, on KGMB (which, for some reason, changed to KSSK) before the current show.

The station was owned by the amazing Cecil Heftel for some time, and his son Richard was the last manager before Cecil sold the station... Cecil, who was also a congressman from Hawaii, was one of the early Top 40 owners with stations like KLO, KGEM and KIMN in Denver... and later 13-Q in Pittsburgh and Y 100 in Miami.