Hal Lewis (Aku)

Hal Lewis (Aku)

Hal Lewis (died 1983), aka J. Akuhead Pupule or Aku, was the morning air personality in 1965 at KGMB, an AM station in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Brief biography

Hal Lewis became a personality in his own right when he moved to Hawaii in 1946 from San Francisco, where he had been an unemployed violinist, and became a staff announcer at KGMB in Honolulu. According to his newspaper biography, he was so poor that he had to sleep on Waikiki Beach. Although he was terminated for insubordination within weeks of his arrival, Hal Lewis was able to get another job at KPOA.

It was at KPOA that Lewis perfected his own style of presentation, which incorporated repetitious time checks, and it was this gimmick that caused him to get the name "aku-head" from a furious listener after he had given out the incorrect time on the radio. Lewis then dropped his own name for J. Akuhead Pupule or plain Aku.

Radio Luxembourg

Never one to stay still, Aku began jumping from station to station in Hawaii and in the process he built up a following. In 1955 he showed up in London, England at the offices of the Radio Luxembourg programme listings magazine called 208. Aku asked to speak to the station management and he made a proposal to buy the morning time slot from 6 AM to 9 AM in order to present his own breakfast show. Unfortunately the transmitter which was located in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was only capable of reaching the British Isles in strength during the evening hours and his proposal was rejected.

KGMB, Honolulu

In 1965 Aku eventually Aku managed to return to KGMB in Honolulu where his career had begun and where it blossomed as their morning show presenter.

Aku was thought to be charming and contrary at the same time. He is reported to have become the world's highest paid deejay while barely managing to avoid bankruptcy several times. His on-air presence was calm but his off-air presence was obnoxious. While others would spin rock 'n' roll records Aku played music from the 1940s. In addition to his other traits, Aku was a prankster who caused thousands to show up for a non-existent parade one April Fools' Day. But while he loved to create havoc, he had a thin skin for critical press reviews, and while others saw him as an entertainer, he saw himself as a journalist. Aku would also read the news during his morning show. This "Coconut Wireless News" segment would start off with a jingle that included sounds of coconut shell effects. [ [http://starbulletin.com/2003/08/12/features/story1.html Still having fun (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)] ]

Aku died in 1983, but managed to get the last laugh on the airwaves when he unleashed his own recorded announcements to stimulate a public mourning for his passing.

References

ee also

*Radio Luxembourg - see 1955 and offer by Aku to buy morning air time on 208.

References

* [http://starbulletin.com/1999/09/28/news/story8.html Biography] of Hal Lewis: "Aku" energized Hawaii’s airwaves." By Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • KSSK-FM — Infobox Radio Station name = KSSK AM FM area = Honolulu, Hawaii branding = KSSK FM92.3 AM590 slogan = Hawaii s Favorite airdate = 1929 (AM) December 30, 1959 (FM) frequency = 590 (KHz) 92.3 (MHz) HD Radio 92.3 HD 2 for Smooth Jazz format = Adult… …   Wikipedia

  • List of voice actors — This is a list of voice actors. The list of works are merely a summation as many voice actors work for many different projects that would be too numerous to list.A*Don Adams (Inspector Gadget and Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales)*Charlie Adler… …   Wikipedia

  • Magic sword — For other uses, see Magic sword (disambiguation). Faroe stamp by Anker Eli Petersen depicting the magical sword Gram The term magic sword refers to any kind of mythological or fictional sword imbued with magical power to increase its strengt …   Wikipedia

  • Archenemy — An archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis (sometimes spelled arch enemy, arch foe, arch villain or arch nemesis) is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the hero s worst enemy (compare ).cite web|url …   Wikipedia

  • Michael W. Perry — Michael William Perry is the co host, along with Larry Price, of the Perry Price show on KSSK FM in Honolulu, Hawaii. He also hosts the Hawaiian Moving Company television show on KGMB in Honolulu. Contents 1 Biography 2 The Hawaiian Moving… …   Wikipedia

  • What-a-Cartoon — World Premiere Toons (1995 1996) What a Cartoon! Show (1996 2001) The Cartoon Cartoon Show (2001 2008) The intertitle to the first compilation of the shorts, titled The What a Cartoon! Show. (1997) Genre …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”