One of the greatest marketing and promotions people in radio in the United States is a local boy who was born in Waikiki four years before the Pearl Harbor attack.
Whodaguy? You ask.
Exactly, I say. Ron Jacobs, who earned the moniker "Whodaguy," was, at 19, one of the youngest radio station program directors in the country at KPOA in 1958.
Then he took over KPOI two years later and made it the island’s first all rock ‘n’ roll station.
He turned the station’s disc jockeys into the Poi Boys, who amused and entertained us with their pranks and antics. I wrote about Tom Rounds’ Wake-a-thon on Jan. 23. They had all kinds of "thons" and publicity-generating events, including a Bowl-a-thon, Cycle-a-thon and Insult-a-thon.
"Tom Moffatt and I practically lived at the station," Jacobs recalls. "We were hardworking. Nothing could stop us. Tom is my oldest friend in radio."
The two produced some of the first rock ‘n’ roll concerts and launched a record label — Teen Records — for Hawaii’s first rockers in 1959.
On May 30 I wrote about the stunt they pulled to fill the Civic Auditorium for the opening night of Roller Derby in 1957. "We learned a lot from that promotion, and it fueled our stunts at KPOI."
In one prank, Jacobs (always playing the bad guy) told listeners that he had locked Moffatt (always playing the good guy) in his office with dead fish. Over 200 listeners called the station to see if he was OK, and others came down to their Ala Wai studio to "Free Moffatt."
"How could you do that to Uncle Tom?" they demanded.
"They went hook, line and sinker for the joke," Jacobs says about putting one or two whole fish in his office.
Moffatt went on the radio to thank listeners for freeing him from the evil Ron Jacobs.
"Radio stations carried boring network shows back then. No one did anything weird like we did."
In 1962 Jacobs went to the mainland and took KHJ — a second-tier Los Angeles radio station — and made it the top rock station in the country. KHJ originally stood for "kindness, happiness and joy." Jacobs called it "Boss Radio."
His 48-hour-long "History of Rock & Roll" is considered to be radio’s first "Rockumentary" and was accepted into the Library of Congress.
While programming mainland radio stations, Jacobs pushed local musicians such as Don Ho, Yvonne Elliman, Glenn Medeiros and Kealii Reichel.
With Tom Rounds and Moffatt, Jacobs made some of the earliest music videos, in 1968, more than 10 years before MTV. That same year, they produced the Miami Pop Festival, which was the largest musical festival staged until Woodstock.
The trio then teamed up with Casey Kasem, Don Bustany and Tom Driscoll and created American Top 40 in 1970.
It began with just seven stations carrying the program but was soon heard at over 1,000 stations in all 50 states and 50 foreign countries. It surpassed "Hawaii Calls," which was heard on 750 radio stations from 1935 to 1975.
Kasem would tell stories about the songs as he counted down to the No. 1 song of the week. Ryan Seacrest is the host of it today.
Jacobs was also the person behind the "Home Grown" series of records that sold over 200,000 copies in the islands,
"Home Grown" began in San Diego in 1972 when Jacobs was with radio station KGB. Jacobs had the idea to produce a collection of locally written songs.
The name of the collection was inspired by Linda Ronstadt’s first solo album, titled "Hand Sown, Home Grown," produced by Honolulu-born Chip Douglas, who also directed the Monkees’ hits.
While in San Diego, Jacobs conceived of what I consider to be one of the best mascots in the business, the San Diego Chicken.
Noted film director Cameron Crowe ("Jerry Maguire" and "Almost Famous") knew Jacobs when he was in San Diego. He’s a "pop-culture visionary and genius," Crowe says.
Jacobs returned to Hawaii and worked at KKUA radio. He brought the Home Grown idea with him and used it as a fundraiser for Habilitat. The second album launched the career of Nohelani Cypriano with her first hit, "Lihue."
While at KKUA, Jacobs invited the red-hot comedy trio Booga Booga to clown around one Friday morning in July 1976. It became a regular feature on the Aloha Friday Whodaguy show for over 150 weeks and featured interviews and performances by such greats as Andy Anderson, Melveen Leed, Genoa Keawe, Gabby Pahinui and Andy Cummings.
Jacobs also wrote "Da Kine," the first "pidgin rock" song.
In 1957 Moffatt and Jacobs emceed Elvis’ first concert in Hawaii and became lifelong friends with Colonel Tom Parker, his manager. "The Colonel drove a beat-up station wagon," Jacobs recalls. "He was a frugal, down-to-earth guy. But he was a great promoter. I often asked myself, What would the Colonel do?"
Jacobs adds, "I got a call from him one day in 1959. ‘Mr. Jacobs,’ he said, ‘I’m going to make you a deal. If you get 5,000 signatures asking him to, Elvis will put on a concert in Honolulu — the first after getting out of the Army.’ The Colonel would rather come to Hawaii than anywhere else."
For my younger readers, Elvis became a huge star in 1956 and went on to serve in the Army from 1958 until 1960. He rose to the rank of sergeant.
"We took a long roll of paper to Ala Moana Center, which had just opened," Moffatt recalls. "It was a snap to get 5,000 to sign the petition, and we sent it to the Colonel."
Elvis then sent a telegram to the Colonel, saying, "My sincere thanks to Tom Moffatt and Ron Jacobs and the entire staff of KPOI and to all the fans and friends in the Hawaiian islands. We should make our first personal appearance after I return from the Army in Hawaii."
The concert would be at the Bloch Arena at Pearl Harbor and would be a fundraiser to build the Arizona Memorial, which was, at the time, $50,000 shy of the amount needed. The concert put it over the top.
Back then KPOI called itself the Official Elvis Station in Hawaii. "Sometimes when he was in town, the Colonel would just show up at our studio at 1701 Ala Wai Boulevard to chat with deejays and our listeners," Jacobs says. "He frequently called in and was put live on the air, from the mainland. He loved us."
Jacobs spent a lot of time with the Colonel at his homes in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. He and Moffatt were honorary pallbearers at his funeral in 1997.
"Ron and I have been friends since our early days in radio as ‘junior announcers’ at KGU in the early ’50s," Moffatt says. "We went on together in radio, peaking with our glorious days as Poi Boys at K-Poi.
"Ron went on to become an innovative and legendary broadcaster on the mainland. Upon returning to Hawaii, he has been a big supporter of local music."
A published author, Jacobs, who now lives in Pearl City, has focused on his writing for the past 10 years. He received a Hoku in its first year, 1978, for the "Home Grown" album.
For his accomplishments over the past 50 years, Jacobs will be one of the Lifetime Achievement award recipients at the 2015 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards ceremony on May 3.
Bob Sigall, author of the "Companies We Keep" books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
