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Herschel Leib Hohenstein, aka Hal Lewis (died 1983), aka J. Akuhead Pupule or Aku, was the morning air personality in 1965 at
KGMB KGMB (channel 5) is a television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Media alongside dual NBC/Telemundo affiliate KHNL (channel 13) and Kailua-Kona–licensed KFVE ...
, an AM station in
Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
.


Biography

Lewis was born Herschel Laib Hohenstein in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
.Chicago Tribune: "Hal Lewis, 77, Legend of Hawaii Radio"
July 22, 1983
He later legally shortened his name to Hal Lewis. He became a personality in his own right when he moved to Hawaii in 1946 from
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, where he had been an unemployed violinist. His cabaret act failed and he soon 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. Another version of this story is that at his first station, the station sales manager and his team brainstormed the moniker to explain to the innocent audience of post-War Honolulu that this talkative Jewish personality looked like a crazy fish head. When the sales manager brought his young son (who would be the third generation of his family to spend his own life on Honolulu's airwaves: Harry B Soria), to the station, he was shocked the first time he saw Aku as he was definitely not the bald-headed aged grandfather figure that his radio voice had conjured in his imagination. Using the name J. Akuhead Pupule, he had his own short-lived recording label, Aku Records. It had a green label, with a cartoon of Hal Lewis with an exaggerated nose. He persuaded Alfred Apaka to record on his label, with Aku backing him on violin. Aku also recorded himself singing and playing violin on "My Little Buckaroo," among other tunes.


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 London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
at the offices of the
Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
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 Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembourg ...
was only capable of reaching the
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in strength during the evening hours and his proposal was rejected.


KORL 650AM, Honolulu

(The old KPOA) Aku broadcast from the "Tree House" at the
International Market Place International Market Place is an open-air shopping center located in Waikīkī on the island of O‘ahu. It first opened in 1956 as a commercial, retail and entertainment center. After closing for complete renovation in 2013, the Internationa ...
at Waikiki in the early 1960s.


KGU 760AM, Honolulu

Aku's broadcast home for several years was the top of the Advertiser Newspaper building in downtown Honolulu until he moved back to KGMB. At one time, one of the twin towers on roof of the Advertiser building had the KGU call letters in four foot neon lights. Aku had this changed to AKU in neon lights for several months.


KGMB, Honolulu

In 1965, Aku eventually managed to return to KGMB in Honolulu where his career had begun and where it blossomed as their morning show presenter. When Mayor Frank Fasi forbid Star-Bulletin reporter Richard Borreca to attend his press conferences, the newspaper sued and the case was heard by federal judge Sam King who ruled that the mayor's action was unconstitutional. When King lost his race for governor, Fasi personally attacked him. Aku invited them to appear together on his popular morning radio program, where King attacked back. King later observed that he and Frank Fasi didn't bear each other any real enmity, but that Aku had gotten his show a ratings boost. 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 up beat 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.


Personal life and legacy

In 1968, Aku married Hawaiian singer Emma Veary. 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. A new era of radio was ushered into Hawaii following his death. Michael Perry and Larry Price replaced the late Aku and Hawaii finally adopted the morning team radio format already popular in the mainland United States. The "Coconut Wireless News" continues on the Perry and Price Show as a ten minute long newscast that has commentary and opinions included in the broadcast.The Broadcast Archive. “A History of Honolulu AM Radio.” Accessed November 16, 2016, http://www.oldradio.com/archives/stations/hihist.html.


See also

*
Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
- see 1955 and offer by Aku to buy morning air time on 208.


References


External links


Biography
of Hal Lewis: "''Aku'' energized Hawaii’s airwaves.'' By Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin
J. Aku Pupule Obituary
AP Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Hal American radio personalities 1983 deaths Year of birth missing