CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
KSSK radio personalities Michael W. Perry, left, and Larry Price will be celebrating 25 years on the air together. The duo will do a special live show at the Coral Ballroom of the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort on Saturday from 8 to 11 a.m. Here, Perry and Price are pictured after their show with fans Karen Antill and Jacque Sanchez outside their usual Saturday broadcast location at John Dominis.
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2 for 25 years
Perry and Price celebrate a quarter century riding Hawaii's radio waves on Saturday
The history of radio in Hawaii can safely be divided into two distinct eras - The Age of Aku, and Everything Since Aku. When the KGMB/KSSK radio personality died in 1983 - as usual, on his own terms and with maximum publicity - Honolulu morning radio was up for grabs.
THE PERRY AND PRICE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW
Where: Coral Ballroom, Hilton Hawaiian Village
When: 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday
Tickets: $59 to $79 ($49 children under 10; all prices include breakfast buffet)
Call: 262-6300 or visit ksskradio.com
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But back then, station owner Cec Heftel and manager Earl McDaniel had a pair of aces up their sleeves. Aku's impending death impended for so long that McDaniel was able to plan ahead.
Maybe no one person could replace Aku, but perhaps two could.
And so - cue jingle cart - the new wake-up duo of Larry Price and Michael W. Perry were able to carry on in Aku's slot, if not his shoes, up before dawn and pau before lunch.
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Twenty-five years later, "the Plan B team" is still on the air, laughs Perry. "Seems ridiculous. And still no clue as what makes us endure. We just knew we didn't want to burn brightly for a short time and then fizzle. That's what usually happens in radio."
"Everyone thought Aku was coming back, especially the sponsors," said Price. "There was a real sense of urgency when Cec and Earl realized the end was coming."
Price, a former football coach, was signed by Heftel - who had a talent for spotting talent - after hearing him speak at a luncheon, and Perry was "your basic polished, deep, Vitamin-E enriched voice with some radio expertise," explained Perry.
"I thought I was going to be a school teacher," said Price. "I'd never done radio, never even thought about it. I liked talking to people face to face. Then I had to get used to talking to a red light (in the studio). When I was doing investigative reports for the TV, we had eight hours to get it right. Radio is right-then."
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COMMichael W. Perry cheers during the Perry and Price show at John Dominis restaurant in Kakaako on a recent Saturday.
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Aided by some canny promotions, including a million-dollar giveaway (the winner is still getting $20,000 a year for 50 years), the teaming of P 'n' P grew into an island institution.
"It takes time for an audience to get with you, to become part of the family. And this is a small island. If you pass the standards and get in, the loyalty is forever," said Perry.
"We are dinosaurs! This kind of thing just doesn't happen in radio. Go all over the mainland and you cannot find a show like it. We're the Odd Couple, but it just works, probably because we have the same sense of humor."
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COMMichael W. Perry and Larry Price hosted their show with a live performance by Del Beasley and Dwight Kanae on a recent Saturday.
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THE COUPLING has lasted longer than many marriages. "My wife laid down the law several years ago," said Perry. "She wanted equal time. She wasn't seeing me as often as I see Larry!"
Although their slogan is "Perry on the left and Price on the right" - an inside joke in mono transmissions - their politics are the other way 'round. "I've become much more conservative over the years," said Perry, "even though I was a Kennedy liberal. Hawaii is actually a more conservative state than people realize, and I reflect that."
"Whenever money gets tight, everybody gets a little more conservative," mused Price, a dedicated middle-roader.
They're also a comforting voice in the darkness when disaster strikes. "Government is faceless, and we aren't," said Perry. "First thing people do is turn on their radios."
Since Aku worked on Saturdays, so did P 'n' P. "But Saturdays on a morning radio show are the closest thing to a sensory deprivation tank you can imagine. Nothing's going on and nobody cares," said Perry. "Totally different paradigm than weekdays."
So then McDaniel wanted the pair to "take the show on the road" to help build an audience. This evolved into their Saturday morning free-for-all, first in the Hanohano Room of the Sheraton Waikiki and now at the John Dominis restaurant (but for this Saturday's anniversary show, they'll be at the Coral Ballroom at the Hilton Hawaiian Village). The Saturday show has something commercial radio has lacked for years - a sense of spontaneity.
"It's wild, it's unpredictable," said Price. "Uncertainty makes it interesting. The hardest part is the sound, but engineer Dale (Machado) makes it happen."
"Plenty of sharp cookies in the broadcast business, and we've had 12 owners since we started," said Price. "But we're still here. I should probably start saving for retirement, yeah?"
Prior to the radio pairing, P 'n' P had "worked together exactly once, at a Jerry Lewis telethon, and Larry had me jump into a vat of Jell-O," said Perry. "It was foul and it smelled and I swore I'd get back at him. And I did - for 25 years!"
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