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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, August 15, 2003

After 20 years, Perry & Price still rule radio

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Michael W. Perry, right, and Larry Price usually hold court at The Hanohano Room at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel on Saturdays. But this Saturday, the radio duo will be at the hotel's Hawai'i Ballroom for their 20th anniversary celebration. Perry and Price say interdependence and togetherness are responsible for keeping them together at KSSK for the past 20 years.

'Perry & Price Celebrate 20 Years'

A live radio show, marking the 20th anniversary of the KSSK radio duo

8-11 a.m. Saturday

Hawai'i Ballroom, Sheraton Waikiki Hotel

550-9221, www.ksskradio.com

Sold out

Featuring entertainment by: Na Leo Pilimehana, Cecilio and Kapono, Frank DeLima, Kapena

Perry on the left, Price on the right. ...

Michael W. Perry and Larry Price will take their position on stage when a 20th anniversary special unfolds Saturday — not at the usual Hanohano Room, but at the larger Hawai'i Ballroom — at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel.

Is it a left-brain, right-brain relationship that has kept Perry and Price atop the Arbitron radio ratings for 20 years? How do they perceive their role in the next 20 years?

We posed five questions; we got 10 responses (hey, there are two of 'em):

1. Twenty years is a long time together at the microphone. What's the glue that keeps you together?

Price: "Interdependence."

Perry: "Larry put up a sign in our office 20 years ago that says 'Together.' It means the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The sign is still there."

2. What's the toughest thing, being Perry & Price, No. 1 in the radio race, month after month, year after year?

Price: "Getting up at 3:15 every morning."

Perry: "Getting up at 3:30 every morning."

3. What's the most gratifying aspect of the job — you're part entertainer, part educator, part communicator, part hometown guide — as we all head to work or school?

Price: "Making people feel good ... and maybe helping them laugh a little. People are multidimensional ... that's how the show is."

Perry: "I can't tell you how great it is to NOT have to be funny all the time ... or serious all the time."

4. Share a secret, please, about each other, that the listening public may not know.

Price: "Mike has no cavities ... I mean, look in his mouth. Not one cavity! That's unnatural."

Perry: "Larry is an avid ballroom dancer. You're saying, 'Coach?' No lie."

5. How would you like to shape and change the next 20 years?

Price: "I would like to push for victim's rights ... because right now they're lacking."

Perry: "Totally. That, and continuing to provide a 'second opinion' to the mainstream media."

Michael W. Perry and Larry Price will be inducted into the Variety Club of Hawai'i's Celebrity Circle on Saturday.

A plaque with their names will join other local celebrities, including Dennis Alexio, Sid Fernandez, Don Ho, Karen Keawehawai'i, Duke Kahanamoku and Hilo Hattie.