BYTE MARKS
Former Hawai'i DJ can't get streamed
By Burt Lum
In the not-too-distant past, when radio stations such as KIKI and KKUA AM were playing cool music, one of the prominent voices in the area was Kamasami Kong.
Sadly, the radio industry has since given way to corporate mandates and bottom-line performance. Most of the old DJs have moved on.
In the case of Kong, he moved to Osaka, Japan.
But today's technology, while it may have ended an era in Hawai'i, enabled us to catch up with Kong across the vast Pacific via the Internet.
Kong is at FM802 (www.fm802.co.jp) and holds down a job described by his peers as the best radio job in the world.
Sponsored by Mitsubishi Motors, Kong gets to play music he personally selects.
He also gets to interview all the visiting musicians playing or traveling through the Kansai area.
Some of the artists he's traded tales with are Shania Twain, Oscar Peterson, Dr. John, Prince and Toto.
As I checked out the funky802.com Web site and his NitEscape 802 show page, there was one obvious link missing: Why isn't his show and the music he picks being streamed?
Making the sound of air being sucked over teeth — "Eeefff" — Kong pondered his response.
"Basically," he said, "every time I ask someone in authority to explain what artist, record company advertiser or DJ wouldn't want to extend their reach to global proportions, the answer comes back ... hmmm 'muzukashi desu ne.' "
Literal translation: "It's difficult."
Real translation: "How could you be so stupid to even ask?"
Instead of trying to move the immovable, I decided if I can't listen to Kong from Osaka, I'd like to listen to him from Hawai'i.
So I contacted my favorite radio station, KTUH (ktuh.org) and they graciously scheduled me for an alumni show. (I used to be on the air there in the mid-'80s.) It was glorious, as Kong and his buddy, Frank B. Shaner, joined me to stir up the airwaves for three hours.
Much mahalo to Kong, Frankie B. and KTUH for making it all happen. ;-)
Reach Burt Lum at www.brouhaha.net.
