Radio Free Hawaii Rewind - June 1, 1991.

 

The Hawaii Island Music Report #1 - June 1, 1991.

Radio Free Hawaii was a Honolulu/ Oahu based radio station broadcasting on KDEO 102.7FM through a time brokerage agreement with then station owner Robert Loew and operated by "Sheriff" Norm Winter who also owned Jelly's Books and Music at the time. The station was in operation from 1991 to 1997 with a brief hiatus and format change for a few months in late 1994.

The core of the radio station's programming came in from weekly votes sent in by the listeners. The votes were compiled and a playlist was presented every Saturday morning during the station's run through most of the 1990s. It assured that the station would present a very eclectic mix of music ranging from rock, pop, alternative, metal to hip hop, oldies, reggae, country, Hawaiian, and even classical.

During the countdown show, the "Song Discovery of the Week" would be recognized. The most hated song of the week would also be "sledgehammered off the air forever" by Sheriff Norm Winter.

If you like this, I will occasionally be posting some of the Radio Free Hawaii charts as well as a corresponding Spotify playlist.

The following chart, video and Spotify link is the first of several that we will be presenting on this blog. Enjoy!

1.	I Wanna Sex You Up	Color Me Badd
2.	Never Gonna Let You Down	Surface
3.	Unbelievable	E.M.F.
4.	Fuck the Police	N.W.A.
5.	Iesha	Another Bad Creation
6.	Do You Want Me	Salt N Pepa
7.	More Than Words	Extreme
8.	Hard To Find	Star Williams
9.	Masese	Kapena
10.	Right Here Right Now	Jesus Jones
11.	One	Metallica
12.	Talkin' Blues	Bob Marley & The Wailers
13.	Baby Baby	Amy Grant
14.	Lover's Moon	Butch Helemano
15.	Burn Baby Burn	2 Black 2 Strong
16.	I'll Be Waiting	The Tamlins
17.	Kailua Kona	Ho'Aikane
18.	Stop	Jane's Addiction
19.	Jane Says	Jane's Addiction
20.	Fade To Black	Metallica
21.	Strange Love (live)	Depeche Mode
22.	Close To Me (remix)	The Cure
23.	Been Caught Stealing	Jane's Addiction
24.	Promise Me	Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra
25.	Losing My Religion	R.E.M.
26.	Dead Skin Mask	Slayer
27.	I Like The Way	Hi Five
28.	Hanger 18	Megadeath
29.	Thieves	Ministry
30.	Written All Over Your Face	Rude Boys
31.	Bad Boys	Inner Circle
32.	Man In The Box	Alice in Chains
33.	Ready to Go	Broken Silence
34.	Playground	Another Bad Creation
35.	Crushed	Cocteau Twins
36.	There She Goes	The La's

Sledgehammered off the Air (by "Sheriff" Norm Winter)

Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice

Song Discovery of the Week

I Don't Know Why I Love You - House of Love

Spotify Playlist - Radio Free Hawaii Rewind: June 1, 1991.

Here are Some of the Songs Not on the Spotify Playlist

Promise Me - Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra

Kailua Kona - Ho'Aikane

Additional Links

Radio Free Hawaii Chart Archive (old website) - Melvin Ah Ching

Radio Free Rewind YouTube Playlist - Mel / The Hawaii Files Channel

Remembering Radio Free Hawaii -  Ryan Ozawa

I Love Radio Free Hawaii - Facebook Group

The first printed copy of the Hawaii Island Music Report

Issue #1 - June 1991.

End of post.

Throwback Thursday:KKUA's Top 69 Hits of 1971

We resume our blog after a year long hiatus with this Throwback Thursday (#TBT) post which was originally featured at Hawaii Radio & Television Guide Archive. First up, is the Top 69 Hits of 1971 from KKUA Radio.

KKUA was the dominant top 40 radio station in Hawaii in the mid 1970s. They had a strong AM signal at 690 on the dial and could be heard throughout most of the state. Their main rival was KPOI which broadcast at 1380 on the AM dial as well as 97.5 on FM. KPOI’s AM played top 40 and was the most popular pop music station in Hawaii through much of the 1960s and early 1970s. Their FM played album rock tracks.

Some of the hit records from 1971.

Every year, KKUA counted down the year’s Top 69 songs. The chart below is from the Top 69 of 1971 which listed Three Dog Night‘s “Joy to the World” as the #1 song of the year.

Rank and Title	Artist	Peak Pos. on Top 20
1. Joy To The World	Three Dog Night	1
2. I’ve Found Someone of My Own	Free Movement	1
3. Just My Imagination	Temptations	1
4. Smiling Faces (Sometimes)	Undisputed Truth	1
5. Timothy	The Buoys	1
6. Go Away Little Girl	Donny Osmond	1
7. Knock Three Times	Dawn	1
8. Indian Reservation	The Raiders	1
9. One Bad Apple	Osmonds	1
10. Chatto-Matte-Kudasai	Sam Kapu	1
11. My Sweet Lord	George Harrison	1
12. Precious & Few *	Climax featuring Sonny Geraci	1
13. I’m So Poud	Main Ingredient	1
14. Sweet City Woman	The Stampeders	1
15. Life Is That Way	Jose Feliciano	1
16. It’s Impossible	Perry Como	1
17. Domino	Van Morrison	1
18. Superstar	The Carpenters	1
19. Woodstock	Matthew’s Southern Comfort	2
20. Never Can Say Goodbye	Jackson Five	2
21. Gypsies, Tramps & Theives	Cher	2
22. Maggie May	Rod Stewart	2
23. Yo Yo	Osmonds	2
24. Sweet & Innocent	Donny Osmond	2
25. It’s Too Late	Carole King	2
26. Mr. Big Stuff	Jean Knight	1
27. Stay Awhile	The Bells	2
28. Don’t Pull Your Love	Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds	2
29. If	Bread	2
30. Black Magic Woman	Santana	2
31. For All We Know	The Carpenters	2
32. The Pushbike Song	Mixtures	2
33. Mandrill	Mandrill	2
34. I Can’t Stop	Osmonds	2
35. Tears of A Clown	Smokey Robinson & the Miracles	2
36. Stick-Up	Honeycone	2
37. Liar	Three Dog Night	2
38. Watcha See, is Watcha Get	The Dramatics	2
39. Your Song	Elton John	3
40. Draggin’ The Line	Tommy James	2
41. Morning Of Our Lives	The Arkade	3
42. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart	Bee Gees	3
43. I Hear Those Churchbells	Dusk	2
44. Proud Mary	Ike & Tina Turner	2
45. I Love You For All Seasons	Fuzz	3
46. We Can Make It Girl	Society of Seven	3
47. Ain’t No Sunshine	Bill Withers	3
48. Albert Flasher	Guess Who	3
49. Most of All	B.J. Thomas	3
50. Three Cheers For Love	Dick Jensen	3
51. Mama’s Pearl	Jackson Five	4
52. Rainy Days And Mondays	The Carpenters	4
53. No Matter What	Badfinger	4
54. I Do Take You	Three Degrees	4
55. Somebody’s Been Sleeping	100 Proof Aged in Soul	4
56. Just An Old Fashioned Love  Song	Three Dog Night	4
57. I Just Want To Celebrate	Rare Earth	4
58. Put Your Hand In The Hand	Ocean	4
59. Oye Como Va	Santana	4
60. Love Means (You Never Have To Say You’re Sorry)	Sounds of Sunshine	4
61. Games	Redeye	5
62. Brown Sugar	Rolling Stones	5
63. Lola	The Kinks	5
64. I Dig Everything About You	The Mob	5
65. Love Song	The Vogues	5
66. What Are You Doing    Sunday?	Dawn	5
67. Baby I’m A Want You	Bread	5
68. Frisco Bay	Society of Seven	5
69. Born To Wonder	Rare Earth	5

The big hit of 1971 that was played to death on KKUA and practically all other top 40 stations was Three Dog Night‘s “Joy To The World.” The song was at the number one spot for was seven weeks, making it the most popular song on KKUA.CHART NOTES: 

That year a number of local records got airplay on mainstream Top 40 radio. The most prominent local hit of 1971 was Sam Kapu‘s “Chatto Matte Kudasai” which at first sounded totally out of place on a top 40 format, but eventually got so popular that it went number one in the summer summer. Records by the Society of Seven, who at the time had a record deal with Uni Records (which later became MCA) charted with the singles “We Can Make It Girl,” and “Frisco Bay”. Dick Jensencharted with his top 40 hit single, “Three Cheers For Love.” The local hits are indicated by blue type.

* Climax‘s “Precious And Few” was a number 1 hit in Hawaii during the summer of 1971 before breaking out nationally in 1972. The group was very popular in Hawaii having charted several more times with the hits “Life And Breath,” “Walking in the Georgia Rain” and “Caroline This Time”.

Several nationally released singles were hot in Hawaii and nowhere else. These included “Morning of Our Lives” by The Arkade, “Life is That Way” by José Feliciano, “I Dig Everything About You” by The Mob, “Love Song” by The Vogues, “Mandrill” by Mandrill, “I Can’t Stop” by The Osmonds, “I Hear Those Churchbells Ringing” by Dusk, and “The Pushbike Song” by The Mixtures.

Other songs that got a lot of airplay in 1971 that did not make this chart included “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” by Middle of the Road, “Give Up Your Guns” by The Buoys and “Keep it in the Family” by The Road Home.

Among the popular albums of 1971 were Three Dog Night‘s “Naturally” which contained the #1 hit “Joy To The World” as well as the very radio friendly ballad “Sunlight,” a track that never was released as a single. Also popular was Carole King‘s “Tapestry”, Santana‘s “Abraxus”, Sly & the Family Stone‘s “There’s a Riot Going On,” and several albums by theJackson Five and Osmonds.

KKUA’s 1971 Personalities included the following:

Jim Peters 6:AM
Steven B. Williams 9:AM
Gene Davis 12 noon
Ron King 3:PM
Scott Edwards 6:PM
Dick Wainwright 9:PM
Rick Shannon Midnight