ALUMNI STORIES

KTUH alumni can be found all over the world, some working in radio or other media, some in unrelated industries (and some retired) . . .

John Aquino Wrote Recently . . .

Hi! I am John Aquino and I was the KTUH jazz director in the 1980s... Some of my colleagues were Jonathan Batchelder, Seth Markov, Reggie Marshall and Kevan Scott... We had the Black music covered on Saturdays , with my jazz till noon, then Vernon and soul, then Jay Junker with Hawaiian Boogie then Daniel Warner and Reggae...Made some lifelong friends and had a great time...been living in New York... still miss the islands and intend to return first chance... Much aloha to all... J

Where Are They Now? We found Jason Miller

Jason Miller, mid-90s

Jason came to UH on a swimming scholarship in 1992 and went from being a rock DJ and later the KTUH promotions director, to establishing Hawaiian Express Records in 1995 and 808shows.com in 2001.

He has hosted hundreds of concerts over the years and is the founder of the annual Sailor Jerry Festival in Chinatown ( SailorJerryFestival.com) every June. Lots of local band merchandise is available online both for free streaming at radio.808shows.com and for purchase via storenvy.

Aloha, Jason

Where Are They Now? We Found David Dugle!

While looking online for information on some KTUH alumni I found David Dugle and his treasure trove of air checks from the 1970s (url below) – Fred Barbaria

David writes "I have become a business analyst for software teams. I still live in California, but my current project is all the way across the country in Washington DC. So how many other KTUH folks from our thumpin days have you found? Would love to re-connect with Brian Daniel and Bill Soares especially, but also Chip Brown and the Langdon Brothers if you know where they are. I actually have been working on an autobiography and have written quite a lot about my days at Hawaii Hall. That dang station changed my life..."

David Dugle, 2019

From David's thomatic site: "David Dugle (AKA Rusty Pipes in my years writing for the Cosmik Debris webzine) is a full time secular humanist, agnostic skeptic, writer, photographer, bicyclist, dad and former professional broadcaster. David really does read philosophy books, including the Bible, and likes to argue scripture with Jehovah's Witnesses when they come to his door. He does not believe in witches, the Devil or creation science. He does believe in God, but says that what he calls God may be quite a lot different than what other people call God.

David, 1976

David was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but lived many years in Honolulu where he started his broadcasting career. He worked for several radio stations and was most famous for his rock-comedy show Insanity Palace which aired on KPOI-FM and KTUH-FM during the 70's. David still deejays by creating podcasts for the Internet and by day he still DJs also, except that it stands for database jockey, not disc jockey."

You can hear the first part of David's 1976 Frank Zappa interview on KTUH at http://dugledavid.podomatic.com/entry/2015-02-28T22_18_05-08_00. There are many more air checks, including an interview with Jim Edd of the Turtles at http://www.podomatic.com/dugledavid. You can also listen to David's October, 2019 interview by KTUH DJ Yoko at https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1eHIjdKsuJh3aV-RCTvV2maLe3HzKEJr1 .

Where Are They Now? Dave and Ken Wild

Dave Wild hosted the Tuesday evening jazz show on KTUH-FM in the early 70s. His brother, Ken, took over the Tuesday hosting duties when Dave moved on. Dave and Ken were more than knowledgeable djs, however – both were (and are) accomplished jazz musicians – Dave on piano and Ken on both standup and electric bass. The Dave Wild Trio played gigs at UH and other venues.

Dave and Ken Wild

Dave writes . . .

"I think I started with KTUH in 1969; the old schedules would confirm that. I vaguely remember getting a 3rd class broadcasters license, somehow, in '68 or '69. The show was the Wild World of Jazz, I think on Tuesday nights (I probably came in to UH of my own edition of the show (probably in 1970), on Thursday night I think. I think my career ended when I started working with Harry Ryan at the old Cavalier Restaurant, probably in the summer of 1970. Ken and I both had the same problem: gigs on the nights we had to broadcast. I left for the Army in August 1970 but I think Ken kept on broadcasting for a while. He went out on the road with Seawind in the summer of 1972, just before I came back in August. I know I wanted to start up the jazz show again but my fulltime gig with Jimmy Borges (fall of 1972) interfered with that. Somewhere in that period Ken also did several Live From KTUH shows with elements of Seawind, probably even before it existed (as Ox). "

Dave ended up in central Texas, where he plays piano, writes and has a web site (about jazz) at http://www.wildmusic-jazz.com/. Dave picked up a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies – Arranging/Composing along the way. There is a lot more to Dave than this, but you'll need to ask him to tell you more.

Dave (left) and Ken (right) playing at Vitello's in Studio City, CA (Eric Marienthal on sax)

Ken Wild was a founding member of Seawind (1972) and left UH before graduating to go on the road with the band. Ken and Seawind were on the road for several years (including a famous stay at the Fancy Moose Inn in Anchorage Alaska) before winding up in LA in 1975. Seawind recorded four albums during that period. Seawind played on KTUH's Pakalolo Patch (now Monday Night Live) as Limp Jelly Beans before the band left on tour. Ken has been a studio musician in Los Angeles for quite a while, and has backed many singers, from Natalie Cole (touring band) to Gloria Estefan to Neil Young. Trivia note: Ken played bass on the Wonder Woman TV show theme.

Seawind on KTUH's Pakalolo Patch (playing as "Limp Jelly Beans")

Dave says "I don't know if and when we'll be back to play in southern Cal. There may be something next summer, but I'm not yet sure. We'd also both love to go back to Honolulu again but that's a much more elusive goal..."

We Remember the KTUH Staff That Are No Longer With Us . . .