[Description by contributor Neil Ross]

One of the most unique things about Aku was that he did his own news. I asked him about this once and his response was “they only really listen for two things – ‘Am I going to be late for work and is the bomb going to drop today?’ If some other guy is telling them about the bomb, there goes half my act!” This 1972 aircheck consists mostly of his news and comment. He read over the newspaper and wire copy and would staple stories to pieces of paper with notes to remind him of things and then ad-lib a ten minute newscast which was frequently laced with his opinions and many humorous asides. It added a whole other dimension to him as a personality and made him much more than just a zany DJ. When political squabbles would break out local politicians would rush to call Aku to get on the air and state their case. It is a hackneyed phrase and one he never used, but if there ever really was a ‘Morning Mayor’ in radio, it was Aku. His knowledge of and willingness to deal with local and national issues and his ill concealed contempt for corruption in high places made him much beloved by his audience. I was always amused by his frequent use of Yiddish on the air and could never figure out what the various ethnic groups who made up his audience thought about it, but he didn’t give a damn. This aircheck was made on a Saturday and you’ll hear him make reference to the Jewish Sabbath. (He was Jewish, originally from New York.)

We didn’t think as much in those terms then as we do today but now I realize that Aku was really pretty conservative. As you’ll hear on this aircheck, in 1972 he had to be one of the last people in America who still thought we were winning the Viet Nam War.