Moffatt, Jacobs were titans of concerts and radio

Last week I gave out my first Rearview Mirror 2016 awards for Unsung Hero of the Year and Funniest Story of the Year.

Here are my final awards for 2016:

LIFETIME ACHIVEMENT IN MEDIA

We lost two outstanding people in the world of entertainment this year. Ron Jacobs and Tom Moffatt were a “Hawaii Odd Couple.” They worked together at several radio stations, including being Poi Boys at KPOI.

One of their greatest PR stunts began with the roller derby at the old Civic Auditorium in 1957. The first night of the four-night event was typically sparsely attended. Jacobs and Moffatt were the announcers. They came up with an idea for a grudge match roller skate-off between the two of them.

The “winner” would get $5,000, they told everybody, but in actuality they’d split the increased proceeds three ways with the promoter.

“Tom was the athlete and would ‘beat’ me,” Jacobs said. “The crowd loved him and cheered wildly. I ‘lost’ and skated off, hanging my head.

“We filled the auditorium on Wednesday, and when we got paid, Tom and I each got a check for $3,000.” (That’s the equivalent of $25,000 today.)

“Moffatt and I took our money and each bought a brand-new 1957 Ford Skyliner,” Jacobs told me. “Mine was coral and white with a retractable hard top. Tom’s was black and white.”

Here’s where the story gets interesting: A few months later, in November 1957, Elvis Presley came to Hawaii for his first concerts at Honolulu Stadium. Jacobs came up with a publicity stunt. They dressed a DJ up as Elvis, and Jacobs drove him around town in one of the convertibles, as if giving him an island tour.

Moffatt, from the KHVH station (where they were working at the time), told listeners where they were and what they were doing. Thousands hit the streets to catch a glimpse. One driver almost ran them off the road to get an autograph.

Later, back at the studio, they got a call from “Colonel” Tom Parker, Elvis’ manager. Elvis and he were a floor below them at the Hawaiian Village and summoned them down. Jacobs said he thought they’d be reprimanded, but Parker loved the stunt and invited them to emcee Elvis’ concerts the next day.

It was the first concert they emceed.

Jacobs moved to the mainland, where he took a small radio station in Los Angeles and turned it into the No. 1 station in the country. He worked with Casey Kasem to launch the popular “American Top 40” radio show.

Moffatt stayed in Hawaii and became our top concert promoter. “Uncle Tom” was active in radio, record production and talent management for more than 60 years in the islands.

Moffatt was 85 when he died Dec. 12. Jacobs was 78 when he died March 8. Posthumously, I give them my 2016 Lifetime Achievement in Media Award.

KISS OF THE YEAR

It’s not often I roll out this honor, but in March I wrote about the first kiss on the lips 13-year-old Kiana Wong received.

When Wong heard, in 1966, that the musical group the Monkees would be stopping at KPOI’s radio station the next day, she begged her mom to take her. The Monkees, her favorite group, were in town for a concert.

There was a small crowd at the station, Wong recalled in her email to me, and as the group was entering, they signed autographs.

“A shy, excited, star-struck teenager found herself looking into the eyes of Monkee Davy Jones who hugged and kissed her … ON THE LIPS!! I floated away from that parking lot. (Yes, I told my mother and she laughed.) Needless to say, no one believed me until I showed them the autographs.”

STORYTELLER OF THE YEAR

This award goes to the person who sent me the best story suggestions and ideas. For 2016 that person was Alan Lloyd, who died Nov. 22.

Lloyd was an engineer with Hawaiian Electric Co. for more than 40 years. He was a private pilot and my go-to guy for anything to do with aviation. I also turned to him for World War II topics, as he was an expert on those as well.

I called him when I was developing my Oct. 21 article on the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack. In it I quoted Mitsuo Fuchida, who was the lead aviator. Fuchida converted to Christianity after the war and moved to the United States.

In a 1952 interview published in the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine, Fuchida said the Japanese knew our aircraft carriers were not at Pearl Harbor. The main targets were U.S. battleships, which they hoped would be at anchor off Lahaina.

I had never heard this before and turned to Lloyd for confirmation. Lloyd told me the battle groups often had exercises south of Maui and sometimes anchored off Lahaina in an area known as Lahaina Roads or Roadstead. He knew he had a photo of it somewhere. From his hospital bed, the week he died, he gave the photo to his daughter, Lori, to send to me.

Lloyd was one of my best contributors and fact-checkers, and he will be missed.

BOOK OF THE YEAR

My favorite book of 2016 is Pam Chambers’ “There and Back Again.”

Chambers is a presentation coach and corporate trainer, but in her spare time she has developed an eye for seeing things in Hawaii’s architecture that most never notice.

Chambers lives near downtown and often walks its streets. With her iPhone camera, she has captured beautiful photos of downtown buildings. For instance, there are 18 water buffalo heads in the facade of the Alexander & Baldwin building on Bishop Street. I’ve walked past them hundreds of times and never noticed — and they’re 2 feet wide!

She also found something I still consider a mystery: The Dillingham Transportation Building at Bishop Street and Ala Moana Boulevard has two 4-foot concrete emblems of ships, and a smaller one of a ship’s captain facing the street.

Ben Franklin Dillingham built the Oahu Railway & Land Co. Why does a building honoring him have ships instead of choo-choo trains in its facade? If you know, call me.

For her next project, Chambers is teaming up with public relations specialist Nathan Hokama to publish a book of management tips for local supervisors and executives.

I congratulate Tom Moffatt, Ron Jacobs, Kiana Wong, Alan Lloyd, Pam Chambers, Fred Hemmings and Patti Smart for their contributions to “Rearview Mirror” and Hawaii.

Bob Sigall, author of “The Companies We Keep” series of books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories of Hawaii people, places and companies. Contact him via email at sigall@yahoo.com.