This Blog is Run/Administered By Former KSBK/JORO Personalities

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU, WHO HAVE VISITED THIS SITE OVER THE YEARS............WE HAVE BROKEN THE "MILLION MARK", IN VIEWINGS! AGAIN.......THANK YOU FOR YOUR ON-GOING SUPPORT. AND NOW.........."THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMIN'".................

The RBC Building (KSBK on The 2nd Floor)

The RBC Building (KSBK on The 2nd Floor)
Scan Courtesy Jon Yim

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The History






BREAKING NEWS..................Just confirmed........

Famed Internationally-Known  Radio Broadcaster, and KSBK Alumnus ART BELL has Died.
Detail are limited, but Art passed away at his home in Pahrump,Nevada.  A short announcement regarding ART BELL can be found here on the Blog, in the Personalities section.



Chief Announcer, and KSBK's leader, BOB WALES has passed away, from undisclosed illness.
We have little details, it's believed he passed away at his home in Hawaii, on Jan. 24,2017.
Bob was one of the best Program Directors ever in the history of KSBK/JORO. His "Opinon Line" Radio Show, was the Number 1 Radio Show, in the Far East. (Beating out Stations in the Philippines,and Guam) Bob was the last Broadcaster to be behind the Microphone, when JORO signed off the Air, in 1973. Our Thoughts and Prayers go out to the Wales Family and Friends. I know for sure.........Bob Wales appreciated all of us that carried the KSBK/JORO Banner. If he believed in you.......he would stick with you, through thick and thin! He made all of us better people.
THANKS BOB FOR ALL YOU DID, IN MAKING KSBK/JOR.O-AM, THE NUMBER ONE RATED RADIO STATION IN THE FAR EAST!   RIP .

FOUND!..............The last 45 mins of JORO!........Preserved on audio tape by Walter Edelman. I will do my best to make the Recording available..........Will keep you posted. Thank You Walter. all of us at the Blog appreciate your efforts.


As the dust settled from World War II,Bill Conine has this idea to give the official Armed Forces Radio Outlet on Okinawa, a run for it's money. Thinking that the U.S.Forces could use an alternate Radio source.With less than $10,000 KSBK started to become a reality. From 1955/1956 this reality started to unfold. He got the best Studio Equipment he could line-up,Annoucers, and most importantly,started to sell advertising to the local population, that would cater to all these American Service members.It worked!Thus began one of the most-popular radio outlets in the Far East. Eventuly, Conine cut a deal with RBC. RBC was Okinawa's largest Media Company,that owned a couple of other stations. Plus.the Islands Television Station gearing to it's own Okinawa population. Conine eventually left KSBK, Bart Richardson took over as Station Manager.
In it's "hay-day", KSBK was the Number One rated Radio Station, in the Far East.The Ratings were higher than those on Guam,Philippines, or any of the American Forces Outlets.
Following Reversion of U.S. to Japan---KSBK changed it's call letters to JORO-AM.

KSBK-AM 880, signed off the air for it's last time on Halloween Night,1973-- at :01 Second,after Midnight.Bob Wales was the last DJ to say "Fond Fare-Well", to those faithful listeners. NOTE: KSBK-AM was JORO-AM at the time of this sign-off.

Thanks To Paul Compney, I've added to the top Right.....The Guy that was responsible for the "Day-to Day Management of KSBK/JORO, Mr. Nakachi AkiraMiyako. He was the "Official" General Manager of the Station. Conine,Richardson,Greene,and later Bob Wales, all took directions from "Miyako". He was the quietest GM I have ever known. There were some of the Broadcasters,DJ's that didn't even know who he was!  He was affectionately known as: "Mr Okinawa Radio". In later Years he was a Presenter on RBC's FM/Okinawa. the Station still remains on the Air to this day.

SPECIAL NOTICE......I know somewhere on the Blog, We have said this Before but, here it goes again: There is a Company doing business as CAFEPRESS. They do Coffee Mugs,T-Shirts, and other various items carrying the logo's of both KSBK, AND JORO. This Blog, it's Owners, nor anyone else associated with KSBK/JORO, Including any Personality, have NOTHING to do with this company. Any questions you have pertaining to Shipments,Orders etc. have to be directed to them. To my knowledge, NO Royalty Payments, are paid to RBC/KSBK/JORO for the printing of the Logo's. I'm sure you can reach them on a Search Egine of your choice. Just wanted to clarify this again. We have had some Inquiries regarding this Company.

28 comments:

  1. Great Blog. I just completed a College Paper, regarding Far East Radio Stations. Featured in my paper was the Stations on Midway Islands,Guam,Philippines,and of course your Station on Okinawa. My question is: Who were the main DJ's on KSBK/JORO?
    Sam Stephens/Kansas City,MO USA

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  2. Hi Sam. Thanks for your comment. I hope in your College Paper, you included XMHA, in Shanghai,China. There is a connection with XMHA,AND KSBK---They were both operated by Bill Conine.
    Also we've added a KSBK Magazine that featured the Top 30 Hits each week.You'll see the two that have been made available. the top one features some of the personalities from 1971.
    Others are listed in the Personalities section of the blog.
    BTW....Paul Revere and the Raiders WERE NOT Dj's @ KSBK. Just kidding--you probably knew that already!

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  3. I was stationed at Kadena AFB during winter of '72/'73...the KC135/SR71 end-of-war era...does anyone know the name of the JORO evening DJ during this period? When I listen to George Noory now, it reminds me of that DJ at "JORO - Naha, Okinawa!" during that winter.

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  4. Greetings Jerry,
    Thanks for the visit.....regarding your question about the all-night guy from 1972/73..There are two possible DJ's from that time-frame: Paul Compney, or Bob Kent. Thanks for your question......don't be a stranger to the blog.

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    Replies
    1. My guy was more like a swing-shift guy, I think...I usually listened in "prime-time". He seemed very "real"...seemed like a nice guy. I remember him once reading letters to home from a soldier in combat in Vietnam...and then at the end he said that the soldier had "...died in a firefight...". Very sad.
      The biggest local news story at the time was about an American serviceman who had allegedly raped a local Okinawan girl.
      B-52's had to be temporarily moved to Kadena from Guam that winter because of a typhoon.

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    2. I read that letter many years ago. Regards, Bob Kent

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  5. let's see....How about Tim Tyler. He was a Navy guy. Worked the "Swing Shift",probably around 1972.Other than that...maybe some of the alums can help us out?

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  6. i noticed in an old book that the name change to "JORO" was overturned once japanese bureaucrats noticed it was the word for HOOKER, and yet this page implies that it went through and was long in use. what gives?

    also...in ref to the george noory comment above...not george, but ART BELL started his radio career on oki. was it, indeed, at KSBK/JORO?

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  7. D'OH! typed that 2d part before the photo loaded!!

    anyway, what about that NAME CHANGE....

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  8. Greetings Charlie.....George Noory, was NEVER at KSBK or JORO.
    It was of course the station tha gave Art Bell, his first Radio Job.
    None of us that worked there ever thought about what JORO stood for. It never dawned on any of us.what the letters meant.
    Thanks for the questions. We appreciate you stopping by the Blog.
    KSBKBLOG

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  9. yes, i myself stated that it was art bell, not george noory. it was "jerry" above who thought that noory was there as well.

    as to JORO, how long did you have that name?here's the reference i was citing:

    http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19720518&id=cA9XAAAAIBAJ&sjid=P0MNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6424,5886613

    which makes it sound like it never got implemented in the first place.

    cheers

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  10. Charlie, This is John Richards....You got the right guy here.It was one my shift that KSBK,became JORO. JORO was on the Air,until
    Halloween Night, 1973. The station signed off for good,with Bob
    Wales at 01 second after Midnight. The Japanese Government closed down the Station,NOT because of what the call letters stood for......but because, they wanted to shut down the station operations,as they had control of everything. Ironically, nothing has been on that radio frequency since then, to my knowledge. I don't think anybody has 880 kc.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. And....JORO was officially on the air from 1972-1973.

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  12. Just came across a 3" tape I made of top 40's from KSBK when we were stationed on Okinawa, in the late 60's. No airchecks heard yet, I seem to have cleverly edited them out. If I find any I would upload them to you, if you are interested and can tell me how.

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  13. Greetings Rick, Hey.....Nice find! Contact us
    at: talentconsultants@gmail.com That's the "Contact" address for all KSBK Blog info.
    Thanks for visiting the Blog!

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  14. As I posted elsewhere on here, I worked at KSBK/JORO for about 6 months in early 1972..I remember Skip Willis, Jim Wilson, Porcupine, and I believe it was Peter J. Boston..He filled in quite often and he might have had the late night shift..at one point the pre-recorded stuff was used midnight to 6 am..thanks for listening, Mike Wilson..

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  15. Greetings Mike......Yes, You are remembered. And Peter J. Boston was the over-night guy during that time. For those Six months, if I recall.....Doug Greene had You, and Peter J, doing a lot of fill-ins.Thanks for being a part of the Blog. Don't be a stranger!

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  16. Hello again..Mike Wilson here, a KSBK/JORO alumni from 1972..I really wanted to be a DJ at that time and I had zero experience, but I did a demo tape for KSBK and I also did one for the Armed Forces Radio Station there..As luck would have it, both places "hired" me..So I was 2 for 2 in my very short job search..I took the KSBK spot and I couldn't believe my luck..My first night on the air, Skip Willis stopped by to say hi and he told me I sounded great..that was a kodak moment for me..another little memory of that time was we had a guy working part time at KSBK who got "fired" at the AFRN because he did a little skit on the air about how to chew and spit tobacco..He was a character, much like the Porcupine, but I can't remember his name..anyway, this is a great blog..keep blogging those memories..

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    Replies
    1. Could it have been Paul Brumalow? He was forced out at AFRTS,and was quickly hired at KSBK/JORO.

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  17. Greetings from another former employee of JORO. I was hired by Bob Wales to work weekends from the summer of 72-Feb73 when i got discharged. It was my first job in radio and started me on a 20 year career for which i am most grateful to Bob Wales for the opportunity. I always got a kick out of paydays because we got paid in yen which at the time was over 300 yen per dollar. I have lots of fond memories of the staff and station. Thanks for the blog.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bob....You are remembered well.You onne of the last remaining DJ's that were there, when KSBK/JORO ended it's Broadcasting. Job well done! The next time I talk to Bob Wales....will tell him you stopped by.

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  18. Thanks for the comments. In the coming days I will post some stories about a few of my experiences while working at JORO that you might find interesting.

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  19. I remember JORO quite well. I worked with peter j. boston 73, part time I gave the news. This is Tony Cole reporting for joro and the sun trading company was my call. I have an old 8 track of the big party we had of the last show. Miss those days. In fact I was recording the music before going in the night one dj fell asleep and there was no music but the record scratching.

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  20. Left Okinawa 31 Oct 73 the same night you signed off for the last time

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  21. Hi!
    I work at Ryukyu Broadcasting Cooperation,former KSAR,KSBK.

    I would like tell that D.J. Nakachi died on May 2022, was 88yrs old.
    He was working as DJ age 84.
    And also,I am reseaching about our companys history. So if anyone has sounds of those days,would like to listen.

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