[IRCA] KYOI SuperRock Saipan - Radio Heritage Media Release

[Geralyn Hollerman <lynnhollerman@xxxxxxxxx>]

For anyone interested:
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KYOI SuperRock Saipan
The Station That Rocked Japan's Airwaves
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In December 1982, millions of Japanese teenagers suddenly had a new
pop music radio station targeted directly at them, playing the latest
hits from LA, and sounding like nothing before on their airwaves.

The Radio Heritage Foundation has released two new features at its
global website www.radioheritage.net that cover the story of this
remarkable station that rocked the radio dial across Japan.

This was KYOI broadcasting from Saipan in the Commonwealth of the
Northern Marianas, and what made this station so different, was that
it used shortwave signals to reach their transistor radios. 

Brainchild of Lawrence S Berger, Hawaiian based radio entrepreneur,
KYOI was designed to fill a niche radio market created by the sudden
popularity of radio listening amongst Japanese teenagers.

Our two new features 'The KYOI Story' and 'SuperRock KYOI Saipan'
take you inside the powerful shortwave station that was programmed
from Los Angeles, consulted from Tokyo, managed from Honolulu and
broadcast from Saipan. 

Read what Berger himself had to say about his US$4m gamble, how
programs such as 'New Rock Special' recorded by KROQ-FM Los Angeles
were beamed to this new Japanese market, and how 'new music from LA'
became part of the Japanese youth culture of the times.

You'll also hear audio extracts from KYOI, the shortwave station that
busted the myth that all shortwave stations were boring, with their
endless propaganda and political harangues covering the increasingly
deserted shortwave dial. 

Here, suddenly, was the latest pop and rock music from across the
Pacific in California, blasting through the static. Initially popular
in Japan and supported by big name advertisers like Sony, KYOI gained
fans and listeners around the world to whom this contemporary music
was a complete breath of fresh air across the shortwave dial. 

'The KYOI Story' and 'SuperRock KYOI Saipan' our two new features at
www.radioheritage.net as part of our continuing radio heritage
project to share the stories of Pacific radio.

What happened to KYOI? What's the connection with the Christian
Science Monitor. All this and more are revealed in these well
illustrated features that you can now enjoy with us. 

Have you got KYOI memories or memorabilia of your own? You'll find
our contact details at www.radioheritage.net and we'd like to hear
from you.

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Radio Heritage Foundation is a registered non-profit organization
connecting popular culture and radio heritage across the Pacific. Our
global website is www.radioheritage.net for fresh news, features,
images, audio and much more about Pacific radio. Share us with over
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our newsletter mailing community today.  

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Lynn.
Lafayette, LA
Check out the IRCA web site at http://www.ircaonline.org


      
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