Roi-Namur Rastaman Vibration Reggae Hour(s) Extravaganza Part II
Posted for the first time October 17, 2007
My radio show started from humble beginnings and over time it grew into a show that was not quite humble anymore but still close to being humble. I think I can say with all due conceit that it was the very best reggae show on Kwajalein atoll. I guess it was also the worse reggae show since it was the only one but I’m a glass half full guy except when drinking beer. But all seriousness aside, it did grow as an island event. When I started I was by myself at the station but at some point we turned it into an event where folks would come down to the station and BBQ (outside) and play frisbee and generally hang-out keeping me company while I did my show. At times we had maybe 15 people there, which was about 15% of the island population. I wonder how many radio stations in the states could boast of having 15% of their city at the station or even listening to their show. We had a stereo system that we would carry outside so that the folks could hear my show while they BBQ’d and played frisbee. You might be asking yourself how I could enjoy the show when I was hard at work spinning the hits. Well, I had a number of CDs that were compilations of various artists, such as Roots, a mix of Jamaican and Hawaiian reggae. I could put one of those CDs on and go outside and play frisbee through several songs…. Other times I’d run back in the station when the song was almost over. I’d get the next CD cued up (we actually had 2 CD players) when I started a new song so I’d be ready to go. I had a signature start to my show. I would always open up with Bob Marley’s “Rastaman Vibration” and then follow that with Lucky Dube’s “We Love It”. There was a phone line that I used to take requests. I talked the phone guys into changing it to end with 979 (same as the station’s frequency). My most requested song was Sean Paul’s “Shake That Thing.” Black Uhuru’s “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” was also highly requested. Naturally one of my buddies would occasionally call in and request “Freebird” just to annoy me.
Figure 1Early Photo of DJ RG Dread
We also had several celebrity guests on my show. One was Tribal Fusion’s lead singer and keyboard player Wise Rokobili who was a guest DJ one night. Another time I did a phone interview with Brian Miglia of Tucson, AZ who had just passed the 750 K mark of player’s plus points for NTN Trivia. Though the station was small, and the housekeeping wasn’t the best (besides being station manager, program manager, DJ, and treasurer, I was also the head janitor), I don’t think you could find very many radio stations in the world with a more scenic location. Our station overlooked the ocean and there was a small pier jutting out close to it. 
Figure 2 Guests for the KVZI 97.9 FM Roi-Namur Rastaman Vibration Reggae Hour(s) Extravaganza
I had at least one guest who ended up spending most of the night in the station (he kind of passed out on the couch in the studio). I will not mention his name to avoid his embarrassment other than to say it wasn’t me believe it or not. When I started the show my reggae collection was somewhat limited but it expanded rapidly as I got into it. On one of my trips back to the US I visited Tucson where I stopped in at Twelve Tribes Reggae Shop. Ranger and his associates were very helpful in suggesting a broad spectrum of some of the best reggae performers to increase my library. I increased it over $300 on that one trip alone. At the start of my reign at KVZI I could throw a few CDs in my pack and ride my bike to the station with ease. By the time I left I needed to load up my bike trailer with a box of CDs carrying the songs I wished to play that night and a few extras to play as my mood dictated. Besides the usual Jamaican reggae performers I had songs from reggae artists from around the world including many African countries, England, USA, Australia, the Marshall Islands and Truk. The USA performers included a number of Hawaiian reggae CDs I picked up on my way through Hawaii. Reggae is very popular in the rainbow state. Originally my show was confined to one hour as Ray did his show after mine. But once Ray left the island there was nothing to hold me back. Looking back to my time on Roi, one of the things I enjoyed the most and miss the most was my show the KVZI 97.9 FM Roi-Namur Rastaman Vibration Extravaganza.
Figure 3 Recent photo of DJ RG Dread
Technorati Tags: reggae, bob marley, radio, kvzi, lucky dube, ebeye, tribal fusion, wise rokobili, NTN Trivia, Marshall Islands, Kwajalein, Roi, Roi-Namur, Micronesia, travel