Condolences: Tom Moffatt

The Hawaiian entertainment industry is mourning the passing of Tom Moffatt, longtime influential island radio personality and concert promoter who died Monday, Dec. 12. The Honolulu Star Advertiser says Moffatt was 85 and had been in declining health for several months. Born in Detroit in 1930, Moffatt moved to Hawaii in 1950 and gravitated toward a career in radio. He was playing jazz on KIKI when he started getting requests for an unknown artist named Elvis Presley. Moffatt became the first “rock and roll” disc jockey in Hawaii and one of the pioneers of modern Top 40 radio alongside Hawaii-born radio legend Ron Jacobs at KHVH, KPOA and finally at KPOI. That’s Moffatt, left, greeting Elvis at Honolulu Airport in 1962 as The King arrived to film Girls! Girls! Girls! [Photo courtesy of the Star-Advertiser]

Moffatt, Jacobs and other jocks became known as the “Poi Boys,” captivating local listeners with contests, special events, staged “feuds” between Moffatt and Jacobs, and the “Marathon of Hits” — an annual countdown of the most popular songs in Hawaii as voted on by KPOI listeners. KPOI dominated the Hawaii radio market throughout the 1960s.

Moffatt also got involved in concert promotion, presenting “Show of Stars” concerts and helped open the Honolulu International Center (now the Neal S. Blaisdell Center) with his “Million Dollar Parties.” Moffatt later presented major concerts by Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and The Eagles at Aloha Stadium. He also became a major figure in the Hawaii record industry in the ’70s and ’80s as the head of two labels — Paradise and Bluewater. Moffatt continued to be active as a concert promoter and radio personality well into his 80s. He returned to radio in the 2000s to host a Saturday morning show on Kool Gold 107.9.