Radio Loses Steven B. Williams

The Time Machine has learned of the death of one of the voices that inspired many around the country to pursue broadcasting. Steven B. Williams, also known as "Steven B", entertained radio audiences in Colorado and Hawaii.

He left a mark on broadcasting that many in radio could only aspire to. Steven was "the voice". His broadcasting peers would refer to him as "the pipes". There were only two voice talents that The Time Machine could truly use over the years that would fit the defination of "a deep voice". The first belongs to Bill St. James. You may not know his name but you've heard him in the majority of movie previews the last two decades in addition to being the voice of both "Nick at Night" and "The Discovery Channel" to name a couple. The only voice deeper and with a similar delievery was Steven B. Williams. Steven commanded your attention to listen to a song or purchase a product.

The staff reminisced about hearing Steven for the first time on the radio. AM was still king in the seventies and we still can hear Steven back announcing "Diary" by Bread with a sense of humor that could easily flow into "Walk The Dog" from Aerosmith. Fans of Honolulu's KKUA AM 69 were thrown thru a loop when the TOP 40 giant's morning show man, Ron "Who da guy?" Jacobs, wasn't able to do his show and "Steven B." slipped into the slot from sister rocker station KQMQ 93 FM. The late seventies in Hawaii were a magical time for radio airwaves and listening to Steven state on the air how he had just came back from Tower Records by blowing the station's music budget meant that we were about to hear some of the best rock music that our island ears could handle. God bless Steven B. Williams for giving us a true rock radio show.

We are sure that as this tragic story unfolds that it still won't fill the hole left in our hearts.


Below are two stories that appeared in the press. The first is from the Honolulu Star Bulletin's Erika Engle.

FORMER ISLE DEEJAY DIES FROM GUNSHOT

Steven B. Williams was apparently murdered in waters off California

By Erika Engle

Former Hawaii radio personality Steven B. Williams was shot to death last month in a case that is under investigation in California. No arrests have been made.

His body was found by a boater in the ocean six miles off the isthmus of Avalon, a town on Catalina Island, Calif., on May 18. His birthday was May 14.

The May 22 autopsy by the Los Angeles County Coroner's office determined that "he died from a gunshot wound to his upper torso, and the case was deemed a homicide," said Dana Camarillo, a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Williams, 59, had been living on a boat belonging to another person moored in San Pedro Harbor, according to Sgt. Kenneth Clark, one of the detectives investigating Williams' death for the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Homicide Bureau.

Talk of his apparent murder swirled among his friends on the mainland and in Hawaii for the past few weeks, but his identity was not confirmed until a dental record comparison was made on Wednesday.

The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office confirmed the information yesterday.

A sailing and wine enthusiast with a deep, resonant voice, Williams gained fame with radio listeners in Hawaii throughout the 1970s working for top-rated stations. His voice was revered and envied by fellow broadcasters.

Williams was no longer working as a day-to-day radio personality. Instead, he had built a second career doing voice-over work for radio and television stations including KHON-TV, until recently.

KHON Marketing Director Kyle Funasaki said he met with Williams a few months ago, and the former deejay talked of his plans to sail around the world.

The sailing plans were consistent with what Sgt. Clark has learned in the course of his investigation, though the departure date changed repeatedly. "My understanding is they were months away from leaving," Clark said.

Concern for Williams' well-being surfaced when he stopped communicating with friends on the mainland and in Hawaii at the beginning of May.

Clark credits those close to Williams for bringing his disappearance and their concern to officials' attention.

Friends say Williams had recently inherited a large sum of money following the death of his father and that his trusting nature might have contributed to his death.

Many of those friends have been advised by law enforcement authorities not to discuss the case with anyone.

Former co-worker Danielle Tucker, through tears, said, "Steven doesn't deserve that. He was too good a person."

Now a traffic reporter for Cox Radio Hawaii, Tucker recalled how the management of KQMQ-FM 93.1 promised to improve wages and working conditions if the staff would reject a union attempt to organize them in the 1970s. It was the sister station to the decidedly more popular and higher-rated KKUA-AM 690, a Top 40 hits station before the FM band began dominating the airwaves.

"We were nobodies. The FM was nothing back then. KQMQ was an afterthought" to the owners, she said. Williams was so trusting, "he believed them," she said, but it never happened and he left the station not long afterward.

Williams left Hawaii in 1980 to work for KBPI-FM 106.7, a rock station in Denver, where he was half of the ratings-topping "Steven B. and the Hawk" morning team for several years. In a story about Williams' death, Denver TV station KCNC reported that Williams' partner, Don Hawkins, died in 1994 during routine surgery.

Williams worked at more than a dozen radio stations in Hawaii and on the mainland starting in 1970, according to www.440.com, a Web site where current and former radio broadcasters post stations or related companies they have worked for, as well as "where are they now" updates.

His last update was posted in September 2001.

"While attending a recent function at my favorite winery, V. Sattui Winery in Napa Valley, I was stunned when Daryl Sattui, owner and great-grandson of the founder, offered me a job. After exhaustive analysis of all the pros and cons, I accepted his offer just slightly before he was able to finish his sentence. I am now living and working in what can only be described as a dead ringer for the Bordeaux region of France where I continue to provide voice imaging to my radio and TV clients. If my newspapers have started piling up call 911; it just may mean that I've died and gone to Heaven," he wrote.

He helped the winery stage tastings but left the position and moved away from the area a few years ago.

Williams is survived by a sister who lives in New Jersey. No information on services was available.



A career that spans the radio dial

Radio personality Steven B. Williams' career stretched over three decades and included stints at:

Honolulu radio stations
KKUA: 1970
KIKI: 1972
KORL: 1976
KAHU/KULA: 1977
KQMQ: 1977
KDEO: 1979

Mainland radio stations/programs
KBPI (Denver): 1980
KPKE (Denver): 1984
KRQR (San Francisco): 1987
KXKL (Denver): 1988
World's Greatest Hits (San Francisco): 1992-94
KIOI (San Francisco): 1993
KHOW (Denver): 1996
KSPZ (Colorado Springs, Colo.): 2000-01


"World's Greatest Hits" was a syndicated program heard around the globe that began with Steven B. Williams as host (before the popular "The World Chart Show" which continues to this day).



Here's a story that is from CBS's Channel 4 in Denver, Colorado as reported by Brian Maass. There is also a video available from the newscast at the website.

A well-known Denver disc jockey was found dead and a criminal investigation is under way into how he died, CBS4 investigator Brian Maass has learned.

Steven B. Williams was half of the "Steven B. and The Hawk" morning show on KBPI radio in the early 1980s. The pair dominated FM radio with their deft humor, impersonations and light comedy.

Williams, 59, had a deep, distinctive radio voice that boomed across Denver and the Front Range.

In recent years, Williams had moved to San Pedro, California and lived on a boat.

On May 18, a boat captain found his body floating six miles from Catalina Island in the Pacific Ocean. The Los Angeles County Sheriff said Williams' autopsy showed Williams died from a gunshot wound.

A friend of Williams in California doubted the gunshot wound was self inflicted saying Williams "was in great spirits" when last seen in early May.

Detectives were closely interviewing Williams' friends and associates in San Pedro.

The L.A. Sheriffs department said it was an amazing coincidence that a boater found Williams' body in the middle of the ocean and if he hadn't, its possible nobody would have ever known what happened.

Williams worked at three radio stations in Denver and one in Colorado Springs. He got his start in radio in Hawaii in the 1970s.

Don Hawkins, or "The Hawk," died unexpectedly in 1994 during routine surgery.



One more story from SFGate.com and the Associated Press:

Slain man found in ocean off Catalina was ex-Denver DJ 'Steven B'


A former Denver disc jockey known as "Steven B." was found shot to death in the ocean off Southern California, authorities said.

The body of Steven B. Williams, 59, was found two weeks ago and his death is being investigated as a homicide, Los Angeles County sheriff's spokeswoman Dana Camarillo said Thursday.

Authorities have not named any suspects or identified a motive.

Williams and Don Hawkins were hosts of "Steven B. and The Hawk," a popular morning show on KBPI-FM in Denver in the early 1980s. Hawkins died during surgery in 1994 and Williams moved to California in 2001.

Authorities said Williams' body was found floating about six miles off Catalina Island by a passing ship, but the Los Angeles County coroner's office did not identify it for a week. An autopsy determined he died from a gunshot wound in his upper torso, the coroner's office said.

Williams worked as an assistant winemaker in Northern California before moving to the Los Angeles area to care for his sick father, said Daryl Sattui, owner of the V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena, Calif., where Williams worked for two years.

"He was a great guy; I mean, who can dislike Steven B.?" Sattui said Thursday. "It's strange because I was actually going to call him today to try to get him to move back up and work for me again."

Williams' cousin, Dan Webster of San Francisco, said Williams' father had died. Webster said he did not know what Williams had been doing.