'Rockstar' ABC radio producer retires after 38-year career

After nearly four decades of waking up Sydney's movers and shakers for early morning radio, veteran ABC producer Yusuke Aso is hanging up his headphones. Aso, who retires next week after a 38-year career, is renowned for his ability to secure interviews with prominent figures, often in the pre-dawn hours.

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Is that Yusuke Aso? It's Paul Keating here, Yusuke. This Trioli girl, she's not going to ask me about this Labor Party stuff, is she?

One particularly memorable call occurred 20 years ago when former Prime Minister Paul Keating contacted Aso during dinner. Keating, seeking to discuss his appointment to a panel designing the Barangaroo precinct, expressed concern to Aso about whether the radio host would focus on politics. This interaction stands out in Aso's memory, though he is accustomed to making calls at odd hours as an early morning radio producer.

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He would know who to call and how early he could wake them up without being sworn at.

Aso began his career at ABC Sydney in 1988, working on Bob Hudson's night-time show. He transitioned to morning radio in 1990, producing for the late Andrew Olle, and remained in that role for 36 years. Over his tenure, he has produced for more than a dozen presenters, including Sarah Macdonald, who described him as an "absolute rockstar."

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I didn't know there was a ceiling to be busted, but 25,000 apparently used to be the ceiling maximum that the iPhone's phone app could actually store.

His career also witnessed the evolution of radio production, from the days of using tape for broadcast audio to modern digital methods. Aso built a famously extensive contact book, reportedly containing 40,000 entries, which once exceeded the storage capacity of an iPhone.

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an absolute rockstar