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

It's not everyday that Paul Keating calls you during dinner, but for Yusuke Aso it was just Wednesday.

The veteran radio producer will retire after a 38-year career next week, but he hasn't forgotten this one exceptional phone call 20 years ago.

He had teed the former prime minister to speak on 702 ABC Sydney radio about being appointed to a panel in 2006 to design what would become Barangaroo.

Meanwhile, his old federal party had just changed their leader to a relatively unknown Queensland MP, Kevin Rudd.

Just as Yusuke was sitting down with his small toddlers, the phone starts ringing. Yusuke recalls the conversation:

"Is that Yusuke Aso?"

"Yes, it is."

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

Yusuke says he's not had a night call from a former prime minister since then.

Being an early morning radio producer, he is usually the one doing the calling at odd hours.

Over nearly four decades, he's been ringing Sydney's movers and shakers in the early hours to convince them to come on air to discuss the stories of the day.

Through his career at ABC Sydney local radio, even since it used to be known as 2BL, he learned just when he could call anyone for any story regarding the harbour city.

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

former 702 ABC Sydney presenter Sarah Macdonald said.

Now after a long career of phone conversations with politicians, sports stars, musicians and academics, Yusuke is hanging up the headphones.

A contact list that needed two phones

Yusuke started his Sydney local radio career with the ABC in 1988 producing Bob Hudson's night-time radio show back when the radio studios were in a basement at Forbes Street in Kings Cross.

He found his way to morning radio in 1990 when producing for the late Andrew Olle, a time he more or less stuck with for 36 years.

He's produced for over a dozen presenters including Phillip Clark, Angela Catterns, Sally Loane, Virginia Trioli, Deborah Cameron, Linda Mottram, Wendy Harmer, Robbie Buck, James Valentine, Cassie McCullagh, Sarah Macdonald and currently Hamish Macdonald.

Over the years he's built a famously extensive contact book with 40,000 entries. He remembers when he saved too many contacts for his iPhone to handle.

"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," Yusuke told 702 ABC Sydney.

702 ABC Sydney Mornings presenter Hamish Macdonald describes him as an "absolute rockstar" whose contact book is like "having the keys to the world of making radio".

"There is rarely a contact he doesn't have and his joy and enthusiasm for landing the best possible guest is unmatched," Macdonald said.

Macdonald paid tribute to Yusuke as a colleague and friend who was a master of what Yusuke calls "flow radio".

"Rather than just moving through a daily rundown, he wants the listener to feel a sense of flow between all the subjects and pivots so that it feels organic and comfortable," Macdonald said.

"It is a craft he has honed over decades of getting to know the audience."

This extensive contact book has been a secret weapon of ABC Sydney radio presenters for decades. Angela Catterns, whose breakfast show he produced from 2000–2003, said Yusuke could always "sniff out" the best stories.

"Whenever I presented a radio show with Yusuke producing I know I was in safe hands," Catterns said.

Just about every presenter agrees with Catterns' assessment.

"He's diligent, he's hard-working, he knows where all the bodies are buried," presenter Robbie Buck, who Yusuke worked for between 2018 and 2021, said.

A young man who loved Australia

Former 2BL station manager Peter Wall remembers hiring Yusuke well before he built his reputation as a story wrangler.

He remembers Yusuke, who had arrived in Australia from Japan in 1985, as a "young Japanese guy who loved Australia".

He remembers at the end of this job interview Yusuke saying the expression "she's apples", although Yusuke recalls saying "good as gold".

"I thought what a wonderful thing to come out of the mouth of a guy that hasn't been here all that long but is embracing the lexicon,"

Mr Wall said.

Yusuke remembers the big difference in coming to Australia was how it was more open and embracing of women and gay people.

"There was a high percentage of females who weren't wearing uniforms and who weren't just serving cups of tea to male office workers, because that's a corporate environment I've just come from," Yusuke said.

"I had previously never met so many openly gay male people in my life and that was a genuine eye opener for me."

As well as his deep knowledge for news stories and extensive contacts, Yusuke made himself known for his personal style of vests and love for music.

He intends to continue his occasional translating work, but he's also hoping to spend more time being a different kind of rockstar, at home with his rock music collection, after he puts his last show to air.

"I go away from this place with a pretty profound sense of accomplishment," Yusuke said.

"I never thought I'd be in a place like this, doing things like this. And I feel so humbled and honoured and flattered to have served and played a role in this kind of organisation."

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