Looking back at the success chalked by the predecessors of this piece made me a little reluctant to release the penultimate in the series of five articles. Well, not reluctant but rather scared. As my good friend Jo Quansah would say, “My muse deserted me.” This left me dejected. I had to make this piece as good as I could. In fact, I still cannot tell if it can rub shoulders with the other three, but at least in this piece, I take a cursory look at the last of my top four radio morning shows in Ghana. Last, not in the sense that it is the least. That is far from the point. Perhaps, this morning show deserved to be discussed last, just so that the other three could serve as a yardstick against whom it could be measured. In the first part, we took a look at Chairman Kwami Sefa Kayi’s KOKROKOO. In the second, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah’s SUPER MORNING SHOW was carefully analysed. Then came the turn of Adakabre ‘Mahmoud’ Frimpong Manso’s DWASO NSEM in the third part of this series. In this fourth part, the spotlight is on Louis Sakyiamah’s DAYBREAK HITZ.
To many of you, this name might sound a little bit unfamiliar. Well, that is understandable because the host himself prefers to be called Lexis Bill. I guess you now know the host in question. He is by far the youngest male morning show host I have personally encountered in Ghana and to think that he steers his show with so much experience, mastery and quality gives me some amount of hope that the youth indeed have something to offer this nation. His show, Daybreak Hitz runs on Hitz 103.7 fm, another station under the Multimedia Group. Wait a minute! It just struck me that Dwaso Nsem and the Super Morning Show also run on Multimedia Group frequencies. Well, let me not be tempted to make any hasty generalisation! Daybreak Hitz runs from 6am through 10am, like all other radio morning shows. Like the host himself dubs it, this show is “the most entertaining and relaxing morning show in Ghana.”
What makes Lexis Bill’s Daybreak Hitz so distinct, so unique? For a fact, it is politics-free. In such a politics-driven society as ours, the fact that a radio morning show defies all odds and doles out nothing political every morning inspires awe! However, this show is not all about entertaining listeners. Listeners get to know of all the headlines of the leading newspapers in the country. This is not without the witticism embedded in the comments that this young, articulate and equally handsome host makes concerning some of the headlines.
One thing that Daybreak Hitz offers its listeners is good music. Thus, from 6am up until 10am when the show ends, listeners would have been fed with good quality music. The selection of music is equally impressive, even mind blowing. It is a common phenomenon to have notable public figures in the studios, mostly from the showbiz industry. The relaxed manner in which interviews are conducted contributes to the show’s relaxed nature. Thus, guests feel at ease and not as though they are on the spot, as some hosts do to their interviewees. These guests even have the rare opportunity to give out their top five songs and even if the song in question was sung in the eighteenth or nineteenth century by Negroes working on plantations in Alabama, Surinam or Nova Scotia during the days of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, you can trust Lexis Bill to retrieve that tape and play it in centiseconds. I have personally listened to editions of this show when Samini, Paulina Oduro, Bessa Simmons, Ben Brako, Samuel Owusu, Dada Kwaku Duah (Dada K.D), Obuor, Okyeame Kwame, Sherifa Gunu, Lydia Forson, Wutah, Alex Biney (Of Big Brother Africa fame), Adjetey Annan, and other big names all went through his interview session and they were nothing short of entertaining.
Daybreak Hitz is by far the only station among the group of four that fully integrates aspects of social networks in its presentation. Lexis Bill himself answers all tweets sent to @lexisbill and @Hitz1037fm, through his fan page and official profile on Facebook as well as through the Hitz Fm Facebook page. This is perhaps due to the fact that the show’s listeners comprise mostly the youth, most of whom are hooked onto one social network or the other. Through this medium, most listeners, including my good self in Cape Coast, can follow the show via these social networks. Listeners also get to see photos of the show whenever guests show up, on these social networks. This no doubt bridges the gap between host and listener and endears him to his listeners.
The show is not complete without a question of the day; a question posed on air seeking answers from the audience. These questions at least get listeners thinking and the swift turn to the good old “google” for answers, before the official answer is given at the end of the show. I can recall such questions as: Which fabric is made by worms? and What does DNA stand for? Then comes the Let’s Get Talking (LGT) segment, where Lexis Bill never ceases to come up with an issue that will definitely get his listeners talking. I can recall the following: “One day when you are gone, what would you want to be remembered for?”, “What makes you happy when you are lonely?”, “What about the opposite sex do you admire most?”, “What is your idea of an Ideal man or woman?”, “What is the wisest quote you’ve ever heard?”, “Who is your Role Model?”, “What is the biggest lie you have ever told?” and the list goes on and on. This is besides the real life issues that are discussed and solved everyday on Daybreak Hitz. One cannot help but listen while people make known to the world their views on the issues up for discussion. Coupled with the host’s humorous nature, the show is no doubt relaxing and stress-free.
So when next you log on to Facebook or Twitter, remember to search for Lexis Bill and @lexisbill respectively, and do tell him that his morning show, Daybreak Hitz was privileged to be a part of Kofi Yankey’s Top Four Radio Morning Shows in Ghana and that for once, he served Ghana the morning show with a difference- shutting the doors of his studio on the politicians.
