Mai call says it's time to go

Robbie Rakete is winding up at Mai FM after 14 years. His last day will be Friday. Picture / Brett Phibbs

He's pretty decrepit, that Robbie Rakete, sitting there and trying to argue that his hip Auckland audience deserves better because he's an old nana now and it's hard to be hip once you hit 40.

That remorseless tread of time is one reason for his decision this week to leave the hip-hop and R&B station Mai FM after 14 years of hosting its breakfast show.

It hasn't been officially announced yet so the official line is "to an adult contemporary radio station" but he's trotting over to RadioWorks' The Breeze when it starts in Auckland.

"I had it in my head that I didn't want to be Rick Dees. He was No 1 in LA for a long time as host of the breakfast show on KIIS FM. And then one day they turned around to him and said 'Ryan Seacrest is taking over, so pack your bags'." Rick Dees was 53. Rakete clearly is not.

"You know, as much as people go 'he looks so young', I'm not. I'm 39 and I'm 40 in October. I just don't look my age, thanks to the fetal cell injections and the Botox.

"I didn't want to be 40-plus and asking the audience to forgive me for still being here. They deserve a younger host, close to their age."

Rakete has worked at Mai FM since the Ngati Whatua-owned station was launched in July 1992.

It now hovers between second and third place in Auckland's radio market and is the leader in the youth market.

"I like that we've always been the underdogs and we've always triumphed. It's like a Disney movie.

"We are like the Cool Runnings of the radio world, only we won. Well, without the lycra."

Rakete sees his new job at The Breeze as a bit of a Mai FM.

"It is kind of like Mai FM in that I'm starting all over again as breakfast host at the start-up of a whole new radio station."

And he has some unexpected mentors. "When I first started, Paul Holmes rang the competition line and I hung up on him because I thought it was someone taking the piss. It wasn't. He was No 1 Mr Big Auckland radio and TV star and he took time out of his busy day to call me and say 'I've had a listen, and here's some things you could try'.

"I don't care what people say about Paul Holmes, I will always have respect for him after that."

His last day on Mai FM will be Friday.