Post #594240 by TikiTomD on Sun, Jun 19, 2011 8:29 AM

Mark (Digitiki), it is an understatement to say the archival information on Gene Rains is scarce. It looks like almost everything about him on the internet is from the same source, probably you (e.g., Wikipedia cites Tiki Central and the original contributor was a Yavaz, the name of your former Latin band, an unlikely coincidence).

I found a sprinkling of Gene Rains live performance articles (ads) in the 1960s from newspaper archives. The earliest...

The Chicago Tribune June 12, 1960

A review by Will Leonard of The Chicago Tribune dated June 19, 1960 observed that “The Polynesian Village has a relaxed, easy going show in the traditional style, with the Kent Ghirard dancers undulating, the Gene Rains quartet syncopating, and Kenny Black’s orchestra cooperating. The Ghirard girls, playing a return, operate with split bamboos, feathered gourds, imaginary canoes, black light, and nimble torsos. Danny Kaleikini sings the good old ‘Hawaiian War Chant,’ two grass skirted beef trust gals called the Tu-Tus do a heavy footed hula, and the melodies of the 50th state fill the air... Coming August 1: Arthur Lyman and his group...”

The Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago, where Gene Rains performed, is beautifully explored in this Tiki Central thread by Sabu and other TC contributors... http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=34213&forum=2&start=0

The next seems an unlikely location for a Gene Rains performance...

The Southeast Missourian December 12, 1962

The Colony Club was located in East Cape Girardeau, Illinois, hardly my idea of a tiki Mecca. One article on Midwest illegal gambling (“Before there was Vegas there was the Midwest”) cited the Colony Club. It was one of about six or seven night clubs in the area that could afford to bring in big name performers because of the business in the back of the club. Apparently, the Purple Crackle was the most famous, opening its doors in 1939: “Legends like Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Woody Herman made the Crackle a preferred stop on the Memphis-St. Louis-Chicago circuit.” For more reading on this, there are some interesting stories here: http://midwestillegals.webs.com/illinoisstories.htm

The original Colony Club was destroyed by a fire in 1959, according to this blog post by Fred Lynch at http://www.semissourian.com/blogs/flynch/entry/36282/...

“G.D. Fronabarger shot this picture of the fire that destroyed the Colony Club between McClure and East Cape Girardeau, Ill. on June 8, 1959. The story was published in the Southeast Missourian that afternoon.

Fire Destroys Colony Club; Owner Jumps to Safety

Southern Illinois' most plush nightspot, the Colony Club, located 4 miles east of Cape Girardeau at the junction of Highways 146 and 3, was destroyed by fire thought to have originated in the kitchen about 6 a.m. today. The loss to the main buildings housing the dining room, and adjacent buildings was estimated to be over $150,000 by observers. Damaged was reported to be partly covered by insurance.”

The place was rebuilt and it was in the new Colony Club that Gene Rains performed.

The final item was from a Los Angeles Times review by Elmer Pasta dated November 14, 1969 that reads in part “Buddy Fo, in a kind of budding Don Ho follow-up, has brought into Hop Louis’s Latitude 20 in Torrance an able troupe of colorful musicians and dancers to further prove to Mainlanders that ‘the old can live with the new’... The revue contained an even sample of Hawaii past and present... Well-practiced backup group for the entire show consisted of Henry Allen, guitarist-arranger; Gene Rains, vibes-organ; Eddie Kam, bass; and Harry Chang, drums... The lush tropical setting of the Latitude 20 is perfect atmosphere for this kind of fine family entertainment...”

Tiki-Kate started a Tiki Central thread on Latitude 20 here: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=32581&forum=2

-Tom