Post #663274 by creativenative on Mon, Jan 7, 2013 1:54 AM

Dusting off this old tread but I feel an important one. I knew there were ton of Hawaiian War Chants in the music industry but my thing is moving images like movies and TV where the Hawaiian War Chant is found all over the place. I noticed in this part of the broader entertainment industry that there are a lot of faux versions of this song with made up Polynesian words or sounds like in I LOVE LUCILLE or in OZZIE & HARRIET versions. All done in fun. My favorites are the big band versions with Tommy Dorsey featuring the great drummer Buddy Rich in SHIP AHOY (1942)which also featured a giant tiki and Eleanor Powell in a big Hollywood Hula at the end of the scene. Another favorite is the Merry Macs version found in MOONLIGHT IN HAWAII (1941)featuring the McMichael brothers. What I like about this version is the group sings the song only in the Hawaiian language. Their pronunciation was clear and almost flawless and considering it was an up tempo swing version I really enjoyed it.

Too bad... I'm not sure if one can put clips on this site for all to enjoy so I'll just share some great Hawaiian War Chant screen captures.

MOONLIGHT IN HAWAII with the Merry Macs

SHIP AHOY with Tommy Dorsey & Buddy Rich on drums

SHIP AHOY with Eleanor Powell doing the Hula

SHIP AHOY put these three together and one can imagine what a great number this was

Tiki Movies & Tiki TV @ southseascinema.org

[ Edited by: creativenative 2013-01-07 01:56 ]

[ Edited by: creativenative 2013-01-16 22:39 ]