Maikai Gents CD Now Available! *Photos Added To Thread

Aloha, Friends!

It is with great excitement and pride that I announce the release of our debut album (CD, to all you kids), "The Wiki Wiki Grog Shop." It's a take-home luau in an easy to carry package. Full of old-time hapa haole hits, lilting melodies, smooth crooning, and sensational steel & strumming, it's sure to satisfy the island beachcomber in you.

Recorded at The Wiki Wiki Grog shop using old technologies, 1936 RCA ribbon microphones for example, the album has an aura of the past, yet the sound is clean and sharp. In fact, our mastering engineer at Universal said it sounded like a "perfect restoration!"

Not only will you enjoy the music, but the case it comes in, too! We had an all-star crew put together a piece worthy of shelf space in your tiki collection: Kevin Kidney channeled his love of old Hawaii into our album art; Sven Kirsten used the canvass of his camera's lens to capture us in timeless tropical space; Miles Thompson contributed one of his finest tiki paintings; Jeff "Beachbum" Berry was inspired to create an original, never-before-published, concocted-for-The Gents cocktail recipe for the liner notes, and Chichiwan brought it all together into a beautiful parcel you'll be proud to pore over and display.

"The Wiki Wiki Grog Shop" and our T-shirts designed by Kevin Kidney are available online through our friends at Judd's Hill Winey. Use this link:
http://www.juddshill.com/purchase.html
Scroll to the bottom of the cart to find our music and apparel. We will be notified of every order.

Our CD is also available at CDbaby.com: http://cdbaby.com/cd/maikaigents

Mahalo for your support of our little combo, we are sincerely grateful.

-Iuka Grogg

Here's the front album art by Kevin Kidney:

The fabulous Mr. Kidney also designed our t-shirts. The regular style is in brown. Ladies' cut comes in beige and Youth size is dark green. They all share the same design front and back. Here's the front:

Here's the back of the shirt:

Here's Purple Orchid proprietor, Wersmo Derinc sporting the FIRST shirt out of the box as we all celebrate after a riotous midnight set at Tiki Oasis V:

Just say "Ee-you-kah"
Sway your hula hips over to http://www.mkgents.com

Edited by Iuka Grogg to add the photos.

[ Edited by: Iuka grogg 2007-03-06 12:36 ]

That's great news!! Wonderful meeting you at Lucky Tiki and hearing the public debut of the CD at Tiki Ti last week! It's going to be a smash hit!! Mike, Sr. (mixologist extraordinaire at Tiki Ti) gave it a solid "thumbs-up". What higher praise can an album get?? Pômaika`i!

Scott+

I already got my copy from the Asian black market!
It's fantastic!

Actually, looking forward to purchasing and adding the music to my collection. Don't make us auslanders wait too long, Iuka!

[ Edited by: pablus on 2005-04-27 12:18 ]

I'm so glad to hear that this long awaited item is finally available. Looking forward to get my hands on a copy...
See you at the Oasis.

Ran

But wait!..... There's more!

Tell 'em Iuka!

Thanks, all for the positive responses. Pablus, you busted us! We actually just bought an old collection of hapa haole tunes on the black market and slapped our label on it. Man, how embarrassed am I now!?!?!

But seriously, folks...

Mean Gene, I believe that you may be hinting at the album coordinated apparel that will also be debuting at Oasis. Yes, we will have stylish T-shirts also designed by the amazing Kevin Kidney. We only printed a few dozen because of limited budget, but if any survive Palm Springs, we'll make them available to our mailing list. They are really cool with a fun '50's feel to 'em. I hope you all enjoy.

-I. Grogg

Congrats to all of the Mai Kai Gents. I know it will be all that we expect.

Heres a toast to crooning done right!

I just got through listening to the new CD. Outstanding!! A must buy if you don't have it. Great effort by Iuka and the boys and dare I forget Miss Mauna Loa.

cover art is tops and the music is wonderful

As a huge fan of traditional Hawaiian music, I have never really enjoyed the "luau-style" Hawaiian songs. For the most part, I always thought of the songs as pretty cheesy.

That being said, I was extremely suprised and in awe of just how good the Maikai Gents were when I saw them at the Oasis. The music, the style, the showmanship; it was all top notch. I instantly bought a CD and shirt.

Upon getting home and listening to the CD, it has only gotten better. There is no way one cannot put this CD on, sip a good tropical, and not be put in a better state of mind.

If you have not bought this CD yet, buy it now. You won't be disapointed. This CD has made its way into the 200+ rotation of my "traditional" Hawaiian music CD carousel.

[ Edited by: Riptide on 2005-05-17 11:24 ]

Gee, whiz! Thanks gang. I and the Gents and TMMML are flattered by your fine words. We really appreciate hearing that you're enjoying the album. We'll be making it available over the internet soon (T-shirts, too!). In the meantime, if you'd like to receive advance word on how and when to get it, please sign up for our e-mail list by sending a note to [email protected] We won't bombard you e-mails, just the important stuff. For those of you who were so generous to donate to our recording effort, Mika'ele Loco Moco will be sending out your CD's this week. Enjoy!

-Iuka Grogg

I want to give the Mai Kai Gents a bump. They're great guys and have put out an excellent CD. I've probably listened to it 20 times since I got it. If you don't have it, you should. GO BUY NOW!!

Hanford & I had a wonderful time last night, listening to the new Maikai Gents CD, while I mixed us some mai tais -- we couldn't help feeling transported to the Wiki Wiki Grog Shop! The album really does sound beautiful, it's such a lovely homage to the great old live house band albums recorded in Waikiki. Wonderful, wonderful work, guys (and girl!), this is one that'll be in heavy rotation. Okole Maluna!

Mahalo once again for all the kind words. Your support and appreciation is sincerely appreciated. We are just putting the final touches on our system for getting the discs out to folks who'd like to bring the luau into their own grass shack. Although the exact release date is not set, it will be in the first half of this month (June 2005). More info soon! Mahalo.

-Iuka Grogg

BRAVO!
What a great production by the Gents! Super-sharp and clean sound, and makes you feel like you're at one of their shows. On a recent trip I played the CD for friends and family & now they want their own copies. Keep us in the loop for when CDs are available on the website so I can pass the info along.

Aloha, friends...

We're just about set to release "The Wiki Wiki Grog Shop." Once you hear it, you'll want to ami ami, oni oni, too! More news is imminent. I'm so excited!

-The Mysterious Miss Mauna Loa

WELL?!?!

Do us East Coast TIki Revival artists have to carry this forum on our own?

I want a Mai Kai Gents CD - NOW!

....please?

Mahalo, Pablus

Sorry for the delay in getting this disc out there. I'll have an announcement in just a few days! Finally! It's become apparent that we're musicians, not business people. Thanks to all for being patient and sticking with us. Keep your eyes peeled right here on Tiki Central!

-Iuka Grogg

I played a track from this CD on Friday's show (now streaming on http://www.wnti.org) and as i said on the air, i may have found my number 1 fave cd of the year. Bravo, MaiKai Gents. I'll be spinning that Cd a lot.

great tunes. i downloaded my copy from napster.

i heard a rumor that luka grogg once had bleached hair when he fronted the now defunct El Guapos. any truth to the rumor?

Mahalo, Uke Jackson! Your positive comments put a big smile on my face. So glad you enjoyed the disc. Thanks for playing it on your show, too!

Aloha section 237! Seems as though a bit of my past may be catching up to me. If you were part of that nutty scene back in the day, send me a private message or an e-mail as it'd be fun to catch up. Long Wong's? As for the bleached hair, keep your eyes peeled at http://www.mkgents.com for photos of our past coming later this summer. Then we'll know for sure!

-Iuka Grogg

Just ordered mine.
How come it's not here yet?

How 'bout now?

I'm waiting.

Just ordered the CD and one of their snazzy (or should that be zazzy) T-Shirts.

can't wait, cheers Iuka

Pulled mine out of the mail box this morning- put a much needed smile on my face! mahalo!!

What a great CD.
I have to say the MaiKai Gents featuring the Mysterious Miss Mauna Loa put the OK in Okolemaluna!!

And Iuka's Grogg is quite tasty, too.

Did you guys record that next to a beach, because I swear I hear surf through the whole thing.

VERY cool disc. From cover to cover. Mahalo!

Received the CD this morning, now on repeat here at work, love it!
cheers!

Cheers to Beachbum Berry for the Iuka Grog recipe!

I was lucky enough to get my copy of this great CD at the beginning of summer at the Judd's Hill wine release party in Napa. I have been listening to the CD all summer!! Especially love that Pineapple Princess number by the amazing Miss Mauna Loa, Okole Maluna (raising my wine glass now), Singing Surfriders, and Kanakapila. Of course, nothing is more fun than to watch them perform these live, but the sound quality on the CD makes you believe you are right there with them!

Thanks for the autographs too, Iuka and Miss Mauna Loa! Hope to see you soon again in the wine country!

Myke

Aloha and mahalo, gang! Thanks so much for the kind words. Sorry for the tardy reply, I'm just back from being on the road the past week.

Capt'n Skully: A smile on the face is a great reward for us. Thanks for letting us know.

Johnnie Velour: The "OKAY" in Okole Maluna! A rave review if I've ever heard one. Classic!

Pablus: Yes, The Wiki WIki Grog Shop is located near a beach. I hadn't even noticed that the sounds of the surf had seeped into the recording. Time to give it a listen with the headphones on. Thanks!

TikiSpecs: Thanks for spreading the spirit of aloha in the UK.

Rum Balls: Happy to hear you're enjoying Beachbum Berry's special concoction. That's a good one!

Tikiwinebear: Mahalo for the fine compliments and hope to catch up with you again soon.

Much aloha to all,

Iuka Grogg

Iuka,

I loaded your CD onto my iPod, and iTunes says it's "Unclassifiable" -- Look!

"Unclassifiable," eh? Well, maybe I should take that as a compliment or... we should start a campaign to get CDDB to add "Hapa Haole" as a classification! That does make me chuckle. Thanks, Cynner.

-Iuka Grogg

If you'd like one of our discs plus some other fun Maikai Gents goodies, have a look at this auction to help out our pal Purple Jade:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4766100059&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Your support is much appreciated.

-Iuka Grogg

I've had Wiki Wiki Grog Shop in constant spin in the Tiki Mobile for the last few days.
It has really brought a nice vibe to the days in the midst of a lot of heartache and headaches.

Thanks again.

Hey, Pablus

Thanks for the kind words. I'm sorry to hear about headaches and heartaches. The latter is tougher to ease and I'm very glad the music has helped out. Looking forward to strummin' with you soon.

-Weird Unc

Aloha! The Maikai Gents Featuring The Mysterious Miss Mauna Loa are still crooning and swaying to the luau set from coast to coast. One recent destination is CDBaby.com where our disc is now available. You can check it out at:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/maikaigents

Shirts and such can be had by e-mailing Iuka Grogg through http://www.mkgents.com

The group sends a HUGE mahalo to you all for the continued support!

-Weird Unc