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A few more in the Hawaiian/Tropical style....

Going through some more LPs today....

A hip 70s lounge act singing at the White Whale Lounge of the Kuilima Hotel...Hawaiian numbers, plus "La Bamba","Comeseibella", etc. This LP actually got some airplay through the 1980s.

Here's an LP I love "Salina V: Dreams of Tahiti" by The Olomo Hawaiians...I can only assume a European instrumental group with wild steel guitars playing such songs as "Oh My Darling Clementine" (It totally works), "Hawaiian Patrol" and a killer version of Hawaiian War Chant entitled "Safari Of Hawaii"...what's not to love here?

Jim Nabors, aka "Gomer Pyle" lived (is still living..?) in the islands for many years and had a long running Waikiki show. These are selections from his "Polynesian Extravaganza" show, probably sold before/after performances.

This LP seems to go for a FORTUNE whenever it appears on ebay. I guess because it's a budget label release that seems to be quite rare. I suspect because most people listened to it & threw it away...can't say I like it much, but it's interesting..I can't quite figure out where the photo was taken.

My favorite Harry Owens release...why has this never been re-issued on cd? It's fantastic! All the songs were written for a television series "Polynesia Holiday" that apparently never made it to the airwaves...or did it? I've never heard anything about it. At any rate, I absolutely love the music here..so many crazy fully orchestrated original vocals "Tradewind","Bora Bora","Come Back To Rarotonga","Cruel Relentless Sea" & more.

Frans Van Oirschot is a European steel guitarist (still kicking I believe) who recorded as a solo artist & a member of many groups, often uncredited. His LPs aren't found often in the states & I put this LP just to sort of "represent" him. It's a lovely photo of somewhere..not Hawaii certainly, but somewhere..:)

Here's a Japanese steel guitarist..S. Ohashi & His Honey Islanders. Love the cover photo here. He also recorded "Steel Guitar in Italy"...interesting.

Well, we all knew about the Bossa Nova..but who knew there was a Hula Nova? Well, apparently only Mr. Walter Pohakulani O'Kert. Not the strongest singer..but pretty cool nonetheless, lounging his way through the title track, "Black Sands of Kalapana","Hula Eyes","Nightingale","Cool Head Main Thing", etc.

hey I know a Dave Pike,
wonder if its the same guy?
:wink:
Jeff(btd)

Hi Kaiwaza,
Love that Surf N' Bongos cover......looks like the photo was taken at the same time as this one featuring Diamond Head in the background....

On 2009-08-18 20:11, bigtikidude wrote:
hey I know a Dave Pike,
wonder if its the same guy?
:wink:
Jeff(btd)

Is this how one properly plays the vibes?

From last week...

Later!

PTD

Some good stuff there,Psycho. Tommy Garrett did two Hawaiian lps that I know of. I like both of them.
KG

On 2009-08-21 05:43, Kailuageoff wrote:
Some good stuff there,Psycho. Tommy Garrett did two Hawaiian lps that I know of. I like both of them.
KG

Both of Garrett's Hawaiian albums are available on CD too from the Collectables label but I like vinyl better!! :)

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Staying with a "tropical" theme.....

From today...

Later!

PTD

What the heck is that Sacramento Band LP? Is that a musical entitled "Hawaii 69"...or maybe they made a trip to Hawaii & recorded their concert? Is it Hawaiian music? Interesting....& BTW, I really LOVE the music on that William Kealoha "Hawaii" LP..perfect for the cocktail set.

Boy! I haven't found a whole lot of Tiki lately, but the LPs are falling into my lap:






All for the paltry sum of a buck apiece!

Going thru the LPS..a few more rarities/novelties...

"The Paradise Polynesian Show" under the direction of Billy Gonsales (Paradise Serenaders) was performed at some major Waikiki Hotels and regularly at Sea Life Park. Some more developed harmonies than usually heard in such productions. ...a nice rendition of "Show Me How To Do The Hula."

I don't think the music is anything that special here..just the standards played on Spanish (not Hawaiian) guitar by New Zealand Artist Peter Posa..but it's a nice cover & I've rarely seen this LP anywhere.

Here's a lovely, seldom seen instrumental LP, one side by Johnny Pineapple, the other by Andy Iona. I like this also because it features nearly ALL original compositions...I mean, one how many renditions of "Sweet Leilani" does one realistically need?.. "Make Believe Island Of Dreams","On A Heavenly Isle In Tahiti","Along The Pineapple Trail" etc. Relaxing, and a beautiful cover.

Can I just tell you how much I LOVE this LP? Medleys of Latin tunes by a groovy Hawaiian combo. He's not credited, but the steel guitarist sounds like Billy Mure..a sharp, aggressive style here.

Again, the music is fairly standard full orchestra with steel guitar covering mostly pop tunes..an English LP...but one I've seldom run across. A rarity, I guess. Love her caftan.

George Paoa was a fabulous Hawaiian vocalist, very jazz oriented, and he recorded a number of popular LPs and got a lot of air play on the Hawaiian radio stations. This is one his earlier LPs and I selected it because, obviously, of it's beautiful cover art. "Ola'a Beauty","Welcome Malihini","Crushed Flowers","There Goes Kealoha", etc.

There seems to be some interest in this artist at Tiki Central..although I think his music is not very listenable, personally. I've only seen this LP once, and I bought it. According to the liner notes, not only is Paul Page a talented musician & dj..he's also a talented painter (I'll let you be the judge on that) as he painted this LPs cover..which, btw, features the lovely Elanor Leveloff, wife of the owner of the Turf Club, one of America's finest restaurants.
As if that weren't enough, on the back is an add for another of Mr. Pages fine recording efforts "Your Astrology Record" on one side and the "Song of The Month" on the other. An man of many talents.
This Paul Page LP features "Ten Years On A Tropical Isle","It's All Wicky Wacky In Hawaii", and a unusual rendition of "Barcarolle" called "Blue Lagoon".

A LP featuring chants converted into songs...some more successful than others, but a lovely LP to look at while playing..

Mega-strangeness. Indian film hits on Hawaiian guitar. I can dig it, but only one side at a time.

Paradise is a state of mind.

[ Edited by: Kaiwaza 2009-08-27 15:24 ]

[ Edited by: Kaiwaza 2009-08-29 13:02 ]

Popular local pianist, Rene Paulo had a long career recording many LPs and performing all around the islands. I think most of us here at Tiki Central are familiar with his awesome Black Coral LP and cover. This is one of his rarer LPs and really one of his best..very polite cocktail jazz renditions of TRUE Hawaiian classics.

Recorded in Argentina, "Poly Y Su Guitarra Hawaiana" produce an amazing output of steel guitar LPs..maybe 15 or 16 or even more...LPs that featured all boleros, all tangos, etc. Here is Poly no doubt cashing in on the popularity of the international hit "Hawaii Tattoo" by Belgiums "The Waikikis". This just screams 1960s.

The Paradise Serenaders were a beloved vocal group here in Hawaii. Their songs were frequently heard on the airwaves & they have a lovely CD compilation out. Great harmonies, cool arrangements of Hawaiian numbers, their outfits here give you the definate vibe of the music. Grab anything you come across by them.

Finally today, well known Indonesian/European steel guitarist Coy Pereira in his LP from Canada's Maple records..who recorded a beautiful series of about a dozen Hawaiian LPs called the "Sweet Sweet Steel Guitar Series." Again, even in this series, this LP is one I seldom have come across.

Well, they misspelled his name (Goy), but this is a BEAUTIFUL record featuring all "Krontjong" songs (Indonesian/Malaysian romantic folk songs) in a lush steel guitar style...a beauty.

On 2009-08-23 16:22, Kaiwaza wrote:
What the heck is that Sacramento Band LP? Is that a musical entitled "Hawaii 69"...or maybe they made a trip to Hawaii & recorded their concert? Is it Hawaiian music? Interesting....& BTW, I really LOVE the music on that William Kealoha "Hawaii" LP..perfect for the cocktail set.

Kaiwaza,

The Sacramento High School Band LP was recorded in Sacramento.

Side One: 1. Taste of Honey 2. Gigue 3. Watermelon Man.

Side Two: 1. Fall Out 2. Austera 3. Rodgers and Hart Medley performed by the combined bands of Sacramento State College and Sacramento High School for two stage bands.

Only found these three today...

Later,

PTD

Most of today's are repeat finds...to be sold at my Tiki Garage Sale next month...

Later!

PTD

A garage sale at PTDs?!! That would be worth a trip. Wish I lived closer. The early birds will probably be camped out in front for days.

Doing some more filing/realphabetizing today....

Boyce Rodrigues, member of a famous singing family in Hawaii, sang for many years with the "Hawaii Calls" radio shows. Here's a solo LP from 1976, quite nice with the standard Hawaiian/hapa-haole tunes of the day...but I am digging the vest & long sleeve aloha shirt, yeah?

This is just a fairly rare & beautiful real Hawaiian recording of children's songs written by well-known composers Alice Namakelua & Mary Kawena Puku'i and sung by Nina, Lani, Lehela (aka The Rodrigues Sisters) in some absolutely lovely harmonies.

Out of this world cover and some beautiful tracks..most notably "Easter Isle","Sea of Dreams" and a hypnotic version of "Drifting & Dreaming."

I've never come across the original recording, but thank god the folks at "Steel Guitar Vintage Classics" in Concord, CA reissued this gem. One of my absolute favorite Hawaiian LPs...VERY exotic arrangements with steel guitar.."Wind Chimes","Lonely Isle","Lovely Luana"..I mean, I don't know why this LP isn't more well known in exotica circles. Someone should really do a CD re-issue.

I have sentimental attachments to this LP as when I was a kid I mail ordered it from some music clearance place we used to get catalogs from...what was that? Music Central Clearing House or something..my grandpa & I both ordered plenty of LPs from there back in the day. Here's "A Musical Cruise From Hawaii To Hong Kong" by "The Royal Polynesian Island Orchestra" (and it WAS a full orchestra, not just a small combo)...although I have to laugh when I think of it..what a full orchestra of Rarotongan Islanders? Anyway..all originals.."Flowers On The Water","Dance Of The Natives","Polynesian Paradise" a rousing disaster tone poem "Typhoon" and others.

This LP is just strange..but in a good & interesting way. No, it isn't standard native Tahitian music. It's a European/American style full orchestra with chorus playing jazzed-up tamoure songs..there are drums, there are xylophones, there are people massacuring lyrics...it's beautiful.

This LP has been issued at least twice. I think first as "Percussive Pineapples"..a great title...but, how can you not LOVE an LP jacket with an exploding volcano on it? So, "Hawaiian War Chant" wins by a lava flow.

Finally today, 2 LPs not notable for their music, which is fairly standard fare..but they are UK releases that I've seldom run across and I think "Golden Hawaiian" has a particularly nice jacket.

Kaiwaza,

I appreciate the information you are providing with the albums you post. I am so behind on listening to the albums I have found that I am looking to your posts for suggestions on which to listen first. Thanks!

Not many new stacks of records to look through today, but I did manage a couple of new ones...

This one is different, a smaller EP from a place called Honey's in Dukes at the International Marketplace.

Later,

PTD

Wow..PDT,
THat Taste of Honey's record is quite interesting..I've NEVER seen that before. Who knew?

Kaiwaza,

Do you know anything about "Honey's"?

Found four more today...

Later,

PTD

A neat li'l 7'' here -

So about two years ago I pick up Hui Ohana's Ono at a thrift. I get home and - lame! the wrong album's inside. But actually not so bad, as it's some compilation on Waikiki records, which is always a good label.

However, I quickly shelve it w/o a listen as I'm backed up with other vinyl I'm sorting through and promptly forget about it.
Last week I pick this up at a thrift -

I get home, take out the vinyl:

It was like in those cheap cartoon gags where in the final panel the guy's feet are up in the air as he's knocked back from something outrageous the other character said. Like getting whacked with a skillet or something. Man, was I laughing!
Too damn weird, but sweet!!
Think I'm gonna keep these beside each other with the LP's still unswitched, just for a reminder...

[ Edited by: twitch 2009-09-06 19:24 ]

Wow...Twitch..that is surreal. I
mean, seriously, what are the chances of that happening?? I've had the experience many times of running across something really interesting..then, yeah, it's the wrong LP inside or the LP is missing altogether. Ugh.

And to Psycho, I don't really know anything about Honey's. I didn't arrive in Hawaii until 1981 and either it was already gone or not on my radar at all. And there seems to be preciously little info about it floating around. Perhaps it was a short lived operation.

Let the innuendos begin......

Fantastic cover....what is the music like?

On 2009-09-10 12:31, bigbrotiki wrote:
Fantastic cover....what is the music like?

Bigbro,
It's all old Navy sea shanties. Bascially one guy singing and playing a banjo. My dad, who is a WWII Vet loved it!
Yes, great cover, and apparently there are two more LPs in the series according to the liner notes: The Wild Blue Yonder - Air Force and Tell it to the Marines.

Nice score! Gad, been lookin for that one for awhile...

However, found a copy of Martin Denny's Hypnotique finally at a thrift, couple of split spines but can't complain as I've never seen a copy up here before this...
And these two -

and a cool little 7" with attached booklet -

four songs by different artists and the story of the Maori with full-page pics of a family in the native dress doing everyday things.

The Oscar Brand LP is one cool cover! I've seen it sold on eBay where it's mentioned that the model is Bettie Page. I've looked real close at my copy and it does indeed look quite a bit like her but I'm not 100% convinced. Can anyone else confirm or deny the rumor?

On 2009-09-11 08:47, cheeky half wrote:
The Oscar Brand LP is one cool cover! I've seen it sold on eBay where it's mentioned that the model is Bettie Page. I've looked real close at my copy and it does indeed look quite a bit like her but I'm not 100% convinced. Can anyone else confirm or deny the rumor?

Definitely NOT a Betty page cover!!!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Today's finds...

Later,

PTD

From today...

Later!

PTD

I love that Crown label Sounds of a Thousand Strings "Magic of Hawaii" LP. Such a dark, moody thing for a luau record. It's been reissued on CD (in the 80s) in some wierd alternate version where the wordless chorus & limited steel guitar has been completely removed. On CD it's called "Relax With Blue Hawaii" by The Wai Ki Ki Island Orchestra. I see it on ebay rarely from time to time..just saw it yesterday. again. It's all totally standards except "Dark Dawn" and I've spent years thinking "It MUST be some other Hawaiian song using that fake title", but I never could place it. Recently, I've learned quite by accident (seeing it on another artists LP) that, in fact, "Dark Dawn" is a Duke Ellington composition. Obviously a lesser known song..I wonder if it has lyrics?

Just found one today I didn't have...

From Radio Station KKUA in Honolulu Hawaii is this Home Grown album of local talent.

Later,

PTD

I wish I could match some of these magnificent collections, but I deliberately chose storage furniture that conceals my collections of CDs and LPs so as not to distract attention away from the other art and decorations.

See here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drzarkov/2303138830/ These green drawer units can hold up to 4,400 CDs (I only have about half that) and leave the walls free for art work.

The wooden floor-standing cabinets you see on the right here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drzarkov/2303115352/ are ones I bought years ago to hold my LP collection. You should be able to tell that these Danish Modern units (actually imported all the way from Denmark in the 1980s) have doors that conceal the insides, which include strong shelves that have never warped or bent under the weight of several hundred LPs, which I can't say was true for some of the cheap bookshelves I used before I bought these.

I apologize for not inserting the photos into my reply, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet.

Today' finds...

Later,

PTD

:o :o Look what made the lp cover of the week! And it's hanging on the living room wall. This photo is from a previous post

And this is from lp cover lover for lp of the week..
Sep 20, 2009 ... “Wailin' with Winnie” Winnie

8) 8) 8)

Today's finds...

Later,

PTD

If you don't have any Wout Steenhuis in your collection, well...you should! LOL. I didn't even KNOW about this guy until about 5 or 6 years ago when I got an LP of his off ebay. He's was a Dutch steel guitarist who recorded out of the U.K. in the 1960s & 70s and this guy just KILLS IT on steel guitar> A fairly aggressive style, lots of jazz work, and many, many original compositions. I have about a dozen of his LPs now and I can't believe his material hasn't been reissued on CD..it's really great stuff.
I love this LP because it demonstrates how, in the South Seas, heavy woven bath towels are day wear.

Another Wout Steenhuis LP. I add this one here because it is one of the more interesting. The songs are all inspired by Indonesian folksongs, some specifically using Gamelan-style harmonies...it's tres-exotique..not like anything else in my collection. titles include "Jungle Sleep","Full Moon","Pacific Paradise","Jungle Bird", etc. Beautiful and strange.

I like this jacket, as this hula lady is either performing at the edge of a desert, or the world widest beach...where's the ocean?? Danny Stewart performed as backup musician for many, many Hawaiian LPs and recorded several solo primarily instrumental LPs...not partcularly crazy about his style, personally, as it's rather "plucky" but all the LPs are heavy on original compositions, which I always enjoy..this one includes ""The Waikiki Hula","Lovely Island Of Hawaii","Hawaiian Mermaid","My Hula Star" etc.

Another Danny Stewart LP...this one speaks for itself. How can you NOT love a pink LP jacket with a hula girl gazing into a stuffed bird??

The Surfers had a long recording career here in the islands. I've seen some of their material reissued on CD by a Japanese firm and also on an UK CD, but nothing stateside...outside of their last 1980s LP that was put on CD locally. Since they guys were all young good-looking Hawaiians they were usually all featured in some state of undress on their record jackets, which were ALL very colorful. Obviously, I like this one for the tiki action.

A re-issue of Surfers material....I'm ALL for anyone going "a go-go."

Yngve Stoor, a steel guitarist, had a radio program in Sweden for many years and during his career recorded something like 10,000 "Hawaiian" LPs...seriously, this enclosed discography seems endless "Bloomman Fran Hawaii","Bla Lagun","Mot Honolulu Strand","Paradison", and 9,999 other LPs. I have a three of his LPs and that's enough. It's all very Swedish sounding (oddly) and the vocals are pretty weak & ruin them for me. But, it's an interesting spin on the old turntable once in a while...yah?

Nothing remarkable about the music..typical small dance orchestra..but it's a rare LP from Australia. Besides...who spends the WEEKEND in Hawaii?

You know, here's a country act that really scored a HOME RUN on recording a Hawaiian LP. I mean, this record is just beautiful and there a few songs "Pali Wind","Stars Above Hawaii","Hawaiian Lullaby" that I WISH some current Hawaiian artist would pick up & cover because they are quite lovely. If you like "The Polynesians" or your "Hulikau Hula" CD, pick this LP up when you see it, because it's a similar style & harmony..very nice.