Weekly lunchtime entertainment in downtown's Tamarind Square was, until recently, a staple of the area. In the past I've caught many an interesting show from my office windows, such as a bagpipe troupe, Jake Shimabukuro (on many, many occasions), jazz bands, high school bands, local singers, etc.
MORE...There is a story that has now become a legend in Latino households. Selena, the Mexican-American singer, was to give her first press conference in Mexico. Having grown in the United State speaking English exclusively she had not yet mastered Spanish. Although she was a multi-platinum Spanish singing icon to Latinos by now, she had learned most of her songs phonetically and only as an adult was actively learning the native tongue of her ancestors. Her record label was nervous the Mexican press would eat her alive if her Spanish faltered even a little for they are notoriously mean to artists from the US who try to invade Mexico. Selena, however, had it under her control. She came into the press conference and greeted each person in the room, be it a camera man or a reporter, with a hug and a kiss. She chatted with them, made them feel human, and by the time she sat down to give her interview the people in the room felt like they were talking to their best friend and not just another celebrity.
The lights went dim. The timpani echoed throughout the Blaisdell Arena. Then suddenly, if for an instant, Elvis came back to life via a huge giant screen set up on stage along with the live version of his supporting band and singers. For that one instant when he first appeared on stage you felt a fraction of the electricity that man brought to Hawaii over 30 years ago.
MORE...This concert was AWESOME!! The best concert that I have ever been to. The only real concert that I have ever been to. I saw three concerts while living in Alaska. 1.) MC HAMMER which I don't even remember. 2.) COOLIO which was a crappy show. 3.) AEROSMITH which I saw on my birthday and was a good show but we had crappy seats in the nosebleed section. Now I'm in Hawaii and I see a great band do a great show. BLINK 182!!! Jared and I were on the floor through out the whole thing. In the middle of the Mosh Pit. For a while there we owned that Mosh Pit. Only a few people there could match our size and excitement. We took well over a hundred pictures of the band, the crowd, ourselves and our beers.
Posted by James at 02:11 PMIs nobody excited about the announcement that legendary English rock band The Who are scheduled to play the Blaisdell Arena on August 3? The Advertiser had a write up on the show.
The original lineup is down to Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. (Original drummer Keith Moon died in the early 70's and bassist John Entwistle died more recently.) The current touring lineup includes Zak Starkey, son of ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, on drums and Pete's brother, Simon Townshend, on rhythm guitar, among others.
MORE...My grandmother died last week. She was a tough broad that lived a full life. For her funeral this weekend, I wanted to have some nice music to greet her family and friends. It's a celebration of her life, but also a chance to say goodbye... and I'd love to hear your suggestions on songs that you think convey the sentiment well. I'm especially interested in Hawaiian songs, be they specifically written to say farewell or simply sweet, gentle melodies to set the stage for the service.
Even if sad songs are not your style, I'd still be curious to know... what would be on your "Goodbye Mix" CD?
Posted by Prophet Zarquon at 10:26 AMIsrael Kamakawiwo'ole is back in the iTunes Music Store where "Facing Future" is featured in the "Just Added" section on the front page of the store.
One other Iz album, "Alone In Iz World," is available on the store at this point, though it's only a partial album.
Looks like Mountain Apple worked out the licensing problems. Hopefully Iz can regain his top-10 position in the store once more.
Noticed a couple of other Mountain Apple artists in the store including The Brothers Cazimero and Hapa.
Posted by ZZType at 11:36 PMThe nominees have been announced for the 2004 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. Given out by the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts, the annual awards are always a spectacular sampling of island sounds. This year, perennial favorite Keali'i Reichel has ten nominations, but even newcomer Kainani Kahaunaele is making a splash with seven.
Did any of your faves make the list? Which do you think deserve the kudos? And who do you think is missing?
Posted by Prophet Zarquon at 02:24 PMI just noticed that Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and his "Facing Future" album is listed among Staff Favorites on Apple's iTunes music store!
They list four Iz albums on the store including E Ala E, Facing Future, In Dis Life and Iz the Man and His Music. Facing Future is only $9.99 for the complete 15-song album. The rest of the albums are sold by individual song, only, at $0.99 each.
And I just noticed that "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" is today's Nuber 4 Top Song on the iTunes music store, beating out No Doubt, OutKast and the Black Eyed Peas.
Posted by ZZType at 09:33 PMThe recently revamped official web page of Gov. Linda Lingle comes with an added touch one might not expect from a politico: a soundtrack. The music mavens at the Mountain Apple Company provided the high-quality MP3 tracks, which include some standards, and some surprises. What's your take on her playlist? Are there any other politicians begging for a musical dedication?
MORE...I have been trying to get some music on my site... but with no luck. I tried to upload a song onto it but the file was too large. Even if I use a zip file, I am still unable to get some songs on my website. Any suggestion? Oh... another thing... would be great if i dont have to pay any fees for the program. :)
Posted by Heidi at 07:56 PMRandom thought at 2am: does anyone remember the music used for the Suzuki Grand Vitara commercial a few years ago? It's the ad with the guy driving all over Oahu to get Shave Ice and other goodies. I emailed Suzuki Hawaii but they never replied.
While I'm asking... can anyone tell me the name of the music used for the Volkswagen commercial - (ukulele instrumental)?
Posted by Raevyn808 at 03:18 AMI don't watch much TV, much less get into these Reality Shows which have recently become vogue; but when a Hawaii boy goes national, I do take some time to listen.
MORE...I heard about this from a blog acquaintance in Pennsylvania, for cryin' out loud. The Internet voting phase goes on until March 15. I barely recognize a single name, but the rest of us may do a little better.
Posted by Linkmeister at 10:06 AMBritney was the hottest woman on the Internet for the fourth year in a row, according to the Lycos 50.
No surprise there, but debuting at number 4 is the Lycos 50 all-time strangest entry, Chu Mei-Feng, who made the list despite almost no interest from searchers in the United States.
MORE...This is my first post to hawaiistories.com and my 5th day in Honolulu. I thought I would take the oppurtunity to address something rather controversial.
It seems the Music Industry and the Motion Picture Association are not too happy with the millions of people all over the world who are using their products without paying their dues. I'll admit I'm one of those people who loves to download and listen to MP3's rather than pay $19.99 for a CD and learn that the whole thing was crap. Now if I download the music and like it, then and only then will I go out and purchase the product. Same with movies, I like to download movies and watch them before I go out and spend $20 on a DVD or a VHS.
MORE...Okay, I know I'm taking a chance here that I'm going to piss people off, but I was doing some web-searching recently for stuff about Sarah Chang, who played recently with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, and I came across one of the greatest classical-music sites I've ever seen: Beauty in Music.
It's a website devoted to sexy classical musicans.
MORE...Since I did start that thread on the Lame Cover Versions by Hawaiian Bands (which, I should now admit, were not really lame so much as they were overplayed and oh-so-slightly annoying) I figured I'd just take the original premise and flip it around - basically, to ask people which pop songs are just waiting for a local band to cover them Jawaiian-style.
MORE...The best of the so-called "alternative" stations (not counting KTUH), 105.9 Lava Rock, switched last Friday to a classic rock format, and I say "hallelujah." We've been without classic rock ever since "Live 98.5," which had been steadily declining, made the absurd move to "island music."
If the thought of being able to hear Pink Floyd or The Who on the radio again isn't by itself enough to get one excited, another huge plus is the possibility of concert sponsorship. While you may disagree, I think it would be awesome to see Eric Clapton, Van Halen, or Yes in concert, but with no local radio station playing their music, we've had even more severe a concert drought than we used to have.
I gave the station a good half-hour listen beginning at 12:14 a.m. this past Sunday, and this is what I heard.
MORE...True story: I was listening to 102.7 Da Bomb this afternoon. And right in the middle of their scheduled back-to-back playings of Nelly, the DJ starts spinning a snippet from this song that their intern from Japan brought back from a recent trip - a song by a rapper named Sword, signed to Def Jam, with a chorus sung by R&B starlet Christina Milian.
The catch? The rest of the lyrics, as rapped by Sword himself, are in Japanese.
Yes. Rap. In Japanese.
MORE...A somewhat cryptic article came across the Associated Press wire today "Hawaii Singer Marketed in Asia, U.S." about Japan-based Victor Entertainment's "novel" and "circuitous" strategy to help a Japanese-American singer from Hawaii make it big here, then in Japan, and then, finally, in the rest of the United States.
The artist? "Jennifer." Just "Jennifer." You know, like "Cher," or "Madonna," or "Ming-Na." (She "is known by her first name only according to her family's wishes.") Of course, that won't help folks much when trying to find more information about her.
Fortunately, the Honolulu Advertiser outted her last week as MPI sophomore and TV kids' show host Jennifer Perri. Anyone know much more about her?
MORE...Mark from boingboing.net has posted a link to a small movie clip on KHET's website which features Jake Shimabukuro doing what he does best.
This means a bit more exposure for the ukulele man, but no one on the discussion board knows his name. Shall we rectify that?
Posted by Vivi at 07:24 AMI watched just enough of the ceremony to finally figure out the name of a song that's been haunting me forever. The singer's name is Ku'uipo Kumukahi and she apparently swept the awards back in 1995.
MORE...It seems that "food" is one of the more popular subjects not just in this site but in the whole State. I come to this conclusion because I cannot think of any song, besides the ones sang by local groups, Weird Al, and commercials, that is about food.
Can you?
btw: By now we all know that music is the other popular category here.
Posted by Tom at 04:57 PMStella's entry about the Lamest Cover Versions of Popular Songs by Hawaii Bands got me thinking of the "old days" of local radio--the days when groups like Kalapana
MORE...You know, Greg's entry about Jack Johnson and the abysmal state of "Hawaiian" music - and not to mention a particularly scathing and foul-mouthed Honolulu Weekly story on Hawaii radio - got me thinking: Can we get a list of the Lamest Cover Versions of Popular Songs by Hawaii Bands?
My personal list of beefs on this topic, I'm afraid, is going to be a long one...
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