Best Hawaiian Bands of All Time

[alohabear]

A recent USA Today poll listed the Greatest American Bands of all time. They were: 10.REM
9.The Doors
8.Queensryche(WTF?)
7.The Grateful Dead
6.Guns and Roses
5.Journey
4.The Eagles
3.Van Halen
2.Aerosmith
1. Pearl Jam
I heard this list and thought WTF? :confused: . We in the 50th State have better taste in music than that. Who do you think are the best HAWAIIAN bands of all time?

Mine are:
10.Seawind( hey, I love jazz)
9.The Brothers Caz( Robert has such a gift)
8.Olomana(Na mele nahenahe)
7.Country Confort(Waimanalo Blues is awesome!)
6.C & K(Sweet Harmony!)
5.The Sunday Manoa( Peter+Caz=Magic)
4.The Peter Moon Band( Tropical Delight)
3.Makaha Sons/ IZ( old school)
2.Kalapana( Who doesn't love Nightbird?)
1.Gabby( inspiration to all above)


Have fun and enjoy local music! :)

[craigwatanabe]

I think Kalapana rates as the best island band because of their worldwide acceptance.

Seawind comes in really close too cuz I luv jazz and they do it well.

But what about the Fabulous Krush? and the S.O.S Band?

too many to describe but all worthy of being all time!

Too bad Keola and Kapono Beamer and Sunday Manoa had to break up individually, both were fantastic sounding and had great songs to their credit.

[scrivener]

The list is clearly a list of bands (as opposed to solo artists), so I'd say you can't just list Gabby by himself. This qualification leaves off a lot of people I'd include (Sonny Chillingsworth and Makana leap to mind), so here's mine with just bands.

10. Pure Heart
9. Hapa
8. The Pahinui Brothers
7. Hawaiian Style Band
6. Makaha Sons of Ni`ihau
5. The Sons of Hawai`i
4. Olomana
3. Kalapana
2. Ho`okena
1. Cecilio and Kapono

[scrivener]

8.Queensryche(WTF?)
Alohabear, I don't know who was surveyed, but if you've listened to Queensryche (I mean, besides "Silent Lucidity" and "Queen of the Ryche," the only two Ryche songs I've ever heard on the radio), you might not be so startled. I don't know if I'd put them in my top ten, but they might make my top twenty, and I'll bet a lot of music critics would say the same; depending on how the poll was conducted, it's possible that Queensryche made the list just becuase, while they might not have been really high on anyone's list, they might have been in the top twenty of LOTS of people's lists.

When VH1 did a "influential bands" survey a couple of years ago, it asked popular rock musicians to list their influences, and right in the middle of Van Halen and REM and the Replacements and the Clash was King's X, one of my favorite bands. King's X was probably the least-known group on the list, but it's clear that musicians around America were well aware of who King's X was, and recognized it as a great band with killer talent. I wouldn't be surprised if Queensryche made this list in some similar fashion.

[mel]

My 10 favorites of all time mainly because I have either a lot of CDs or LPs by them.

1. Cecilio & Kapono
2. Kalapana
3. Seawind
4. Peter Moon Band
5. Hawaiian Style Band
6. Gabby Pahinui Band (during the release of "Moonlight Lady")
7. Olomana
8. Eddie Kamae & the Sons of Hawaii
9. The Sweet Marie
10. Shnazz

I had to throw in a couple of old rock bands that were considered to be from Hawaii.

[scrivener]

My 10 favorites of all time mainly because I have either a lot of CDs or LPs by them.
...
10. Shnazz
Ooh. Now I know you're not telling the truth. How many Shnazz LPs or CDs do you own? :cool:

[mel]

Ooh. Now I know you're not telling the truth. How many Shnazz LPs or CDs do you own? :cool:


Let me see...

2 of the same Shnazz LPs.
1 of the same Shnazz cassette.
1 45 RPM single of "I Think We're Alone Now" b/w "Bad Boys"

1 CD that I converted from either the LP or the tape using iMic and Final Vinyl imported into my Power Mac G4. Converted to MP3 in iTunes. Several songs now on my iPod.

Hope that helps. Yes, Shnazz was a one hit wonder, but I liked them. Seen them in 1980 in Waikiki. They were good.

[scrivener]

Oh. I didn't know you meant multiple copies of the same album!
I have two copies of their LP. We've had this discussion before.

[craigwatanabe]

Talk about obscure bands from the past, how about The Pagan Babies. They used to do a gig at Anna Banana's in the 80's and came out with one or two CD's.

[alohabear]

Let me see...

2 of the same Shnazz LPs.
1 of the same Shnazz cassette.
1 45 RPM single of "I Think We're Alone Now" b/w "Bad Boys"

1 CD that I converted from either the LP or the tape using iMic and Final Vinyl imported into my Power Mac G4. Converted to MP3 in iTunes. Several songs now on my iPod.

Hope that helps. Yes, Shnazz was a one hit wonder, but I liked them. Seen them in 1980 in Waikiki. They were good.
"The Fritz" was a nut! Do you remember the "I Wanna Jump On Your Bones" video, in which he was wearing a skel-suit? :D

[Jonah K]

My vote for "best Hawaiian band" goes to the following:
10. The 'Opihi Pickers/The Pandanus Club (tie)
9. The Hawaiian Style Band (w/Sistah Robi)
8. B.E.T. (Polynesian P-Funk)
7. 'Ekolu
6. 'Ehukai ("Moloka'i Slide" is one of the few songs that can instantly make me homesick)
5. Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau
4. Hō'aikane (innovators of "Jawaiian" music)
3. Sudden Rush (the originators of na mele pāleoleo or "Hawaiian rap music")
2. The Peter Moon Band
1. Cecilio & Kapono

[Pua'i Mana'o]

My vote for "best Hawaiian band" goes to the following:
10. The 'Opihi Pickers/The Pandanus Club (tie)
9. The Hawaiian Style Band (w/Sistah Robi)
8. B.E.T. (Polynesian P-Funk)
7. 'Ekolu
6. 'Ehukai ("Moloka'i Slide" is one of the few songs that can instantly make me homesick)
5. Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau
4. H?'aikane (innovators of "Jawaiian" music)
3. Sudden Rush (the originators of na mele p?leoleo or "Hawaiian rap music")
2. The Peter Moon Band
1. Cecilio & Kapono

I ~vibe~ more closely with your list than the others, although I gotta take issue™ with H?'aikane as the originators of Jawaiian. No get me wrong, I love to bend my back and my knees and stretch my hands out like a racing jockey, but I think that title was rightfully earned by Kapena (who curiously enough doesn't appear on anyone's list! Auuuwwwweee!)

[craigwatanabe]

Maybe because Jawaiian is a pure rip off of Jamaican music and a disgrace to the Hawaiian music scene.

How would we like it if some country western band tries to sing Hawaiian songs and destroys the essence in it's purity? On this board we'd rip that band apart for trying to sound local while not setting one foot on our Aina.

When you hear a non-local try to talk pidgin we all cringe at their attempts. How do you think Jamaicans feel when some Hawaiian band tries to do da reggae ting man! We begin to sound as bad as some white guy trying to talk like one moke! It just doesn't sound right. Keep the beat...lose the fake accent and keep it pure!

[Peshkwe]

Good new stuff ....PALI


Ok..I had to...I'll be going now...

:p

[Jonah K]

I ~vibe~ more closely with your list than the others, although I gotta take issue™ with H?'aikane as the originators of Jawaiian. No get me wrong, I love to bend my back and my knees and stretch my hands out like a racing jockey, but I think that title was rightfully earned by Kapena (who curiously enough doesn't appear on anyone's list! Auuuwwwweee!)
Aloha Pua'i Mana'o,

I thought I wrote that Hō'aikane was a "innovators" of "Jawaiian" music, not an "originator" of it. The Peter Moon Band with it's "Guava Jelly" and "Cane Fire" on the 1982 "Cane Fire" album was probably the first band to play what later evolved into "Jawaiian" music. Butch Helemano's 1987 "Sugar & Spice" was probably the first full "Jawaiian" album, but Butch and his "Players of Instruments" got so into it, that it's actually a "reggae" album that just happened to be produced in Hawai'i Ne'i. As a result, Bruddah Waltah's 1990 "Hawaiian Reggae" is probably the first full "Jawaiian" album by default. :cool: Brother Noland also made major contributions to "Jawaiian" music.

With the Tatofi brothers, Kāpena is probably more of a "South Pacific" band" than a Hawaiian band. ;)

Cheers,

Jonah K

[Jonah K]

Maybe because Jawaiian is a pure rip off of Jamaican music and a disgrace to the Hawaiian music scene.

How would we like it if some country western band tries to sing Hawaiian songs and destroys the essence in it's purity? On this board we'd rip that band apart for trying to sound local while not setting one foot on our Aina.

When you hear a non-local try to talk pidgin we all cringe at their attempts. How do you think Jamaicans feel when some Hawaiian band tries to do da reggae ting man! We begin to sound as bad as some white guy trying to talk like one moke! It just doesn't sound right. Keep the beat...lose the fake accent and keep it pure!
Hmm,

Compared to the "dancehall reggae" of Bob Marley's progeny, some "Jawaiian" artists, like Chief Ragga, can pretty much hold their own. :cool:

So what do you think of artists like Fiji and O-Shen? ;)

Cheers,

Jonah K

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Maybe because Jawaiian is a pure rip off of Jamaican music and a disgrace to the Hawaiian music scene.

How would we like it if some country western band tries to sing Hawaiian songs and destroys the essence in it's purity? On this board we'd rip that band apart for trying to sound local while not setting one foot on our Aina.

When you hear a non-local try to talk pidgin we all cringe at their attempts. How do you think Jamaicans feel when some Hawaiian band tries to do da reggae ting man! We begin to sound as bad as some white guy trying to talk like one moke! It just doesn't sound right. Keep the beat...lose the fake accent and keep it pure!

no, its not a rip-off; it is its own. The influences are there, but I don't believe in sanctifying (mummifying if you will) culture to the point of disallowing evolution to take its course. The beat is the influence, but it has allowed some very talent local kids of these last two generations to make a voice for themselves.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Aloha Pua'i Mana'o,

I thought I wrote that H?'aikane was a "innovators" of "Jawaiian" music, not an "originator" of it. The Peter Moon Band with it's "Guava Jelly" and "Cane Fire" on the 1982 "Cane Fire" album was probably the first band to play what later evolved into "Jawaiian" music. Butch Helemano's 1987 "Sugar & Spice" was probably the first full "Jawaiian" album, but Butch and his "Players of Instruments" got so into it, that it's actually a "reggae" album that just happened to be produced in Hawai'i Ne'i. As a result, Bruddah Waltah's 1990 "Hawaiian Reggae" is probably the first full "Jawaiian" album by default. :cool: Brother Noland also made major contributions to "Jawaiian" music.

With the Tatofi brothers, K?pena is probably more of a "South Pacific" band" than a Hawaiian band. ;)

Cheers,

Jonah K

gayah! Do I know you in r/l?? I SWAYER you talk just like my relatives do on the subject. All I gotta do to start petty sh*t is say something like "Uncle Willie K is arguably the best Hawaiian guitarist" and the 'ohana will sting that like rabid hornets, buzzing on about his iükuleli and his Molakayee woman.

<runs fleeing>

[alohabear]

no, its not a rip-off; it is its own. The influences are there, but I don't believe in sanctifying (mummifying if you will) culture to the point of disallowing evolution to take its course. The beat is the influence, but it has allowed some very talent local kids of these last two generations to make a voice for themselves.
You call a reggae-wannbee, wedding singer-coverband talent? :D Maybe if these "Local Kids" wrote something original like Na Leo did with Local Boyz, they might get my respect.

[alohabear]

Another classic band no one, including myself, mentioned is the Hui O'hana. I still say Dennis Pavao had the sweetest falsetto voice in Hawaii.

[Leo Lakio]

Another classic band no one, including myself, mentioned is the Hui O'hana. I still say Dennis Pavao had the sweetest falsetto voice in Hawaii.

"Hui O'hana"? Sounds like an Irish/Hawaiian band (if you leave the `okina there.) :rolleyes:

Oh, and no argument on Dennis's voice - unmistakably beautiful.

[kimo55]

Another classic band no one, including myself, mentioned is the Hui O'hana. I still say Dennis Pavao had the sweetest falsetto voice in Hawaii.



Don't forget Hui O'toole's.


yep Dennis, no ka oi!

[alohabear]

Don't forget Hui O'toole's.


yep Dennis, no ka oi!
:D LOL... I feel Irish

[Leo Lakio]

:D LOL... I feel Irish

Would it be acceptable to wish a "top o' the kakahiaka" to you?

Or at least "magically delicious"?

[alohabear]

Would it be acceptable to wish a "top o' the kakahiaka" to you?

Or at least "magically delicious"?
LOL! You made my day

[JKane]

I was the drummer/vocalist for The Jasper Rose Band for 5 years (1970s) who played next to Ox (pre-Seawind) in Waikiki at O'Pehrs club and I was the drummer/vocalist for The Delta Band for 8 years (1980's). Both bands were good and under-rated. We may have been the first live band to play reggae music in Waikiki in the mid-seventies. We had original music and played concert warmups for the Elvin Bishop Band, the Manhattans and Rick Springfield at the NBC arena, and we were all good friends with the members of Shnazz. Frank Kam, guitarist from Shnazz who is now with Coconut Joe, was a guitarist in The Delta Band for a few years. Those were great times and I will always love Hawaii and its music. We became good friends with many of the local Hawaiian musicians of that time.

[na alii]

Let me see...

2 of the same Shnazz LPs.
1 of the same Shnazz cassette.
1 45 RPM single of "I Think We're Alone Now" b/w "Bad Boys"

1 CD that I converted from either the LP or the tape using iMic and Final Vinyl imported into my Power Mac G4. Converted to MP3 in iTunes. Several songs now on my iPod.

Hope that helps. Yes, Shnazz was a one hit wonder, but I liked them. Seen them in 1980 in Waikiki. They were good.

I also like "I Want To Jump On Your Bones" and "Surrender".

I seen Burnin' Vernon Sakata at Good Guys Music. I had Jelly's convert my Shnazz LP to CD and also Teazer's LP.

[na alii]

"The Fritz" was a nut! Do you remember the "I Wanna Jump On Your Bones" video, in which he was wearing a skel-suit? :D
Fritz as he looks today.

http://www.melbay.com/authorpics/hasenpusch-f.jpg

[tutusue]

Is that the same Fritz who is/was :confused: with "Don Tiki"?

[na alii]

Is that the same Fritz who is/was :confused: with "Don Tiki"?
Fritz Hasenpusch aka "The Fritz" was the lead singer for the local rock band "Shnazz" and also a DJ with a radio station.

[na alii]

I was the drummer/vocalist for The Jasper Rose Band for 5 years (1970s) who played next to Ox (pre-Seawind) in Waikiki at O'Pehrs club and I was the drummer/vocalist for The Delta Band for 8 years (1980's). Both bands were good and under-rated. We may have been the first live band to play reggae music in Waikiki in the mid-seventies. We had original music and played concert warmups for the Elvin Bishop Band, the Manhattans and Rick Springfield at the NBC arena, and we were all good friends with the members of Shnazz. Frank Kam, guitarist from Shnazz who is now with Coconut Joe, was a guitarist in The Delta Band for a few years. Those were great times and I will always love Hawaii and its music. We became good friends with many of the local Hawaiian musicians of that time.
I remember O'Pehrs/Little Orphan Annie's in Waikiki. It was was where Egg's N Things is now. I seen a band called Rock n Roll Roadshow there. O'Pehrs/Little Orphan Annie's ended up moving by the airport at the old Dunes site. They closed down and in 83' Gussie Lamours took over and Gussies ended up closing in 2004.