Ho’s charisma helped him ride wave of Hawaii’s popularity

I had an opportunity to talk with Adrienne Liva Sweeney last month. She was famed Hawaiian entertainer Don Ho’s personal secretary from 1968 to 1975. She had some interesting insights into Ho’s world.

Sweeney handled his mail, calls, appointments and personal checkbook, coordinated rehearsals, ordered band uniforms, liaised with lawyers and managers, archived sheet music and kept the refrigerator stocked.

“There was never any alcohol. It wasn’t a part of his daytime life,” she said. “Our office was at the Hilton Lagoon Apartments, PH 2. He worked until 3 a.m. I worked from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., but I was on call 24/7.

“There were no cellphones then, so wherever I went, I had to leave my contact information with the answering service.”

Sweeney was told early on that Ho needed his sleep and that people would call and want to speak to him right away. She could wake him only if the building was on fire, he told her.

Sweeney thinks Ho’s success was partly due to growing mainland interest in Hawaii in the 1960s.

“Statehood had just happened. Jets cut the flying time to Hawaii to five hours. Fares were dropping. Middle-class Americans began coming to Waikiki,” she said. “The Beach Boys started singing about surfing at Waimea Bay. Hawaii was no longer this unreachable, exotic place you could only dream about visiting.”

Sweeney recalled Ho saying there was a wave of interest in Hawaii and that he was in the right place at the right time to ride that wave.

“Don Ho was the catalyst that brought visitors, residents and military personnel together, at Duke Kahanamoku’s nightclub at the International Market Place, three shows a night, seven nights a week.”

RIDING ‘BUBBLES’ TO STARDOM

The entertainer had a unique style, Sweeney said.

“He was that kanikapila, chalangalang, guitar and ukulele backyard jam session kind of guy, and he translated it into a nightclub setting. It was different and fun.”

The Waikiki nightclub could seat about 400. People lined up four across out to Kalakaua Avenue to get in. The doormen were told to put the nice-looking single ladies up front where they had small cocktail tables. Ho called them his “Harem.”

When Kimo Wilder McVay, who owned Duke Kahanamoku’s along with his mother, Kinau Wilder McVay, decided to levy a cover charge, Ho objected, arguing that military and locals should be exempt with an ID card. Members of the Harem were issued their own ID cards, Sweeney said.

“Tiny Bubbles” changed everything for Ho. It was written by Leon Pober for Lawrence Welk, who passed on it.

Reprise Records producer Sonny Burke introduced “Tiny Bubbles” to the Hawaii singer. Burke gave Ho the lyrics, and he sang to a mainland-recorded backing track.

“I didn’t like the song but I sang it one time and I walked out of the studio,” Ho said in his book “Don Ho: My Music My Life.”

“A week later it was all over the country.”

“Tiny Bubbles” was released as a 45-rpm record and was the B-side of “Born Free,” one of Ho’s favorite songs. Ho, an Air Force veteran, would often honor the military by singing “Born Free” during his show and then “God Bless America.” The entire audience always stood up for “God Bless America.”

“This was in the middle of the Vietnam War. Then he lifted people’s spirits with ‘Lahainaluna,’ ‘Pearly Shells’ or ‘I’ll Remember You,’” Sweeney said.

When he first sang “Tiny Bubbles” in the show, the Harem blew bubbles. Later, Ho bought a bubble machine, which was turned on every time he sang the song.

“It’s a catchy tune,” Sweeney said, “but there’s nothing about Hawaii in it at all. Don later added Hawaiian lyrics to the second verse.”

The “Tiny Bubbles” album, released in 1966, stayed in the Top 20 for nearly a year. The song made Don Ho famous on the mainland, and soon he was invited to be on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”

He also made appearances on “Batman,” “Laugh-In,” “I Dream of Jeannie,” “The Brady Bunch” and numerous national variety shows. His daytime TV series, “The Don Ho Show,” was filmed in Waikiki and ran from 1976-1977 on ABC.

His mainland shows sold out, and Vegas showrooms offered him hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to perform there.

PILOT HO TO THE RESCUE

The former military flier always thought of himself as a pilot, Sweeney said. “When he traveled to the West Coast for recording sessions or shows, he wanted to sit in Row 1, first class,” so he could assist in the event of an emergency.

In Boeing 747s there was an upper level. “Don could sleep on the floor on overnight flights and was dying to fly the big jet. He had a fantasy that something would happen to the pilot and co-pilot. A stewardess would come running down the aisle asking if anyone could fly this plane, and he would be the first to the cockpit.”

Ho and his musicians and dancers often put on shows for politicians, such as Gov. George Ariyoshi, and especially the military. Sweeney remembers free shows for the troops at Schofield Barracks and patients at Tripler Army Medical Center.

“He took the entire group to Kalaupapa to entertain about 40 residents and people who worked there. They put on a show and then went to those in the hospital who were not well enough to attend,” she said.

‘AIN’T NO BIG THING’

Sweeney recalled other interesting things about Ho:

>> “He never lost his temper. He never raised his voice. He didn’t let things bother him. It was great to work for him,” she said. “He did not say negative things about people, nor did he want to hear them said about others. His attitude was ‘ain’t no big thing.’”

>> “Don encouraged visitors at his show to get out of Waikiki, meet local people and get to know them.”

>> He often helped people with their car, rent or mortgage payments, and education or medical bills, she said.

>> During those years (1968-1975), his favorite places to eat were McCully Chop Sui, Sekiya’s and the Beachwalk Broiler.

>> While at Kamehameha Schools, Ho was an outstanding scholar and athlete who came within half a point of being class valedictorian.

>> As an entertainer he looked at his fans as friends, Sweeney said. Ho would sit after the show and sign as many autographs or pose for as many photos as they wanted, every single night. Few entertainers did that.

“When he looked at you or shook your hand, you had his total attention. He was very charismatic. He had a way of connecting with you. It felt intimate and special.”

Don Ho died 10 years ago this week, on April 14, 2007, at the age of 76. Sweeney and thousands of fans still miss him.

A 90-minute special on the entertainer, “Don Ho Remembered,” originally broadcast in 2008, will air 7 p.m. April 22 on KHNL.

Bob Sigall, author of “The Companies We Keep” series of books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories of Hawaii people, places and companies. Contact him via email at sigall@yahoo.com.