‘Live a Little … Hawaiian Style’ Vol. 1 & 2

Various artists
(Mountain Apple Co.)

As traditional record stores fade from the American music marketplace, resourceful record labels and distributors are finding new places to sell traditional hard-copy records. Here in Honolulu it seems that almost every cash register at Longs Ala Moana has a rack of Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo‘ole CDs next to it, just in case someone happens to be looking for a last-minute party gift or a visitor remembers that they promised someone they’d bring back some Hawaiian music.

Impulse buys add up, and the easier it is for people to find CDs, the more likely they’ll buy them.

"Make it easy" is the operative principle for this series of anthologies assembled by Mountain Apple Co. CEO Jon de Mello for exclusive sale nationwide by Walmart. Packaged in lightweight cardboard, they incur minimal per-unit costs to ship and require minimal counter space to display. And at $10 for 10 songs, the music is available for the same price per song as most downloads — assuming someone wanted to download all 10 of them.

Each disc offers a select but broad look at modern Hawaiian music. The first stretches from Brother Noland ("Coconut Girl") and John Cruz ("Island Style") to Kaumakaiwa Kanaka‘ole ("Mele Pa‘ihi Kupuna") and HAPA ("He‘eia"). The Hawaiian Style Band — Wade Cambern, Robi Kahakalau, Bryan Kessler and Merri Lake McGarry — are represented by the quartet’s 1991 Hoku-winning single, "Live a Little, Hawaiian Style," and again with "Kaimana Hila," the latter credited to Robi Kahakalau/HSB. Producer de Mello adds star power with Kamakawiwo‘ole’s solo version of "White Sandy Beach of Hawaii" and diversity with Teresa Bright’s tropical-jazz take on "Red Sails in the Sunset."

Newly released "Vol. 2" includes three more songs by the Hawaiian Style Band, Willie K’s ever-popular "Katchi Katchi Music Makawao" and selections by Sean Na‘auao ("Surf Paina"), Brother Noland ("R U Native?") and Troy Fernandez ("Surfing on the East Side"). Hapa haole songs in contemporary styles provide an introduction to the different types of English-language music popular here. Cruz’s recording of "Hi‘ilawe" is a welcome nod to the traditional music of Hawaii’s indigenous people even though most buyers outside Hawaii will have no idea what he is singing about or why it matters because there is no information about the song — let alone an English translation — in the skimpy liner notes.

OK, so when people buy songs for the price of downloads, do they deserve any more for their money than the song itself? Americans didn’t need to understand the Spanish lyrics of "La Bamba" or "El Watusi" or Santana’s version of "Oye Como Va" to make those songs mainstream pop hits. For that matter, Americans didn’t care that "Sukiyaki" wasn’t actually the name of the song Kyu Sakamoto took to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963 or that the lyrics of the 1981 remake by A Taste of Honey had nothing to do with the original lyrics of the song. Oh, well.

Hawaii’s unique musical heritage should not get such short shrift. With no composers’ credits and no information on the artists or the songs, Walmart shoppers won’t know that Brother Noland took local music in a new direction when he wrote "Coconut Girl" in the early ’80s, or what he really was saying with "R U Native?" Nor will they know that "Pi‘i Mai Kai Nalu," from Robi Kahakalau’s Hoku Award-winning album, "Sistah Robi," is a showcase for political comedian Bu La‘ia and local superstar George "Fiji" Veikoso since the recording is credited to Kahakalau as a solo artist.

Perhaps the people who buy these CDs at Walmart will be able to find that information, and a translation of "Hi‘ilawe," elsewhere.

www.mountainapplecompany.com

Vol. 1: "Live A Little, Hawaiian Style"
Vol. 2: "Rhythm of the Ocean"