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No one I can think of has had such a diverse career in Hawaii entertainment as Kimo Kahoano. He has been a dancer, singer, songwriter, television actor, host, emcee and radio station deejay.
Kahoano has been the co-star of the TV show “Hawaii Stars” for 24 years and the emcee of the Merrie Monarch Festival for 36 years. He’s been host of the Kodak Hula Show and an actor on “Hawaii Five-0” and other TV shows. He’s also the co-writer of the “Aloha Friday” song.
I met him 15 years ago when I worked the phone bank of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. Kahoano started as emcee of the fundraiser in 1981.
We spoke this month about his life and career in the entertainment business.
His full name is James Haolena Kahoano Jr. His father was captain on the Ford Island ferry and was on the ocean most of his life. Everybody from his side of the family before him was involved with the ocean.
His grandfather, Sam Kahoano, was a tugboat captain for Young Brothers. He and his wife, Mary Kalama Kahoano, had 16 children, including two pairs of twins.
“My mom, Helene Boyd, was Hawaiian-Scottish-English, and she was beautiful but tough,” Kahoano said. “I went to Kamehameha Schools. Ka‘upena Wong taught me my first chant, ‘Lono i ka Makahiki.’ Here I was this little fourth-grader, learning a chant that belonged to our ancestors.”
In 1966 the science and physical education instructor Walter Mookini invited Kahoano to go to Japan with a group called the Young Hawaiians. It had five musicians and 10 male and 10 female singers and dancers.
Kahoano danced, sang and chanted. “I liked the fireknife dance because of its fierceness. It got the biggest applause. It burned me if I made a mistake. That was what you might call instant learning.”
After 10 weeks in Japan, Kahoano came back to Hawaii and took his skills to Waikiki.
He got a job dancing the fireknife at the Chuck Machado Luau. In the next dozen years, he worked for Danny Kaleikini, Tommy Sands, Zulu, Jim Nabors and Al Harrington as a dancer or choreographer.
“The Jim Nabors show would begin with a huge group of singers and dancers. Out in the audience, a tourist would crouch in the middle aisle taking pictures, until he’d turn around and in a loud voice say, ‘Gawww-leee,’ and reveal himself to be the star of the show.”
The Ala Moana Hotel built the Garden Lanai for the Al Harrington show, Kahoano said. Originally it was open-air, but neighbors complained about the noise and the hotel enclosed it.
RADIO DAYS
In 1975 Krash Kealoha invited Kahoano to work as a deejay at KCCN radio. “It was a minimum-wage job but allowed me to learn the trade,” he said.
“It happened at a great time, during the Hawaiian music renaissance when the Brothers Cazimero, Kalapana, (Cecilio & Kapono), Country Comfort, Olomana, the Beamers and Peter Moon were just getting started. It was a wonderful time to be on radio.”
Kahoano has worked for several stations since then, including KSSK, KKUA and KRTR. He’s now at AM940.
During those years he was fortunate to have interviewed many interesting figures, including Mort Sahl, Pat Morita, Mitch Miller, Carol Channing, Gavin McCloud, Anthony Quinn, Vincent Price, skaters Tai Babalonia and Randy Gardner, Joe Moore and Bob Sevey, who was “nervous until we went on the air, then he was solid and in great voice.”
KODAK HULA SHOW
In 1993 Kahoano was hired as the third and final emcee for the Kodak Hula Show. He feels Kodak employed him because his English was clean and clear, and tourists could understand it.
“I loved it because I got to work with many great and wonderful Hawaiian musicians who entertained everyone in the world who came to Hawaii.”
They performed every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for as many as 4,000 visitors. The show was about an hour, and afterward they posed for photos with them.
‘HAWAII STARS’
“In 1993 Carole Kai, who I’ve known for a long, long time, came up to me and said, ‘Kimo, would you like to do a karaoke show?’ The idea had come from Mike McCartney, who was a state senator at the time. … Carole Kai and Dirk Fukushima got the show rolling.”
“Hawaii Stars” is an amateur singing contest. “On the first show, what came out of my mouth was, ‘I’m Kimo Kahoano, and with me is the ever-lovely Carole Kai.’ We’ve used that ever since.”
They did more than 40 shows a year for 16 years. “Some of them were great singers; some were not,” Kahoano said. “But everybody was real. It was happy and fun. We still do six shows a year as specials.”
During that time, Kimo was arrested for drunken driving. “Carole could have said, ‘Kimo, I’m sorry. We have to disassociate ourselves from you.’ But she didn’t. She had faith in me. In fact, we made a DUI special to educate people about the dangers of drunk driving. It turned out to win a national Telly Award.”
Kimo was pulled over in Waimanalo driving from Kailua to town. He feels it saved his or others’ lives, and he used the event to reframe the importance of his family, community and anything he might accomplish in the future.
‘HAWAII FIVE-0’
Kahoano has been fortunate to act in “Hawaii Five-0,” “Magnum, P.I.,” “Barnaby Jones,” “One West Waikiki,” “The Jeffersons” and other television productions. I asked him how the new “Hawaii Five-0” is different from the old one.
“The old ‘Five-0’ was shot on film, which was flown to and developed in Los Angeles. They checked it and called to say if it was OK. Because of that, Jack Lord always wanted to shoot three takes. The actors and crew would do them quickly, one after the other.”
Kahoano was excited to be hired to be in the new “Hawaii Five-0.” “The first day’s shooting was poolside at the Marriott Hotel. It took five hours to film one scene.
“‘That was really good,’ the director would say. ‘Now let’s do it again.’ We’d shoot a second time. ‘That’s really good, now let’s do it one more time.’ Then they moved the cameras and shot it several more times. Five hours for one scene. It drove me nuts.
“The next day’s shooting involved a dead body. This dead body scene takes six hours, because … I don’t know why! It took six hours! The body is dead. It hasn’t said a word!
“So that’s the difference between the old ‘Five-0’ and the new ‘Five-0’ from an actor’s point of view. Both are great shows, and I’m glad to be part of them.
“Jack Lord was tough because he wanted the show to be great. When the show’s creator, Leonard Freeman, died in its seventh season, Jack Lord took the helm and kept it on the air another five years. Few shows outlive their producers. ‘Five-0’ did.”
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.
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