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Without fanfare, Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole, the beloved Hawaiian entertainer with the angelic voice and kolohe demeanor, has quietly become a master of the music universe.
Bruddah Iz, as he has been affectionately called, apparently is the unchallenged champion of the music charts. His iconic “Somewhere, Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” mashup — familiar to young and old alike, here and abroad — has spent an unprecedented 500-plus weeks on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart, which monitors weekly action based on sales, downloads and a variety of measurable platforms.
Think about it: 500 weeks!
Hugh McIntyre, a Hollywood and entertainment journalist who scopes many forms of show biz genres for various news sources, revealed in a Forbes posting that Iz’s soothing and captivating refrains had leaped to No. 2 in early August, beating contemporary acts like NCT Dream, Burna Boy and Chris Brown. This, after a seesawing journey in an ongoing survey not commonly seen or acknowledged. McIntyre is known for his searches for the unusual, quirky elements in show biz.
“It’s tough to say for sure if this is a true first, but it’s incredibly rare for a song to make it to triple-digit frames on any list, so it’s entirely possible that the late, great Kamakawiwo‘ole is the first musician to accomplish this feat,” McIntyre wrote. “While it rises and falls every week, ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ typically lands somewhere inside the Top 10, and it has taken plenty of turns at No. 1 over the years.”
The milestone resurgence baffled Jon de Mello, the Honolulu-based Mountain Apple Company executive who produced and recorded Bruddah Iz over the decades, including the breakout “Rainbow” hit. “The last time I checked, it was at 390 weeks,” de Mello said of the song that is recognized and adored by fans around the globe. “Amazing, since ‘Facing Future’ (the CD that featured the trademark medley) was released in 1993.”
De Mello surmised that “iTunes and digital bumps” may have fueled the ascent back onto the Top 10, but he hasn’t been aware of any significant exposure on TV, in movies or in commercials. He remains the go-to guy for licensing Kamakawiwo‘ole’s tunes, even the identifying “ooooh, ooooh, ooooh” opening refrain, for broadcast, filmic or commercial use.
“Rainbow” was first released in 1990, recorded in an impromptu wee-hour session, but emerged as a contagious, mood-lifting single several years later. Its nesting spot on the “Facing Futures” CD made it the best-selling Hawaii album ever. While “Rainbow” was initially exposed to a national audience, in such TV series as “ER” and films like “Meet Joe Black” and “Fifty First Dates,” the disc took on a life of its own following Kamakawiwo‘ole’s death on June 26, 1997, at age 38.
Now it easily is the unchallenged, most familiar recorded-in-Hawaii music, fusing Iz’s arrangement and interpretation with his cheerful ukulele accompaniment. “Rainbow” was Judy Garland’s signature song, from “The Wizard of Oz” (soon to be heard in Renee Zellweger’s performance in a 2019 drama, “Judy,” set in London in 1968 amid the singer’s troubled times), and “World” was a staple in Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong’s repertoire.
Chris Lee, the Hollywood movie producer from Hawaii and founder-director of the Academy of Creative Media at the University of Hawaii, has said of Iz: “The singer is easily one of the 25 most influential people in Hawaii history. He gave voice to the people. Even if they (the global fans) can’t pronounce his name, they know they’re hearing the voice of Hawaii. They know the sound and the emotion.”
While Bruno Mars may be the most potent of the pop music stars from Hawaii, he does not yet have the prolonged chart supremacy of Iz. …
A dandy ditty
Michael Ige, a singer, composer and musician, may have finally found his signature composition in “Aloha & Mahalo,” which he describes as “a somber and melancholy type of song.” His group, Uncle Tadashi and Da Boyz, is hoping this will be Da One.
Since his “Da Yoisho Song,” Ige has been searching for a dandy ditty that would get him on the music radar. “Aloha & Mahalo” may be it, if he can get radio, Facebook and YouTube buzz going. It features the lead voices of Sandy Ordonez Tsujimura and R.J. Strayhorn — perfoming in the context of a live person reaching out to a loved one who’s gone — with the Rev. Takamasa Yamamura sharing an operatic element in the bridge. The ballad is rich in sentiment and emotion, the best ever from the Uncle gang.
You can find the video on YouTube. …
Trade winds
Pahinui Productions will stage the Seattle Slack Key Festival on Nov. 10. Participating acts include Ledward Kaapana, Jerry Santos, Kamuela Kimokeo with Hi‘ikua, Jeff Peterson, Philip Pahinui, Kunia Galdeira, Sonny Lim, John Keawe and Patrick Landeza. If you’ll be in that neck of the woods, get details at brownpapertickets.com. …
Singer Joy Abbott, joined by pianist Jim Howard, will share tunes from Broadway musicals that transited to films, in a free performance for Arcadia residents at 7 p.m. Sept. 13. …
And that’s “Show Biz.”
Wayne Harada is a veteran entertainment columnist. Reach him at 266-0926 or wayneharada@gmail.com.
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