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Island Mele
Longakits show skills
in secular songDancing All Night:
Pomai & Loeka (The Morning Star Records - No number)POMAI and Loeka Longakit are on a roll. Their first album, "1st Thing's 1st," won Religious Album of the Year at the 1999 Hoku Awards. This one presents them as secular artists. Once again most of the songs are by their father/manager Lloyd Longakit; Randy Sugita joins him in fabricating solid synthetic music tracks.
"Come A'ama Crab," a whimsical song about stalking crabs is embellished with rap done in Hawaiian. The theme is restated with a photo of Loeka dropping a crab down his sister's pants.
Pomai's enchanting voice is showcased on "At Manele" although she is memorable throughout. "Sunrise" is a fine showcase for Loeka. "Waikoloa Sands" (from their debut CD-single) and "Enjoy The Ride" (also available as a Rushpack CD-single) make this a 12-song album.
"Tani's Song" is a problematic original by Pomai, Justin Young and Jamin "Chief Ragga" Wong, that uses an uncredited interpolation of John Denver's "Leaving On A Jet Plane" as a hook.
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E-mail: loeka@gte.net
Various artists(HanaOla/Taboo HOCD 33000)TWO years before Brian Wilson improvised "Beachboys' Party!" to fulfill contractual obligations, Waltah Clarke produced this beachboy party album. Chick Daniels, Squeeze Kamana and Splash Lyons were among the Waikiki beachboys who sang and played an eclectic mix of songs ranging from "In Spite Of All" to "Ka Puka Key" to "Waikiki."
Clarke starred as master of ceremonies. Duke lent his name and presence to the proceedings.
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Web: http://www.cordinternational.com
Honolulu Boy Choir (Honolulu Boy Choir HBC 801 CD)Roy Hallman, his wife Nyle (arranger/accompanist), and kumu hula Chinky Mahoe have worked with hundreds of boys since Roy Hallman founded the HBC in 1974. This new rerelease dates from 1992 and contains a cross-section of a repertoire that includes Hawaiian standards, Christian anthems and Broadway hits.
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Honolulu Boy Choir, 1660 S. Beretania St., Honolulu, HI 96826
Phone 808-395-8888; Fax 808-346-7464
See Record Reviews for some past reviews.
See Aloha Worldwide for locals living away.John Berger, who has covered the local
entertainment scene since 1972, writes reviews of recordings
produced by Hawaii artists. See the Star-Bulletin's Today
section on Fridays for the latest reviews.
