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Island Mele
Well-crafted remakes
from WoffordCrying In the Rain:
Steve Wofford (Aku Boy Productions - ABCD1001)STEVE Wofford is best known for his contributions to the early Peter Moon Band and his work with composer Phil Keat. His solo album finds him doing soft rock remakes of old Top 40 hits like "Because" and the title track.
Wofford also shares new arrangements of classic Keat tunes and does a fine remake of "Hello Waimanalo."
After a 15-year absence from recording, Wofford's return will be welcomed by fans of soft rock.
Mpeg Audio Clips:
Quicktime | MPEG-3 info
Aku Boy Productions, 91-902 Fort Weaver Road, #101, Ewa Beach, HI 96706
Frank DeLima (Pocholinga PP120)FRANK DeLima is at his best interacting with an audience. This album captures opening night of a new show. It's a great souvenir.
"Eat Rice," DeLima's version of Baz Lurhman's "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) Mix" is one of the big numbers.
The rest of the set is an entertaining mix of song parodies and comic sketches with popular old bits skillfully recycled in new segments. This includes the "Star-Bulletin" remake of DeLima and writer Patrick Downs' "Lucille" parody. The out-of-sync responses by the crowd and DeLima's reactions enhance the comic impact.
David Kauahikaua and Robert Nishida provide competent support as always. DeLima has a winner here!
Mpeg Audio Clips:
Full-length song plus lyrics in previous article
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Pocholinga Productions, P.O. Box 10367, Honolulu, HI 96823
Koa'uka (MGC 1026)KOA'UKA debuts as one of the plethora of earnest young bands with a weakness for faux-Jamaican accents and uncredited interpolations. That should suffice to get the trio play on local "island music" radio but there's more to them than that. The title song is fresh and catchy, and uptempo local reggae originals also show the guys' promise as writers. (They recorded as a defacto quartet with Kapena's Eddie Teo on drums).
The originals are more interesting than the remakes and their local reggae more polished than the earnest ballads. An exception is "Pua'alamaikalani," a name song for a beloved daughter that is more Hawaiian in form and a hint of Koa'uka's potential range.
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MCG Records - 808-671-1771
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.
