Hawaii
WHEN an older black couple entered the Blue Tropix Sunday where Del Courtney and his big band were playing dance music for an eclectic crowd of young and old, there was a wave of applause that followed them to their seats. It was Frankie Manning and Linda Miller. Who? Manning is an icon in dance circles, and those involved in Jennifer & Matthew Wong's dance classes who were on hand were quite familiar with his work. "He invented the Lindy Hop," one devotee told me. I sat down with Manning, 87, and his longtime dance partner and he said while he didn't actually invent the Lindy, he added his own moves to it and helped popularize it at the old Savoy Ballroom. And when was he "Stompin' at the Savoy"? I asked. It was 1927, he said, knocking me on my ear since Benny Goodman and his collaborators didn't write "Stompin' " until 1934. That would have made young Manning 14, but they didn't card people back then. Manning appeared in Olson & Johnson's "Hellzapoppin" film in 1941, and also appeared as himself in Ken Burns' "Jazz 2001." He's in town giving dance classes at UH, and yes, he got on the Blue Tropix dance floor and showed he's still got all the moves ... Frankie Manning still a
dance icon at 87STOPPING by the Perry & Price Hanohano Room radio broadcast to plug his one-nighter in a Hawaii Theatre show along with Pat Morita was the star of "The Hughleys," D.L. Hughley. He described his home, L.A., as "like Hawaii but minus the trees and the happy people." In L.A., he deadpanned, "the palm trees have bullet-proof vests." ...
True falsetto
THE same singer who won the Frank B. Shaner falsetto singing contest also won a Grand Prize at the Kindy Sproat falsetto contest on the Big Isle -- James Michael Kealaolaulea Broclic Kukona-Pacheco of Maui ... Don Ho's daughter, Hoku, was on "Teenage Hollywood Squares" the other day. She got all of her first three questions wrong, but the producers bailed her out with the fourth question -- the name of the Hawaiian musical instrument whose name means "jumping flea." That she got right ...ALSO on a quiz show, albeit a local one, "Jan Ken Po," was country singer Dita Holifield. She used her appearance for a good purpose, too, promoting the Sept. 30 Susan G. Komen "Hawaii Race for the Cure." She donated her winnings on the show to the race committee to use for prizes in a drawing that's part of the entertainment. The grand prize at the race is a round trip on American Airlines to any destination they fly in the U.S. ...
Ducks super
A TRIO of Isle folks with Oregon connections flew off to watch the Oregon Ducks edge Wisconsin 31-28 Saturday. They included Western Engineering honcho Dwayne Cargill, who was a star running back for the Ducks more years ago than he'd like to remember, Oregon grad Puna Chillingworth who refers to the school (with a straight face) as "the Harvard of the West," and restaurateur Don Murphy, who lived in Eugene before tossing his umbrella and moving to Hawaii. You have to love the Ducks -- who else could have a player named Wesley Mallard ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com