That's One Huge Lei, Yo




:: Kalikimaka Vocal Group - Mele Kalikimaka ::


I love promotional records. I don't run across them as often as I'd like, but when I do they are usually gold. This vinyl postcard from Hawaii's Ilikai Hotel in Honolulu features an introduction by GM Howard Donnelly, whose voice and delivery sound a heck of a lot like Les Nessman's. It then breaks into a very short and pleasant version of the famous Hawaiian Christmas song, Mele Kelikimaka. There's no date on here, but seeing as how Mr. Donnelly refers to the hotel as "the new Ilikai," I think it's safe to assume this came out the year it opened, 1964. If the hotel looks familiar to you, it might be because it was featured for years in the opening credits of Hawaii Five-O, in the sweeping aerial shot where Jack Lord is up on a balcony.



Another interesting side note --- there's a picture of the Ilikai's president on the back, and his name is Chinn Ho. There's a character, named for him, in Hawaii Five-O named Chin Ho.


Tony

This entry was posted on Friday, December 09, 2005 at 6:45 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.

« Home | Next »
| Next »
| Next »
| Next »
| Next »
| Next »
| Next »
| Next »
| Next »
| Next »

Saturday, December 10, 2005 5:22:00 AM

Aloha brudda,

For me, Five-0 trivia is NOT trivia, it's high culture!!! The Ilikai probably hosted the guest stars who flew in from California on United Airlines, whose planes seem to be featured on nearly every episode. Five-0 is for my money the best TV show ever, particularly the KONO seasons. (strange that it is not yet available on DVD.) I wonder if there was ever an LP of the incidental music from the show. There was enough interesting music on that show to make a double album...    



Saturday, December 10, 2005 8:48:00 AM

Well hey, if you love the Five-O that much, you should do the tour that the hardcore fan clubbers do. When I was looking for pictures of Jack Lord on the balcony, I instead found pictures of fans on that balcony. They even stay at the Ilikai. It's all out there, man!    



Monday, December 19, 2005 8:54:00 AM

My father always thought it was funny: "Kam Fong as Chin Ho". Why not just Kam Fong as Kam Fong? We had a cat we named Chin Ho in his honor.    



» Post a Comment