Dan Kois - Israel Kamakawiwooles Facing Future

FAC I N G F U T U R EPraise for the series: It was only a matter of time before a clever publisher realized that there is an audience for whom Exile on Main Street or ElectricLadyland are as significant and worthy of study as The Catcher in theRye or Middlemarch.... The series... is freewheeling and eclectic, ranging from minute rock-geek analysis to idiosyncratic personal celebration The New York Times Book Review Ideal for the rock geek who thinks liner notes just arent enough Rolling Stone One of the coolest publishing imprints on the planet Bookslut These are for the insane collectors out there who appreciate fantastic design, well-executed thinking, and things that make your house look cool. Each volume in this series takes a seminal album and breaks it down in startling minutiae. We love these. each one a work of real love NME (UK) Passionate, obsessive, and smart Nylon Religious tracts for the rock n roll faithful Boldtype [A] consistently excellent series Uncut (UK) We... arent naive enough to think that were your only source for reading about music (but if we had our way... watch out). watch out).

For those of you who really like to know everything there is to know about an album, youd do well to check out Continuums 33 1/3 series of books. PitchforkFor reviews of individual titles in the series, please visit our website at www.continuumbooks.com and 33third.blogspot.com For more information on the 33 1/3 series, visit 33third.blogspot.com. For a complete list of books in the series, see the back of this book. FACING FUTUREDan Kois 2010 The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc 80 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038 The Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX www.continuumbooks.com Copyright 2010 by Dan Kois Lyrics from Hawaii 78, Amaama, White Sandy Beach of Hawaii, La Elima, and Kaulana Kawaihae reprinted courtesy of the Mountain Apple Company. Lyrics from Maui Hawaiian Suppa Man reprinted courtesy of Del Beazley. Lyrics from Ka Pua Ui reprinted courtesy of Criterion Music Corporation.

Lyrics from Iz reprinted courtesy of Patrick Downes. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: 978-0-8264-2905-6 Typeset by Newgen Imaging Systems Pvt Ltd, Chennai, India Printed in the United States of America It has been often remarked by musical teachers who have had experience with these islanders that as singers they are prone to flat the tone and to drag the time, yet under the stimulus of emotion they show the ability to acquit themselves in these respects with great credit. Nathaniel Bright Emerson, Unwritten Literature ofHawaii: The Sacred Songs of the Hula (1909) What I do is minimum effort, but maximum pleasure.

Thats part of being Hawaiian, brah. Israel Kamakawiwoole This page intentionally left blankTable of Contents vii D A N K O I S viii 1. Iz sign on the Windward side. 2. Israel as a child. Courtesy of the Mountain Apple Company.

The Makaha Sons of Niihau, circa 1976. Photo: Skylark Rossetti; courtesy of Tropical Music. 4. The cover of the Makaha Sons of Niihaus 1979 self-titled album. Courtesy of Tropical Music. 6. 6.

Israel at Palehua in 1993 during his first visit, having his hair brushed by Marlene. Photo: Jon de Mello, courtesy of the Mountain Apple Company. Israel and Robert Ferrigno in 1993. Courtesy of Robert Ferrigno. 8. Del Beazley in Waimanalo.

Milan Bertosa in 1988, in the studio where Israel recorded Over the Rainbow. Courtesy of Milan Bertosa. 10. Iz and his band backstage before a 1994 Kauai concert. Courtesy of Robert Ferrigno. 11.

Shelley Coscina in the Mountain Apple offices. 12. Jon de Mello in the Mountain Apple offices. 13. Milan Bertosa in Honolulu. ix Milan Bertosa was exhausted.

The recording engineer had moved from Chicago to Hawaii a year ago and was still struggling to make a name for his fledgling studio, Audio Resource Honolulu. Which meant that when a big-deal client called saying he had a bruddah with him who wanted to record, he took the gig. Even if the guy was calling from a pay phone at 2:30 in the morning. Even if Milan could barely hear him over the bar noise in the background and the guy was obviously completely out of his skull. Even if Milan asked who the singer was and the guy said some long-ass Hawaiian name Milan couldnt even understand, Israel Kalakalakalaka. He took the gig because every gig counts, even bullshit gigs of the type often sprung by this producer.

Plenty of Milans business in 1988 had come from this guylegitimate daytime recording, but also lots of late-night sessions with giggling girls picked up in bars, convinced by a smooth-talking producer that he could take them places. xiii D A N K O I S Shes perfect, hed say to Milan in front of the bar girls. Milan never saw those girls twice. Sometimes you do stupid little things to make clients happy and make the checks show up on time. He almost turned it down anyway. He could barely keep his eyes open after yet another grueling night trying to record James Arceneauxs girl group.

Arceneaux had a lot of money, which he said hed received from an NFL team after suffering a career-ending injury. Wherever the money came from, he was blowing it all trying to become a music mogul. His latest project was a dance-oriented girl group, four women whose only qualification for pop-music star dom was an impressive performance in the wet-bikini con test at Shorebirds in Waikiki. Sadly for Milan, they couldnt sing, and so hed spent all night recording them word by word: I... and then hed punch Stop. Stop. YOU... Stop. Stop.

It was horrible, but on the upside it was taking so long to record them that James Arceneaux had kept the studio booked three nights a week for a month. It seemed hed continue until his patience, or money, ran out. The girls had just cleared out when the phone rang, and Milan tried to convince the client that it was too late, he was too tired, but then the singer got on the phone. His voice was high-pitched, quiet, but audible over the noise in the background. Please? Israel Kalakalakalaka asked him. I want to come in.

Ive got these ideas, and I dont want to lose the ideas. You know how that is? Milan sighed. Where are you? he asked. Were at Sparkysa bar a few blocks away from Milans studio, and the citys number-one place to score. Great. xiv F A C I N G F U T U R E As he cleaned up the studio, he left his back door open, facing the parking lot of his building, the Century Center, an office and condo tower at the corner of Kalakaua and Kapiolani on the western edge of Waikiki. xiv F A C I N G F U T U R E As he cleaned up the studio, he left his back door open, facing the parking lot of his building, the Century Center, an office and condo tower at the corner of Kalakaua and Kapiolani on the western edge of Waikiki.