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Topic: Hawaiian Steel on the Internet 24/7 |
Bill Wynne
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 7 Jul 2015 3:05 am |
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I have come back to the forum from time to time to alert my steel-playing friends about my blog devoted to the preservation of Hawaiian music - Ho`olohe Hou. Well, now Ho`olohe Hou the blog is Ho`olohe Hou Radio - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, featuring primarily out of print recordings from my archives of more than 25,000 sides of Hawaiian music dating back to 1906. Although the station has been operating since January 2nd, I officially launched the station - and a Kickstarter campaign - on July 3rd, the 80th anniversary of the first broadcast of Hawaii Calls.
This is not just music purely for entertainment's sake. This is an exciting new experiment in Hawaiian music edutainment. Each hour brief educational pieces will celebrate an artist or composer and their importance to the history and evolution of Hawaiian music. For example, all day today the station will feature segments on...
- ...the July 7, 1930 sessions by Jimmie Rodgers featuring Lani McIntire and the steel guitar of Bob Nichols
- ...the July 7, 1955 sessions by Alfred Apaka and the Hawaiian Village Serenaders with Jules Ah See (sessions which have never been reissued in the digital era)
- ...the first Hawaii Calls orchestra led by Harry Owens with Alvin Kaleolani Isaacs and the steel guitar of Freddie Tavares
Plus throughout the month of July the station will celebrate the 80th anniversary of Hawaii Calls and the steel guitars of David Keli`i, Jake Keli`ikoa, Jules Ah See, Barney Isaacs, Danny Stewart, and Eddie Pang.
More than 3/4 of the music heard on Ho`olohe Hou Radio features the steel guitar. Listen for any random half-hour, and you will no doubt hear one of your favorites that you are not likely to hear anywhere else (and maybe a steel player you have never heard before).
A century of Hawai`i's entertainers at your fingertips... Here's hoping you appreciate and enjoy this new endeavor in Hawaiian music radio and steel guitar. And if you do, I hope you will consider your pledge of support.
Thanks! Mahalo!
Bill Wynne
Listen Here
Pledge Here (There is also a short video about Ho`olohe Hou Radio's mission and how the funding will be used.)
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Matt Elsen
From:
Deer Harbor, Orcas Island, WA
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Posted 13 Jul 2015 4:41 pm
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Hi Bill,
My wife and I tuned in all weekend long and enjoyed every minute. Delightful music. It was the next best thing to being on the islands.....
We're happy to pledge a little to the cause and wish you every success.
Thanks,
Matt & Lura |
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Bill Wynne
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 15 Jul 2015 6:35 am
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Matt -
I had not returned to the SGF in several days. So I had no idea that the "mystery pledge" was from an SGF member. What can I say? Mahalo for appreciating the effort and supporting it generously.
I was trying to count up the steel guitarists in today's playlists at Ho`olohe Hou Radio. Dick McIntire, Joe Custino, Jerry Byrd, Danny Stewart, Andy Iona, Barney Isaacs, Walter Wailehua, Herbert Hanawahine, David Keli`i, Alan Akaka, Billy Hew Len, Steve Cheyney, Splash Lyons, David Feets Rogers, Isaac Akuna, Casey Olsen, Eddie Pang, Bernie Ka`ai Lewis, Jules Ah See, Harold Haku`ole, Freddie Tavares, Pua Almeida, Eddie Palama, Owana Salazar, Sol K. Bright, David Nalo, Lovey Lui Conn, Mel Abe, Peter Dillingham, Jack Del Toro, Gabby Pahinui, even a then young Hiram Olsen (Casey's dad). If you haven't at least checked out this station for a half hour, you owe it to yourself... You have no idea what you're missing out on - recordings that have not been in print for a half century, recordings by your favorite steelers that you didn't even know existed because they weren't credited in the liner notes. I spent 40 years and countless dollars (I don't want to count them, anyway) scouring the planet for these 25,000 recordings. None other than John Marsden - Hawaiian music's greatest advocate abroad and its most avid collector - recently reached out to me to help him complete his collection. This man doesn't even have access to the internet! So the word about my archives is clearly out there.
Check it out! I think the music on this station would stimulate a lot of worthwhile discussion on this forum about some of the forgotten players.
Thanks for your consideration. And thanks again, Matt!
~ Bill Wynne |
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Matt Elsen
From:
Deer Harbor, Orcas Island, WA
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Posted 25 Jul 2015 8:59 pm
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Got a big old earful of Freddie Tavares on the station tonight. Wonderful playing!
Thank you Bill |
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Bill Wynne
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 27 Jul 2015 4:11 am
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It was the 25th anniversary of his passing last Friday. So I thought a tribute was in order.
Freddie was one of my childhood heroes. So I have a lot of obscure recordings by him - recordings on which he has not really been identified by anyone publicly. For example, he did two records with Sam Koki in the early 1960s on which he was not identified, and he was the third steel - with Sam Koki and Danny Stewart - on the Decca LP Honolulu At Midnight. Wherever Sam was in a studio in the 50s and 60s, Freddie was usually his first call.
But my favorite is the LP Poncie Ponce Sings. Freddie does some outrageous things on that record.
More from Freddie soon... Thanks again for listening, Matt.
~ Bill |
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