My Rose of Waikiki（SM20)

My Rose of Waikiki

Until 1912 most Hawaiian songs were written in the Hawaiian language. With the success of the Broadway hit “Bird of Paradise” every Tin Pan Alley tunesmith started writing “Hawaiian” songs. By 1916 there were hundreds of hapa-haole (half-foreign) tunes written with a little bit of Hawaiian and a lot of pseudo gibberish. George Little’s “Oh, How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki Woo” is a classic example of the genre.

More Hawaiian records were sold in the U.S. in 1916 than any other type of music. From the wacky songs of the 20’s to the swing of the 30’s, the Rock & Roll of the 50’s and the surf style music of the 60’s, Hawaiian music has always been a crowd pleaser. Hawai‘i’s recording artists, such as Alfred Apaka, Hilo Hattie, Emma Veary, Nona Beamer, Kui Lee, Danny Kaleikini, Palani Vaughn, Harry Owens and Don Ho, were all goodwill ambassadors for Hawai‘i and became legends in their own time.