Kalapana

I know we started this conversation via text, but since texting is a hassle for me, I’m starting this thread. Mitchell did a poll of the best Kalapana songs (which he’ll hopefully post here). I think choosing one is actually kinda hard. By the way, a song that grew on me over time is “Love ‘Em.” I don’t if it ever received much air time, but I kinda like that one.

Mitchell, you don’t like “Lost Again?” I think that’s one of my favorites.

By the way, Don mentioned “Real Thing.” I remember the first time I heard that, I thought, “Dang, that’s a legitimately good song, as in it could be popular outside of Hawai’i.” I was disappointed to find out that it wasn’t an original.

5 thoughts on “Kalapana

  1. I know I said this during our text message exchange, but the question posed to my coworkers was, “What is your favorite Kalapana song?” Everyone who responded gave me one answer, and if they gave me more than one, I just took the first one (after confirming with the respondent).

    What is your favorite Kalapana song?
    (an informal survey of people I work with)

    Nightbird (7)
    “I don’t know” or “Who’s Kalapana?” (7)
    Naturally (4)
    Kona Daze (1)
    What Do I Do? (1)
    When the Morning Comes (1)
    For You I’d Chase a Rainbow (1)
    Moon and Stars (1)
    Going Going Gone (1)
    You Make it Hard (1)

    Man, I never said anything like “I don’t like ‘Lost Again.'” I said, “I’m not surprised ‘Lost Again’ isn’t anybody’s first choice.” I mean come on. Is it yours? If the sample size was larger I’d be slightly less unsurprised, but look at the other well-liked songs that didn’t get one vote.

    The question brought up a lot of conversation about Kalapana and their music. One coworker, a few years younger than us, has lived here about 15 years but was unfamiliar with their music. There were a few fans nearby who played her their favorites and I think she’s a convert.

    Another, about 15 years older than us, took mild offense when I said, “Another piece of our childhood is gone.” I admit I was trolling just a bit.

    “Childhood? Childhood?” she said. 🙂

    Another coworker, an HBA grad 8 years ahead of us, shared how she and her friends would go to a club next to where the Keeaumoku Walgreens is now, and watch Kalapana play, mostly because they were underaged and the club didn’t ID for drinks.

    I have to say I leaned much more toward Team C&K in high school, but my appreciation for Kalapana has grown in the many years since. And it’s difficult to think of one group without thinking of the other — both are equally cemented in my memory as something unique to (and shared by) people from my home state. It’s a special thing.

    1. Man, I never said anything like “I don’t like ‘Lost Again.’” I said, “I’m not surprised ‘Lost Again’ isn’t anybody’s first choice.”

      The response sounded dismissive to me, but I read too much into it. Sorry about that.

      I mean come on. Is it yours?

      It’s really hard to choose one song, but I think this would be a contender. I would choose it above “What Do I Do?” (although I like singing the verses) and “Going Going Gone.”

      I have to say I leaned much more toward Team C&K in high school, but my appreciation for Kalapana has grown in the many years since. And it’s difficult to think of one group without thinking of the other — both are equally cemented in my memory as something unique to (and shared by) people from my home state. It’s a special thing.

      I agree with this, although I feel like I would have leaned towards Kalapana, then and now.

      By the way, how have both their music held up for you guys? How often do you listen to them now? I don’t listen to either group now, but I think I could enjoy Kalapana, especially when I want a 70’s sound, particularly with a jazzy vibe (cf. Seawind).

  2. PS: Reid’s assertion that “When the Morning Comes” shouldn’t be on there is understandable but still preposterous, if something can be both understandable and preposterous. Maybe it’s because I understand preposterous notions will come out of Reid. 🙂

    If it’s because it’s a cover, you can’t legitimately say “All Along the Watchtower” is Jimi Hendrix’s best song, and there are a LOT of people who would choose it as theirs. Can “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” be Tony Bennett’s best song?

    1. If it’s because it’s a cover, you can’t legitimately say “All Along the Watchtower” is Jimi Hendrix’s best song, and there are a LOT of people who would choose it as theirs.

      The issue is that the version isn’t very different, or better, than the original. Hendrix’s version is both different (enough, I think) and I’d say better than the original. I’m also a little more sympathetic to Don choosing “The Real Thing” because while it’s not much different from the original, I like Mackey’s voice better.

      But going back to Hendrix. For an artist like, I’d prefer choosing an original composition, especially if there are songs that are equally as good.

      Can “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” be Tony Bennett’s best song?

      This seems like a whole ‘nother kettle of fish. When you have jazz (ish) vocalists doing covers, it’s not inappropriate to choose a cover, if the rendition seems definitive to a lot of people. Many jazz fans might cite”Body and Soul” as Coleman Hawkins’s best song, because they believe he played a definitive version of it. In jazz, playing covers is a part of jazz in a way that it’s not in other forms of music. (At the same time, choosing one best performance of a song by a jazz musician seems odd or at least rare.)

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