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More Teasers from the Final 70s Night Club Reunion Show

For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you might’ve noticed a barrage of tweets last night linking to videos of Aura, Power Point, Phase 7, Nueva Vida (with Lil Albert and Carla Young Elsman), and Greenwood rocking some heavy disco-era tunes.

Those were just 5 teaser videos that Irwin ‘Supes’ Santos posted to YouTube the other day, giving Hawaiian funk/soul discotheque fans a taste of the upcoming 70s Night Club Reunion live DVD set.

Keep in mind: these videos feature rough audio mixdowns—and are not the finished product! For that, you’ve got to order the DVD!

Good news: the deadline to place your order has been extended to July 5th!

In the spirit of ‘Hawaiian Time’, you can now order your DVD set for $35 (plus shipping) until July 5th!

Email Irwin ‘Supes’ Santos for more details. This is your last chance!

Click below to watch a video. (Be sure to watch them in HD!)

• Powerpoint “I Wish”
• Greenwood – “Get Down Tonight”
• Nueva Vida – “Addicted to Love”
• Phase VII – “Babe”
• Aura – “The Bird”

Read my previous post, “Something to Shout About: the Final 70s Night Club Reunion”.

Mackey Feary “Moon & Stars” (live)

“Moon & Stars” (live) by Mackey Feary Continue reading »

Natural High (live) “Do It Right”

“Do It Right” by Natural High (live)  Continue reading »

Natural High (live) “Dreaming a Dream” b/w “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel”

“Dreaming an Dream” b/w “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel” by Natural High (live) Continue reading »

Mackey, Memorabilia and Mysteries

Update: Mahalo to Greenwood’s Wayne Nakamura (Bari, Tenor, Alto Saxes) for putting all these displays together!

When I arrived at the 70s Night Club Reunion last weekend, I immediately took notice to the row of memorabilia that filled half a dozen display boards. It was the first thing I saw, and it mesmerized me.

‘Memory Lane’ you might call it, though it was more of an extended corner that showcased clippings from Honolulu newspapers, night club posters, discotheque stationary and souvenirs, vintage photos of friends and a scattering of set lists from Greenwood.

Some of the set lists were long. Greenwood must’ve jammed all night to make it through this set list:

Hawaii’s Garden Isle, aka Kauai, got its share of talented disco and contemporary Hawaiian acts:

Trust me, there was a lot to look at! How’s this ‘Homegrown T-Shirts‘ poster (far right)? Anyone out there have one of these in their closet? I’ve seen too many of these LPs floating around, it’s about time I come across the shirt.

Aura started out as The Nomads in Hawaii’s disco scene, but soon changed their name to Aura as they found success. The name change was just one factor that helped launch them further into Hawaiian funk/soul stardom! (Another factor was the fact that they not only had a female lead singer, but two female lead singers! No other band boasted such a lineup at the time.)

Plenty of Hawaii’s other R&B music were popular then, even if their music isn’t widely known today. Most of the following groups I’ve never heard of before and I wonder if they ever had a chance to record their music to vinyl.

Excitement hit me hardest when I saw advertisements for the Mackey Feary Band. Sent down some shivers just imagining how his voice sounded live, in person.

I wonder just how long a list of Waikiki discos would be. Some of the musicians at the Reunion told me there were over a dozen at one time, others told me 50 (!). Nightclubs with big name acts like Natural High, Phase VII, Aura—these clubs would be packed to the point you could hardly walk through the people. Baby steps just to push your way to the stage.

Speaking of Natural High, Irwin ‘Supes’ Santos told me when they reunited for a previous 70s NCR, tickets sold out in five minutes. I’m not kidding! OK so now where can I find their music on wax? (You can check out two of their songs in *gulp* lower quality sound at 70snightclubreunion.com).

That’s just a scratch on the surface of what’s out there. Maybe it’s time to start digging through the public library’s newspaper microfilms?

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***Links to high-res currently not working. Check back soon k!***

Something to Shout About: The Final 70s Night Club Reunion

Forty years in the making, the last reunion concert featuring Hawaii’s biggest disco, funk, soul and R&B acts from the seventies finally came to an end Saturday night at the Ala Moana Hotel Hibiscus Ballroom.

Pauline Wilson captivated the crowd.

It was a blast, every band went all out, everyone was in high spirits. The dancefloor was jam-packed from the very first song to the last!

For now, some thoughts on this year’s 70s Night Club Reunion (the last of its kind, although we hope that isn’t totally true!). More photos and more stuff soon.

• Nueva Vida was a surprise hit (for me, at least). Triple threat of singers, including Carla Young, Lil Albert and Pauline Wilson. Young did a stellar version of Us3′s “Cantaloop.”
• Remember when I said Babadu was the Hawaiian Stevie Wonder? I was only partly correct. Lil Albert powered the house with smashing, Wonder-ful vocals. He was good.
• And Pauline Wilson. Of the handful of songs she performed with Nueva Vida, the crowd went wild for her versions of Seawind’s most popular songs..
• Power Point: another unexpected hit (probably because I had no idea what to expect in the first place). Super high energy, all smiles, very very funky.
• Greenwood: first band up. Tight as ever. Dance floor filled in seconds.
• Aura rocked the ballroom and it was almost impossible to move toward the stage. It was packed.

I met a lot of cool ‘club’goers who wondered why a 23-year-old was hanging out at the reunion show.

The stories they told me about Waikiki’s clubs, like The Point After and Hula Hut—packed every night with outstanding house bands that kept the night going on and on—made me wish my generation had something close to what 1970s Honolulu had.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the same if it happened today.

Lil Albert belts it out.

Memory lane aka a half dozen display boards filled with memorabilia from tons of bands were out in the hotel lobby, featuring newspaper clippings, flyers and posters from: Natural High, Mackey Feary Band, Greenwood, Phase VII, Power Point and so many others that I need to go back and look through my photos again.

When Natural High reunited for the 70s NCR a few years back, tickets sold out in 5 minutes.

No joke: all tickets were gone in 5 minutes. Can somebody please play me one of their records?

And Phase VII. Last band up. The ‘horniest’ band around, I heard someone say. Every person in the crowd watched them with smiles of nostalgia while singing along to the songs of their youth.

Everyone had a good time, so much that the performance went over 30+ minutes—maybe an hour? Hotel staff eventually turned on the house lights for the last two songs of Phase VII, but people kept dancing and Phase VII kept singing!

Nobody wanted it to end…

UPDATE: Good news, the 70s Night Club Reunion will be back in 2012!

Aura brought the funk.

Power Point funked it up big time.

Big thanks to Irwin aka ‘Supes‘, Candy Au of Ala Moana Hotel and Rob Kimura of Greenwood for organizing these reunions for the past seven+ years.

Missed out on the action? Buy the live DVD set of the 70s Night Club Reunion!

Aura, Phase VII, more: Live! on DVD

As of July 5th, 2011, DVDs are $40 plus shipping while supplies last!

Email Irwin aka ‘Supes’ for more details and to order your DVD today.

…

Original post:

For all of you who won’t witness the final 70s Night Club Reunion, where Hawaiian R&B/disco/funk bands like Aura, Phase VII, Power Point and Greenwood will perform, here’s your chance to see them live!

Check it out: all of the live performances from Hawaii’s hottest acts (from the 70s, that is) are being recorded to high definition DVD! Plus, the audio will be directly recorded from the mixer for the best sound quality.

Orders made after June 11th (prices include tax):
$41.88 if you’re in Honolulu and picking it up in person
$45.38 if you’re on the mainland USA and want the DVD shipped to you
International? Email Irwin aka ‘Supes’

Here’s what you get:
• (1) – 70s Nightclub Reunion IX “The Final Show” DVD set
• Recorded in High Definition, available in Standard Definition Wide Screen Only
• All 5 bands will be recorded live, plus audio directly from the mixer
• Region 1 only, single layer discs
• Standard “Amaray” DVD case to hold multidiscs
• 30-day warranty on defective discs during playback, disc replacement only

What’s it cost?
Orders made by June 10th:
$26.18 if you’re in Honolulu and picking it up in person
$29.68 if you’re on the mainland USA and want the DVD shipped to you
International? Email Irwin aka ‘Supes’

Orders made after June 11th (prices include tax):
$41.88 if you’re in Honolulu and picking it up in person
$45.38 if you’re on the mainland USA and want the DVD shipped to you
International? Email Irwin aka ‘Supes’

ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY
Paypal or Check by mail:

Paypal / Credit Card
If you wish to pay by credit card, you can do so via Paypal. Simply email Irwin & provide your email address and mailing address (if you want to ship to you). Add $1.25 per disc for service charge fee. A PayPal invoice will then be emailed to you.

Check by mail
Make your checks payable to “ISLE Computer Consulting”
Mail payment to:
ISLE Computer Consulting
Villa Professional Building at Eaton Square
438 Hobron Lane, Suite V5-312 Box 16
Honolulu, HI 96815

Questions? Email Irwin aka Supes. He’s the guy who helped organize the 70s NCR. Sorry, no plans for Blu-ray discs as of this post.

Kalapana Live at the Hoku’s: “Naturally”

I’m sorry for saying this, but if you weren’t at the Hawaii Convention Center Ballroom to see Kalapana perform live at the 2011 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, you’ll never know the feeling of hearing the band play “Naturally” that night.

In front of an audience who lauded (they were awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award) yet mourned for the band and its loss of an irreplaceable lead singer and composer, Mackey Feary, Kalapana was fullly spirited in laughter and love. 

Kenji Sato and Malani Bilyeu at the 2011 Na Hoku awairds,

‘Mourn’ isn’t the right word. Rejoiced, these people were celebrating in the music of Mackey. Huge smiles filled the room, a warming aura swept us as we watched the band members — Kenji Sato, Malani Bilyeu, DJ Pratt, Gaylord Holomalia and guests.

Emotion and energy was so great at that performance… Even now, days after as I’m browsing through the photos and recalling the memories, I’m brought to near tears of joy.

Saxophonist Todd Yukumoto and DJ Pratt jamming.

I feel so, so lucky to have seen them perform “Naturally” live as a tribute to Mackey. I mean, they had tons of gigs in the 1970s all the way through the 90s, but I had no idea back then.

Check out the rest of my Na Hoku photos on Flickr.

By the way, someone recorded part of Kalapana’s live performance and posted it to YouTube!

2011 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards: Quick Wrap-up

Here’s a quick overview of what I took away from the 2011 Na Hoku Hanohano awards festival.

• Kalapana performing “Naturally” live as the recipients of a Lifetime Achievement Award (just magnificent!).
• Touch of Gold. A Hawaiian Philly Motown Soul-style vocal group with a touch of, well, gold.
• Resonating quotes from presenters and award-winners
• Photos, photos, photos
• Bob Dylan, Slack Key and … Tender Leaf?
• Ernie Cruz Jr. live and direct via Na Hoku workshops

These are some of the ideas floating around in my head after spending the past two days experience the Hokus and its new Mele Mei month of music (in its second year now). Stay tuned to Aloha Got Soul—a different kind of Hawaiian music blog!

What is the Na Hoku Awards Festival?

A few words from disc jockey Krash Kealoha:

Read all posts about the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.

The FINAL 70s Nightclub Reunion!

Honolulu’s 70s Nightclub Reunion is having one last celebration before bowing gracefully off stage! Don’t miss this show! It’s the final reunion, and it’s gonna be a blast!

But get this: Phase VII and Aura will be performing that night! Never mind me being the youngest guy there—even if everyone will be twice my age*—this is my first and last chance to ever see these bands play live. (*Local baby boomers are lucky they lived through Hawaii’s nightclub era! I really missed out. Thanks to Robin Kimura for being the mastermind behind these reunions!)

Grand Ballroom tickets are already sold out, but tickets for the Garden Lanai are still available. After that it’s standing room only. Call 808-944-4330 to order!