“The Best of Kevin I., 1980-1985,” a new digital release, offers a peek in a window of the life and times of Kevin Iwamoto, professionally known as Kevin I. He’s been a longtime buddy of mine, dating back to the Hawaii of the ‘80s, when I was writing reviews, interviews, and an entertainment column called Show Biz in the Honolulu Advertiser.
The reboot that has gone viral.
Prompted to revisit his musical past, while simultaneously updating and defining ownership of his best tracks, the digital album should appease his former fans and attract a new fan base.
Kevin is at a crossroads. The plan was to update his analog recordings and convert into MP3 digital tracks, remastering and bolstering the sound and flavor to carve a niche in the new streaming world of music where there is no physical product like CDs. His music was being posted on YouTube and other social media sites without his knowledge or permission. “I felt I had to take back control of my past recordings in this new age of streaming on-line music,” he said.
Kevin also has launched a career retrospective website that preserves his ‘80s career, which serves as an electronic resource for himself, his family and his fan base. It has been a painstaking process, but with energy and resources, he is finally able to redefine his territory.
With the help of talented engineer Garrett Haines, Kevin jumpstarts a series of signature tunes.
His first local hit on island radio was “Fairy Tale,” a warm and cozy ballad composed by the husband of his former hairstylist, is about unrequited dreams. It’s a triumph; his voice is majestic, and honestly, you may not recognize the singer. It is a formidable flashback.
“Candle in the Night,” written by Cecilio Rodriguez of Cecilio and Kapono, with Cecilio doing back-up vocals is not earmarked, but it is here, and you can detect his tones. Both singers’ vocals blended well relying on their mutual love of R&B music.
NOTE: This review originally was published on Kevin Iwamoto’s Kevin I website. Wayne Harada is the longtime entertainment editor, columnist, and journalist with the Honolulu Advertiser, where he served for 45 years. He also wrote the Show Biz column in the combined Honolulu Star-Advertiser daily newspaper for another 10 years after retirement.
Fairy tales do come true. Just ask Kevin I, the former Honolulu entertainer formally known as Kevin Iwamoto in the business community.
As a young performer eager to make his mark in the 1980s entertainment scene in Hawaii, he recorded a tune called “Fairy Tale,” a simple but powerful ballad that put him on the map, certifying his professional singing career.
That was then.
But now, in 2021, in the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, Kevin – as Kevin I, because that was his abbreviated show biz handle because he worried that some might not be able to properly pronounce his surname – has created unprecedented buzz in the second coming of his singing profile.
His “Fairy Tale” tune, part of a reissue of a virtual album released in December, 2020 and containing his smooth vocals, has become a belated phenom, surpassing 10,000 streams via the Vinyl Frontier Plus music channel on You Tube. And because this has been an online internet release, Kevin has reached an unimagined global audience that keeps growing.
Kevin I — aka Kevin Iwamoto — today.
“The songs are 30 years old,” he says. And yes, he cannot believe the delayed response to his past vocalizing. But back in the day, there was no internet. Regional troupers like Kevin depended on his domestic (Hawaii) audience for support. And radio airplay.
These days, YouTube music channel Vinyl Frontier Plus has 35K subscribers. The site also streams three other titles from his album, generating between 6.5K and 7.5K streams each, but the song that I initially doubted people would like has once again prevailed.
Yep, “Fairy Tale.” Minus the customary princess and prince template. Nor the usual show tour to support the product. The fans and the fuss are virtual.
Kevin I’s digital album, 30 years old, has reached an unprecedented new global audience.
Old is new again
Something old is new again. As a long-time friend and follower of his performing pursuits, I called this phase Kevin I 2.0. The second coming, yes, but curiously, much of the to-do has come from afar.
“Spotify numbers are over 1,000 listeners worldwide,” says Kevin. “Looking at my Spotify and Jango radio streaming data, such interesting cities where listeners streamed my music validates that music is truly universal. So far, I’ve seen Mongolia, Kuwait, Bosnia and Herzegovina, United Arab Emirates, S. Africa, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Montserrat, Malta, Curacao, Albania, Tanzania, Mozambique, Libya, Kenya, Montenegro, Bahrain, Belarus, Serbia, Tonga, Oman, and other exotic and faraway places.
“It’s kind of cool to think my old music is being streamed all over the world,” he says. All this without an olden-day distributor, thanks to the ease and swiftness of the internet.
The French connection
Andre Silva, a deejay in France, tracked down Kevin via Facebook and ordered up two copies of his last vinyl LP, “New Dimensions,” for himself and his cousin, who also happened to be a deejay, too. “They heard the music on YouTube and wanted to mix it for the French and Euro dance crowds,” says Kevin. Even belatedly, the Parisian power is formidable.
With exposure in France, Kevin says a guy named Guillaume and his brother also requested to purchase the same LP.
Since his sound was making the rounds, Facebook has licensed two tracks from “The Best of Kevin I. 1980-1985,” tapping “Let’s Give Love” and “Fairy Tale” for what is described as Promo Music Overlays.
Last February, Pandora released his album, resulting in more than 11,000 music streams from all over the country with a surprising other reaction: “Interest from Hawaii (is) surprisingly lower than the rest of the U.S.”
A feel-good love story
Then there’s a feel-good story from his Facebook feed, demonstrating the marvelous matchmaking momentum of his songs.
“Such an amazing thing happened,” he says. “I was contacted via social media by a young man who just proposed to his girlfriend who thanked me for my music which he used when he proposed.”
Kevin explains further: “Here’s how it went down, he cooked dinner for her then after dinner he played my song ‘Somewhere In My Lifetime’ and asked her to dance. He sang the lyrics of the song in her ear and when it was over, he played my song ‘True Love.’ When it was about to end, he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him and she said yes; they were both crying. His story frankly made me tear up.”
Surely, he says, “the power of love and music combined is such a perfect gift from God. The groom-to-be said when he first heard both songs, he was inspired to use them to propose because the lyrics, music and singing were a perfect reflection of their love and relationship.
He said that they’re also going to use ‘True Love’ as their first dance at their wedding reception next summer.”
The power of branding–and philanthropy
The whole incidence has touched him dearly. “(It’s) such an honor and (I’m) so touched that my songs from 30+ years ago moved a lovely young Midwest couple enough to be part of their engagement and nuptials next year. Music + love is such a wonderful blessing.”
Further, the good fortunes will result in good deeds. “Revenues generated by the digital album and streaming proceeds are going to be donated to designated charities via a charitable foundation I’m in the process of setting up which also includes my Kevin Iwamoto Scholarship Endowment set up under the UH School of Travel Industry Management,” says Kevin. As Chief Strategy Officer of BIZLY, Inc., he remains active and supportive of his training roots in the islands and the business community he continues to serve.
“My business career has afforded me the opportunity to live comfortably and dabble in charitable acts and philanthropy,” he adds. And the inspiration comes from a show biz buddy in Hawai’i and, a committed career fund-raiser. “I guess those years with Carole (Kai) rubbed off on me, LOL!”
Kevin also has learned a simple yet astonishing lesson in assessing his good fortune. “Trust your instincts and stand by your convictions and be who you have always been, authentic and honest. I teach and preach the power of personal branding.”…
Note cards with a sushi motif are part of my Wild Cards palette; each is hand-made, hand-cut, hand-assembled. All you need is imagination — and a few obvious craftstore items.
Shari Lynn can be affectionately labeled a chanteuse, because she has the pipes, the vigor, the capability of fusing singing with storytelling with acting.
In yet another Medici’s appearance last night (May 21), she shared her love for jazz, her passion for the stage and her joy of dusting off oldies. She possesses a reliable voice but is a seasoned stage actor who knows how to deliver a melody while delivering lyrics with empathy that pushes her performance to the caliber of a stage gig.
Shari Lynn, with Vi and Wayne Harada
No sets, no special lighting, no book, no ensemble of back-up singers or dancers. Her trusty musicians are pianist-arranger Jim Howard and bassist John Kolivas, and remarkably, their union elevates a cabaret performance where words and music matter plenty. There is an intermission of sorts, like actual theater, but more on that later.
When Shari sings, everyone listens. Her intersection of skills might well be her take-home memory. On a seldomly performed novelty, “The Boy From,” a parody of sorts of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “The Girl From Ipanema,” she bossa novas her way, somewhat with tongue in cheek, to the subtle Brazilian tempo on a gem with manic lines and exquisite delivery. The song is by Stephen Sondheim, the esteemed master of intricacy, who utilized a pseudonym of Esteban Riunuti with collaborator Mary Rodgers to create this height of kookiness for a musical called, what else, “The Mad Show.”(Yep, she knows the history and idiosyncrasies of most of her song choices).
It is a comedic jewel amid her playlist of serious jazz and reflective romantic faves from the short list of master composers from an earlier time.
You could hear a pin drop, when she took a pop trip with “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” with many lips quietly mimicking the lyrics. She respects the melody and savors the lyricism.
Shari Lynn at Medici’s
When she visits her Broadway evergreens of ditties performed by what she dubs “loud women,” she is in fine form. Delivering Barbra Streisand’s “People” from “Funny Girl” and Carol Channing’s (or most recently Bette Midler’s) “Before the Parade Passes By” from “Hello, Dolly,” she is in her theatrical element.
She is comfy with jazz and the Great American Songbook; and yes, there are resourceful centerpieces like “Love Is Here to Stay,” “Fascinating Rhythm” and “Embraceable You” from the library of George and Ira Gershwin, and “I Got the Sun in the Morning,” “What’ll I Do, “Let Yourself Go,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz” and “Stepping Out With My Baby” from the well of Irving Berlin. Her template is joyously jazz.
Of course, she pays tribute to New York via an expressive “I Love Being Here” (and she will be, in June) and “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” anthems about the pulse of the city.
Finally, there are mounting, peculiar protocols at Medici’s. There is no gracious way to say this, but the club’s co-owners, Timothy and Carolyn Stanton, continue to take the stage in the midst of the performance to present a disruptive “commercial” that impacts the artistic arc of the show. Music fans are eager to support and keep the club open, and yes, Tim (the chef) and Carolyn (front of house honcho and music teacher) work tirelessly to showcase Shari and other acts. A pitch after the show might be kosher, but midway is no way to go. Tim’s culinary skills are applaudable but now he serves jokes, too. The mission of the cozy club is to provide a venue for musicians; and passing around a collection bowl is morally wrong. Churches do this, but clubs shouldn’t. End of sermon.
Bruno Mars is surging mile high – in orbit – because of his latest honors.
He’s now got the No. 1 slot on Billboard’s Hot 100 for a second week, sharing the laurels with Silk Sonic partner, for their “Leave the Door” hit.
But it’s his earlier singles that are making news. The multi-Grammy-winning Hawaii native has collected five Diamond Status Singles laurels, the most ever won by an individual. First, “That’s What I Like” and “When I Was Your Man,” were certified by RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) for sales of 10 million units, according to Deltaplex.com. That’s the best in the league right now. The tally includes sales but also online streaming.
Two other sparklers —“Just the Way You Are” and “Grenade” – have made the Diamond tier, along with a third, “Uptown Funk” (with Mark Ronson collaborating).
Bruno Mars
Thus, Bruno’s five Diamond singles are the most awarded among other living artists, and only 60 have been so far.
In a statement, the RIAA honcho said, “What Bruno has accomplished is just extraordinary.”…
Farm tour
Musician George Kahumoku Jr., a stellar slack key guitarist, has been dubbed a “Renaissance Man.”
With reason. On Maui, where he calls home, the Kahumoku Family Farm Tour is a Saturday attraction at his farm at the Cliffs at Kahakuloa.
George Kahumoku Jr.
Each Saturday, Kahumoku opens up his farm for a fascinating visit embracing cultural, nutritional, artistic and historic elements.
Visitors learn about the benefits of raising your own veggies and fruit in your own garden.
You pick vegetable to share in a lunch cooked and served by Kahumoku.
You visit his small flock of sheep and his three miniature horses.
There’s an art project, too, where you learn in a make-and-take activity, creating a souvenir to take home.
Further, there are sessions on culture and mythology, of the Hawaiian staple of life, taro; you hear about the moon calendar and when it’s prime time for planting; you learn of soil – preservation and restoration.
You get to lunch together, then join Kahumoku in sing-alongs. Sounds like a visitor-targeted activity, but locals will learn a lot about lifestyles.
Thus, it’s a memory-laden opportunity for visitors and families alike. With the easing of travel protocols, it’s easier plan a trip for a visit.
The program, presented by Mahele Waiwai LLC, is a four-hour activity, from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Those attending are asked to wear covered shoes, comfy clothes, and provide sun protection. And because of coronavirus protocols, attendance is limited to a party of two.
