THE JOYS OF CHRISTMASES PAST

Just asking…

Have you been listening to Hawaii’s Christmas radio station, KSSK, to reminisce the yuletide via songs old and new?

I’ve been loving the walk down memory lane, to hear traditional carols alongside pop and rock Christmas fare.

More importantly, since I downsized a couple of years ago, I no longer have a stash of vinyl 33 1/3 discs that I’d haul out every December. I tried to update, without much success, rereleases of popular titles available on CD. I kept a few LPs but not 45s.

Andy Williams

So the outpouring of sentimental journeys, via KSSK, has made it a blissful holiday.

Yuletide melodies get you into the holiday spirit. Bing Crosby. Perry Como. Dean Martin. Andy Williams. Gene Autry. Karen Carpenter and The Carpenters, principally Karen Carpenter, Bobby Helms. All silenced by death, but back to the future via holiday classics.

Karen Carpenter

Oh holy nights and days.

Happily, the king of Christmas serenading – Johnny Mathis – provided many signature hits. He’s one of the greats still alive. Add Brenda Lee, Mariah Carey, Michael Buble and Pentatonix for today’s bank of Christmas crooners.In the mix: local tracks by Henry Kapono, Gail Mack, Willie K, The Brothers Cazimero.

So to these singers and the stations that share them, mahalo plenty. And Mele Kalikimaka!

FRUITCAKE: LOATHE IT OR LOVE IT?

Holiday fruitcake has a love/hate presence every year.

To those who must have a wedge of fruitcake: Why do you adore it? It’s a dense brick of a cake; often the butt of jokes…that it can be crack a window when hurled.

Dark and fruity…

To those who nix the fruitcake: What don’t you like about it? The preserved soaked-in-liquor fruit and nuts, with too little cake?

Me? Not a huge fan of traditional “dark” fruitcake loaded with preserved fruit with a high liquor presence, and less cake.

…or blond and pinappley?

Prefer the local “blond” cake, the Happy Cake concocted in 1967 by the late Dick Rodby  of Kemoo Farm. This is the version chock full of pineapple and macadamia nuts – and more pound-cake than fruitcake..

And it’s still being produced  by Hawaiian Happy Cakes. Visit hawaiianhappycakes@mail.com or call  (808) 922-1957.

What’s your stance on the fruitcake debate?

SONGS FOR THE SEASONS…

Just asking…

Are there specific songs that you associate with the appropriate holiday or season in Hawaii?

Radio would be the prime source of listening to thematic music, unless you have a phonograph or CD player.

For the yuletide, KSSK has the lion’s roar, for its day-and-night programming of Christmas tunes all month beginning in November and concluding during Christmas weekend.

Bing Crosby’s “Mele Kalikimaka” 78 rpm disc.

That’s sweet.  And a lot of merry mele.

So I was wondering, what essential tune would you associate with Hawaii right now? I suppose “Mele Kalikimaka” is our logical anthem. Written by a local, Andy Anderson, but popularized initially by Bing Crosby (with assist from the Andrews Sisters) because it was the flipside of his megahit, “White Christmas.”

I yearn to hear Don Ho’s “Silent Night,” aka “Po La‘i E,” because he sang it in English and Hawaiian in his inimitable style; I no longer possess the LP on which he performed that tune.

What about other key holiday songs would you expect to hear throughout the year? My thoughts:

  • For New Year’s, “Auld Lang Syne.” Barbra Streisand and Mariah Carey have separate, powerful versions of this New Year’s Eve fave,  its turn-the-clock and calendar implications.
  • For Valentine’s, “At Last” by Etta James or “Close to You” by the Carpenters.Either exudes a strong aura of romance.
  • For Easter, “Easter Parade,” with Bing Crosby delivering the classic, timeless version.
  • For Fourth of July, “God Bless the U.S.A.,” by Lee Greenwood or “God Bless America” by Kate Smith. Patriotic to the max.
  • For Halloween, “Monster Mash,” Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s silly but a seductive novelty.
  • For Thanksgiving, “Autumn Leaves,” with Nat “King” Cole delivering the original vocal, and Roger Williams doing the precise instrumental version. Even if our trees don’t change hues.

Any thoughts to share?

GIFT-OPENING: EVE OR MORNING?

Just asking…

Christmas comes with a variety of traditions and practices.

Regarding wrapped gifts under the tree: are you one who opens presents on Christmas Eve?

Gift-opening tradition: on the eve or on the morning?

Or is your family one who unwraps gifts on Christmas Day?

I hear that often a child will get the OK to jump the gun and open one gift on the eve.

A survey by Tylt, in 2019, found that most prefer opening on the morn (62.8 per cent) vs. the eve (37.2 per cent).

What’s your modus operandi?

HOW MANY HATS DO YOU WEAR?

Just asking…

How many hats??

In this day of multi-tasking, how many hats do you wear?

Not referring to a baseball cap, a straw or fabric hat, or a lauhala hat.

Was wondering if you have multi-talents, hobbies or activities, like gardening, photography, baby-sitting or cooking?

List two or three “hats” you don.

I’ll go first, to set the example: 1 – writer, columnist;  2 – crafter, creating notecards and holiday-related lapel pins; 3 –board member, I’m a Bright Kid foundation.