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The Polynesian Floor Show - (Vintage!) thread |
Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4807
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
|  Posted: 2011-09-13 10:00 am Permalink
DC,
Your images show a cross-over already!
Yankee Clipper
South Pacific
Same guy (bassist at SP) in both shows.
Sven,
You know I can bust some knowledge here.... but, no Mai-Kai?
When I have talked to these old-timers from the Mai-Kai, they tell me about how they got here from Samoa, Tahiti, etc. And it is usually family. But yes, they had a "Poi Circle" they traveled. In winter they were in Florida and in summer they were up north. They all said there were many many more places than ever showed up in Tiki Road Trip. Toti, from the Mai-Kai, for example, said he was working in the "South Pacific" in Chicago when he was called down to be made permanent at the Mai-Kai. No record of that place. I've seen scrapbooks with so much info. Toti worked originally at DtB in Hawaii before migrating to the mainland.
I have one Mai-Kai performer friend who is also a mug and ephemera collector. Collecting stuff from places he actually worked! Amazing collection no one has seen in our community.
These people are still around and worked at so many of the places we want to know about.
The Mai-Kai pretty much kept the same performers from about 1962 on. Very little change in the line-up. They scouted out the best in the country and hired them for life. Well before 1956 they all were working all over the country and had strong communities.
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lucas vigor
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 12, 2004
Posts: 3453
From: "I've chopped my way through real jungle
| Posted: 2011-09-13 10:22 am Permalink
The modern polynesian floor show at work:
Note , with the exception of the missing hula dancers, how closely this photo matches the vintage pictures shown in this thread.
Yes, I have an intense love for this type of music. And this is what I always loved about my band, the Smokin' Menehunes, how absolutely authentic the stuff we do is.
I am on a mission to bring Hapa Haole back into the mainstream of tiki. On this site, there are only a handful of people who are apparently into it. Big props to Soccer Tiki and Woohoo Wahine for being the leaders of the hapa haole wing of tiki!
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[ This Message was edited by: lucas vigor 2011-09-13 11:08 ]
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bigtikidude
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 10, 2004
Posts: 8262
From: Anaheim,Ca.
| Posted: 2011-09-13 10:27 am Permalink
Lucas,
Maybe if you guys had some hula dancers,
more people would want to come see you.
Jeff(btd)
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lucas vigor
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 12, 2004
Posts: 3453
From: "I've chopped my way through real jungle
| Posted: 2011-09-13 10:48 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2011-09-13 10:27, bigtikidude wrote:
Lucas,
Maybe if you guys had some hula dancers,
more people would want to come see you.
Jeff(btd)
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Funny you should mention it, but we actually do. In the past years (less often in recent times) we would play a LOT of non-tiki events...private parties, mostly weddings and corporate events set up like a "luau", and we would in fact use many dancers. On a few occasions, we even had some of Don Tiki's dancers with us (which was a treat for the band!!!).
These non-tiki clients of ours actually "got" the concept of the whole polynesian floor show experience quite well, in some cases, even more then people on this forum do.
To them, you mention "tiki" and the polynesian floor show is the first thing they think of, which is quite the opposite of the way these type of events are thought of here.
We would work for "event coordinators" , who would organize the whole thing: Catering, native drummers and dancers, and of course the requisite Hapa haole band.
The end result was something being done today, that is the same as that which is immortalized in these awesome photos of our counterparts from a long-gone age.
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Jeff Central
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 23, 2002
Posts: 1528
From: Columbus, Ohio
| Posted: 2011-09-13 10:52 am Permalink
Here's a recent picture of Francis Llacuna. Francis had a Polynesian floor show at The Tradewinds in Oxnard, CA. One of the hula dancers ended up being a famous singer herself. Look for a pic soon.
Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4807
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2011-09-13 11:09 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2011-09-13 10:00, Swanky wrote:
DC,
Your images show a cross-over already!
Yankee Clipper
South Pacific
Same guy (bassist at SP) in both shows.
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And in this pic??
Jeff, Lundy is the guy in the center, and he looks a lot like the guy at the SP and Yankee Clipper above! I know another band leader who went from the Clipper to the Mai-Kai...
Top row is Pasifika, Toti, Lundy Nelson, Hedipu and unknown.
Bottom is Andre, Louise (Kern's Mom) who I believe danced as Riu, unknown and Mireille.
And they reprise their performance in the Volcano thread here on TC:
Hedipu, Riu
Toti, Hedipu, Lundy and the fire knife dancer is the original from the Mai-Kai Faalia.
[ This Message was edited by: Swanky 2011-09-13 11:10 ]
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Jeff Central
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 23, 2002
Posts: 1528
From: Columbus, Ohio
| Posted: 2011-09-13 11:39 am Permalink
Awesome!! 
Thanks Swanky!!
Here's a pic of the Lundy Nelson LP and George "Hula" Hines who also played at the Mai kai and the Yankee Clipper.....
Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff
[ This Message was edited by: Jeff Central 2011-09-14 03:50 ]
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3935
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2011-09-13 11:48 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2011-09-13 10:52, Jeff Central wrote:
Here's a recent picture of Francis Llacuna. Francis had a Polynesian floor show at The Tradewinds in Oxnard, CA.
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Jeff,
Some more info on the acts that played at the Tradewinds in Oxnard. Here is a 1973 newspaper ad introducing Varoa Tiki, Andy Sopko, AND Ernie Menehune.
DC
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Deke Kahala
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Sep 24, 2008
Posts: 64
From: Anaheim, California
| Posted: 2011-09-13 1:34 pm Permalink
Great topic and one that is near and dear to my heart.
I have some picture and even business cards from when my grandfather and grand uncle were Polynesian entertainers from just after the War until the 1970's.
I have the pictures displayed in our house. Some are in their original frames and some were re-framed. Here's a few.
My grandfather and granduncle were, of coarse, twins.
With Johnny "Kaaihue" Ukulele as the Polynesian Review:
With Johnny Ukulele. Writing on the back of both pictures dates the picture as "Las Vegas, New Year's Eve, 1961".
Here they are with Lei Momi as the Kahala Twins.
The same picture that is framed with one of their business cards and a matching pair of Pali Hawaiian Style shirts. Sorry for the poor quality of the pic.
Playing guitars as the Kahala Twins.
A promo picture of Lei Momi with a personal note to my granduncle, as they were married.
Another picture of Lei Momi. However, this is beleived to be a wedding photo.
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Jeff Central
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 23, 2002
Posts: 1528
From: Columbus, Ohio
| Posted: 2011-09-13 1:49 pm Permalink
Thanks for the incredible pictures Deke Kahala!!
This thread is AMAZING!!!
I love Johnny Ukulele!!! I'm wondering if he did more than that one album on Capitol. Hmmmm.....
Thanks for mentioning Ernie Menehune too DC! He's probably the KING of Polynesian revues here on the mainland!!
Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff
[ This Message was edited by: Jeff Central 2011-09-13 13:50 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10566
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-09-13 2:39 pm Permalink
Aaaah, Yesss, beautiful! I was hoping you would post those here, Deke!
Jeff, so where ARE those album front and back cover shots then?
And Lucas, I am happy, truly, that you are happy about this thread, but could you just once lay low with your agenda, maybe, please?
Tim, where did I say no Mai Kai? I thought that, including the headline for this thread, I had made a simple differentiation
between VINTAGE and CONTEMPORARY:
Quote:
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On 2011-09-12 16:56, bigbrotiki wrote:
The Polynesian Floor Show - (VINTAGE!) thread
.....And just to re-iterate: This thread is NOT for CONTEMPORARY floorshow photos such as this...
Even if you were fortunate to witness the MAI KAI FLOOR SHOW IN RECENT YEARS, there would be far too much material for this thread...
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The Granite Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 02, 2005
Posts: 786
From: Nashua, NH
| Posted: 2011-09-13 2:45 pm Permalink
Oh man check out the matching Danelectro Guitar and Bass!!!
Great pics!!!
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10566
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-09-13 3:28 pm Permalink
Alright, here's some more cool pix:
circa 1940s combo at the Seven Seas, Hollywood, with Leeteg painting in the background:
I am not sure if the dapper gent on the left is Bob Brooks or Ray Haller.
Unknown girl group at the Chin Tiki, late 60s:
Tugab's Hawaiian Revue, Chin Tiki, Detroit:
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lucas vigor
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 12, 2004
Posts: 3453
From: "I've chopped my way through real jungle
| Posted: 2011-09-13 4:48 pm Permalink
Apogies, Sven. It is a subject I am very passionate about. And of course, I love this thread.
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Phillip Roberts
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 09, 2003
Posts: 1489
From: OAHU, Hawaii.
| Posted: 2011-09-13 5:03 pm Permalink
Aloha,
Unknown at this moment of the locale in Hawaii (But have some leads. Have indentified one dancer.)
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