This history of the song Hawai'i '78, written by Micky Ioane, Abe Keala, Cleyton Kua, and David Kawika Crowley, is taken from Kawika Crowley's defunct site hawaiiseventyeight.com. It was taken over by a spam group and the fantastic story is no longer available. To share this amazing history I have rehosted and redesigned the site. There are large changes to layout, but all text is faithful to original! Aloha oukou!
Brahda iz performing his rendition of Hawai'i '78
28 years ago, history was about to be made... a young and gifted man of a mere 21 sat down and with pen in hand planted a seed... a seed of music destined to impact Hawaiian music and the Hawaiian cultural revolution and renaissance of the ‘70’s for generations to come. The story starts on a chilly October night in 1976 at my home in Waiakea Uka in Hilo... on the line is a fellow musician and good friend Cleyton Kua of the band “Da Blahlas”.
He knew I was looking for new artists for my record label Kawika Records and he felt he found a promising one. His name was Micky Ioane. Cleyton was impressed with a few songs Micky had written and suggested I give him a listen. The next night Cleyton and I walked into the Ioane home in Keaukaha... it was packed with friends and neighbors, all anxious for the audition of one named Micky. I felt chicken-skin as I was ushered into the kitchen where Micky was sitting at the kitchen table with guitar in hand and nervously shifting his lyric sheets before him. There was no where to sit... I stood and after being introduced to Micky , I gestured him to begin singing his songs... the first hit hard... a touching song about a legendary drunk in Keaukaha nicknamed Peter Pumpkin... the song ended... everyone in the kitchen clapped in support, including Cleyton and me, but I could have never been prepared for what was to come next... it was erie... as if everyone was waiting for the 2nd coming at any moment... as Micky fidgeted with his chords, my eyes floated around the kitchen feeling the great energy and Mana that was arising... the next two minutes I will never forget... chicken-skin upon chicken-skin. When the final chord was played, there was utter silence. I knew I had just heard a jewel of a song, but I knew what still had to be done. I told him, “Micky you have written the beginnings of a classic, but it’s not complete... it needs a chorus”. He nodded and smiled... he knew. I asked him if I could have a couple of days with the song to see what I could come up with. He graciously agreed. He sang it again and recorded it on a little cassette player I had brought along, just in case I was impressed with what I was to hear. That night when I returned home, I walked into my studio and began writing. The verses Micky had written were so stunningly powerful and moving that I was overwhelmed with the energy... the chorus was written in just less than 20 minutes... "How would they feel", In less than two weeks, Micky and his brother Randy along with a contingent of powerful local musicians were in my studio to record the song, along with “Peter Pumpkin”. It was to be a vinyl “45” or a “single release”.
I titled the song “Hawaii ‘77” because I was going to release it statewide on January 1, of 1977, under the group name “The Ioane Brothers”. [Click here to see pics of the original '45 single.] It was released...there was nothing... very little airplay, only on KCCN AM. Then it disappeared. Unbeknownst to me, in the summer of ‘77 a member of Da Blahlas, the late great Abe Keala, got together with Micky in a jam session working the song. The result was the birth of the beautiful and haunting line "Ua mau. . .ke’ea oka aina" Da Blahlas who were already on their third album at the time began singing the song with its new addition (Randy Ioane was also a member of the group). In a bizarre twist of fate on one concert in Kohala, a group by the name of The Makaha Sons opened for Da Blahlas. Mel Amina, the bass player for the Sons at the time was so impressed with the song that he recorded it on a small cassette player as it was sung in the concert. The rest was history. I had always wondered just how the song got into the hands of the Sons. It was a complete mystery to me for many many years... and ironically I just found it out in October of 2003 when I met Mel Amina for the first time as he was backing up Brickwood Galuteria working the Brew Moon. In 1978 the song that would touch so many of us for generations to come was released under a new name, “Hawaii '78" ... and the rest... again, is history.
So why was the fact that 3 writers had a part in the song never known for over a quarter century? Back in the ‘70’s in the music business, at least on the Big Island, it was all “Brahda Brahda” when it came to songwriting credits. Many of the songs recorded by my artists were co-written by me in efforts to elevate a song to its potential commercial value... but I would refuse to attach my name to the song. It wasn’t important to me back then as my primary concern was just to help expose the great talent on the Big Island... so it was with the song “Hawaii ‘77”. So I ordered the printing of the 45’s of “Hawaii ‘77” with just Micky as sole writer.
Even more ironically, this great masterpiece inspired by a young construction worker had its second debut and ultimate fame with the wrong words to the chorus... yes, the wrong words. That’s how powerful the entity of the song was... so powerful in its entirety that even with the wrong words sung, it still touched so many lives. In the process of trying to pull the words off the cassette tape, the wrong words were interpreted inadvertently... words must have sounded like other words. The original version of the words I wrote and which appeared on the first version were as follows: “How would they feel... would they smile, be content, or just cry... cry for the Gods, cry for the people, cry for the land that was taken all away... and then... BID... GOODBYE... HAWAII”... words that are so critical to the true and sensible meaning of what I was trying to bring forth.
A much heartfelt thanks to Iz and the Makaha Sons for leaving us such a poignant song to still be enjoyed for years to come. Much thanks to all of you in Hawaii for believing in the song over the years. Now you know the little known story. Micky planted the great seed... Abe and I added what we could. Aloha no... malama pono.
“Hawaii ‘ 78”——written by Micky Ioane , Abe Keala, David Kawika Crowley
Kawika Crowley on Hawai'i '78
Just three years after the writing of this story (2003), I was on a phone call chatting with Cleyton Kua about a number of topics, including the song “Hawaii ‘78”. I was sharing with him my desire to place this story on a website entitled hawaii78.com. Out of nowhere he almost shyly stated, “Dave, I wrote one of the verses.” My jaw dropped. I nearly dropped the phone. I was speechless. I clumsily blurted out, “Cleyton... how come you never tell me all these years, man?” But I knew why...and he didn’t have to answer. Again, back then, it was all “Brahda Brahda”.
Evidently, Micky had called Cleyton one evening and asked Cleyton if he could come by his house to listen to a few songs he had written. Cleyton did so, and in the process helped Micky write one of the first few verses. Then Cleyton called me... and the rest is history. But is it not so strange how, for what ever reason, history has taken so long to unveil the real story behind the writing of this song “Hawaii 78”. The fact that Cleyton Kua, after all we have done together over the decades, kept this to himself, especially pertaining to one of the most powerful songs of the last century, is nothing but a testament to his humility in character. So now, January of 2006, 30 long years later, the true true story behind the song is finally revealed.
“Hawaii '78” was actually written by four people... Micky Ioane, Abe Keala, Cleyton Kua, and David Crowley. Now you know... the rest of the story! Dave is also the co-writer of “Hula Lady” with Gordon Broad, who wrote the classic “Sweet Lady of Waiahole”. Also Dave wrote “Lady Of My Dreams”. All songs featured on Moonsurfer Productions Karaoke Discs. Dave is also the writer of the Hawaiian ballad, “E ho’o pili mau, I ku’u pu’u wai” (Hawaiian translation by the late Helena Hana Santos), which appeared on the very first HOMEGROWN album in 1976 (produced by the legend Ron Jacobs and KKUA).
Also, Dave has written dozens of jingles in the last 30 years, for businesses both in Hawaii and on the mainland. His most lasting and popular jingle was the theme song for Mike Sakamoto’s TV show, “Fishing Tales”. In 1987, Michael W. Perry stated, “Kawika is responsible for one of the most catchy and recognizable jingles on television”. It ran for nearly 15 years, the longest in Hawaii television history, second only to KGMB-TV’s classic theme song.