Aloha, Don Ho

Above, Don Ho (right) from his appearance on the infamous "Brady Bunch" tiki episodes in Hawaii. (Flickr photo via Johnny Dollar.)

I must admit, I always found Don Ho more kitschy than anything else. In my three years hosting "Hawaiian Eye" for KCSN, I perhaps have played a Don Ho song once.

Maybe it's because, growing up there, we saw him as someone whom tourists (yes, said with a whiff of snobbery -- hey, we were teens) -- and older tourists, at that -- went to see. My sisters and I once even grabbed stacks of free flyers promoting the Don Ho show at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and, as a joke, pasted Don Ho's mug all over our house. Back then, I never went to his show -- you could have sooner convinced me to pick up trash on the side of Nimitz.

But in my old age (!), I've become much more appreciative of old time things -- including all things kitschy. Ho, after all, became a super star in the U.S. after appearing at the Cocoanut Grove at the late, lamented Ambassador Hotel I've spent so much time writing about.

In other words, in reading more about Don Ho in the last day or two (since his death Saturday morning of heart failure), I've become a little more appreciative of who he was, and particularly what he meant to Hawaii. It's too late now, but I'd even be willing to check out his show, just for curiosity sake. (Although... probably not.)

Not that I'll suddenly start playing Don Ho on my radio show. (Well, except for this week -- I think a tribute is in order, don't you?) Music wasn't really the point of Don Ho. He never made himself out to be a pure musician -- and he definitely never billed himself as a Hawaiian artist. No, Ho was an entertainer, one of the last of a dying breed (in the Sinatra/Sammy Davis Jr./Wayne Newton vein) -- and even more importantly, a great ambassador for Hawaii.

R.I.P., Don Ho. The Honolulu Advertiser has a great set of links to all things Don Ho here. (Thanks to Karina for the link.) Also, check out the Honolulu Star-Bulletin's stories here.