When I went to Aiea High School (Class of ‘82), I liked Kalapana’s “When the Morning Comes” and “The Hurt,” right along with Cecilio & Kapono’s “About You” and “Night Music,” and Seawind’s “He Loves You,” “Window of a Child,” and “Devil is a Liar.”
Great sing-alongs, and favorites in Hawaii, where I grew up.
I would put on “The Hurt” and think about Bobby and William, pining away at what could’ve been if only dad didn’t have to retire from the Army on medical disability, moving us back to Oahu.
Local radio stations would play Kalapana’s hits all day long. I still remember “When the Morning Comes” playing, as dad drove us past Red Hill down to Aloha Stadium for a baseball game.
I bounced in my seat, pretending I was still back in Ft. Dix, tossing the ball back to Bobby in his half-court drive-way, stealing glances at each other.
But stoners, slackers, and surfers loved the jazzy instrumental, “Black Sand,” quintessential Hawaii. They’d go cruising Waikiki or North Shore, riding on the good feeling of this song for days back in the ‘70s-‘80s, when Seawind horns were king.
As I blogged in my online journal, telling, “Black Sand” dropped in my head out of nowhere. It still reminds me of cruising Waikiki on prom night, people-watching at Ala Moana Center, eating with Mark and Ann at Spaghetti Factory, hiking up Aiea with Gary them…
Timeless.
As the weekend approaches, grab a cold one and listen for yourself. You can almost hear the surf…
R.I.P. Mackey Feary…