1956 Songs: Honolulu Rock-a-Roll-a

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First things first: I want to apologize for using this one. I’ll be hiding out while you grab your torches and pitchforks. And, while this is sorta rockabilly/rock and roll, it’s by a country artist, so Linda? NO! Back 70 years we go for this song. Honolulu Rock-a-Roll-a - Moon Mullican (with Boyd Bennett and His Rockets) This was the first recording of this song. Yes, I said first. No less than the great Eartha Kitt covered it later in 1956…so obviously I’m in good company with my poor taste. The primary reason I didn’t use Eartha’s version is because she didn’t do the spoken introduction that Aubrey “Moon” Mullican provided. (A 2008 cover shows that it was part of the original song.) Also because I love the stuffing out of Moon Mullican’s work. If’n you ask me (and you’re not asking me, but I’m going to tell you anyway ), this owes a little bit to the Rosemary Clooney song “Mambo Italiano,” in that it has the silly rhyming title and a fun beat. Since rock and roll and rockabilly were taking firm hold in 1956, Mullican used rockabilly act Boyd Bennett and His Rockets as the backing band. The steel guitar is supposed to sound Hawaiian, but even I’ll admit it comes off country, not Polynesian. It’s a fun song that reminds everyone of the innocence of early rock, and the way you could go anywhere in the world with just a song. Honolulu Rock-a-Roll-a Written by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning Recorded by Moon Mullican (with Boyd Bennett and His Rockets) Released as a single, 1956 Say how-are-ya in Hawaii for me: