Second Honeymoon

One of Hawaii's best albums is back in stores, after decades out of print.

Courtesy of Ono Records Cover of the classic album

When HONOLULU Magazine published a list of the "50 Greatest Hawaii Albums" in 2004, several of the classic albums listed were sadly out of print. But one of them has been resurrected: the Hilo Hawaiians' 1960 album Honeymoon in Hawaii, an essential document of the Hawaiian Renaissance featuring beautiful Haili Church Choir-inspired harmonies. Says John Tsukano, owner of Ono Records, who orchestrated the re-issue, "That article was really the wake up call for us, that people still wanted to listen to this great music."

But it wasn't until after his father John Tsukano's funeral, when the family was going through boxes of memorabilia that had been in storage, that the long-lost master tapes came to light once again. Tsukano was finally able to digitize the tapes, clean up the clicks and pops and release the album on compact disc. "I heard instruments I'd never heard on the vinyl, which was a revelation."

For Tsukano, the re-release has become a tribute not only to the Hilo Hawaiians, but his father as well, who had managed and produced the group in its heyday. "One of my dad's proudest achievements was recording these guys, and he always said, 'We can't let this music die.'"

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