CD Reviews: Lucky Luck and Israel Kamakawiwoole

Lucky Luck

Best of Lucky Luck

(Surfside Hawaii Inc.)

As a TV and radio entertainer in the 1950s and ’60s, Lucky Luck was a sparkplug of the best kind. This collection of hapa-haole ditties, recorded in 1962, brims with Luck’s irrepressible charisma and humor—just try to be in a bad mood after listening to his kicky TV theme song, “There’s No Place Like Hawaii.” We particularly enjoyed the song in which Luck soulfully croons a list of street names: “Tusitala, Fort and Hotel, South Beretania, Waiakamilo.” Its title? “I Stay Lost.”

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Israel Kamakawiwoole and the Makaha Sons of Niihau

Unforgettable

(Poki Records)

This greatest hits album covers Kamakawiwoole’s roughly decade-long stint with the Makaha Sons, as well as his first solo album, Ka Anoi. The Makaha Sons material you’ve heard before, but Iz’s solo cuts have been remixed with new backing instrumentals, and there’s even a previously unreleased song that didn’t make the cut for Ka Anoi—the breezy “Paper Doll.” For Iz completists, this is a no-brainer.