Summer Sweetheart - Adelaide Hawaiian Club Quintet

One of the fascinating things about this music is that the Hawaiian Club performers didn’t feel any obligation to perform exclusively Hawaiian-themed material. Certainly they recorded songs like 'Rose of Waikiki', 'Sweet Hawaiian Chimes' and 'Aloha Oe', but also songs about mountains or deserts such 'When It’s Nighttime in Nevada', 'There’s a Home in Wyoming' and 'Colorado Sunset'.

So what makes this 'Hawaiian music’ Hawaiian? Certainly for these Australian musicians, there is no direct cultural attachment, other than touring appearances by performers such as the Kailis, so it comes down to not much more than the choice of material, use of the steel guitar and a ukulele in the rhythm section.