Kathy Paulo - Fall In Love With...

Rene and Akemi got married and the results you can hear on this album from 1980. Kathy Paulo is their daughter and she apparently got her own "one-woman show" in Waikiki after several appearances in bit parts on Hawaii Five-O. I was just perusing the credits of her TV appearances on imdb and I'm pretty sure I remember her in the "Computer Killer" episode and she was quite the hotty. I'll have to dig around in my Five-O collection and see what eps I have. Her brother Rene Jr also appears on this album singing Beautiful Kauai. I'm not sure if he plays piano as well since the participating musicians have no credits in the liner notes.

Please know what you are getting into before you download this one. This is a LOUNGE ACT in Waikiki FROM 1980. There are corny interactions with the audience and the musicians and the songs are not done in a subtle style. This is the kind of stuff that Bill Murray parodied on SNL. She talks about her background and about Hawaii and judging by the back of the LP (which I am privy to and you are not) she put on different costumes for the different numbers. I find it funny that she (as was likely the fashion at the time) makes a point to pronounce Hawaii as Hah-veye-ee and nowadays when you're over there the trend is more on getting a good glottal stop between the "i"s when saying Hawai'i and they don't much push the "w" pronounced as "v" thing so much anymore.

Sorry for the tangent. This is a fun listen and transports you back (or over) to those darkened Waikiki nightclubs where you sip on a cheap "Mai Tai" while watching a semi-cheesy song and comedy act. They still do the same thing today in Waikiki and in Nashville and Bronson MO and elsewhere I'm sure. It does go a bit (a lot) downhill at the second half of side two when Ms Paulo goes mainland and starts singing some contemporary show tunes like "Tomorrow" from "Annie" and the song I despise above all others: "Send In The Clowns." Yech!

Darken the lights and pull some naugahyde furniture into your tiki lounge and get into that early 80's vibe. Enjoy the Hawaiian and Hapa Haole tunes and when you finally get to "Send In The Clowns" crank it up to run off those rum thieves.

Fall in love with...Kathy Paulo