On the Playlist: Alfred Apaka

September 1, 2022 • Geronimo "Geri" Valdriz • Steel Guitar History

"HAWAIIAN STEEL" is a weekly radio program that spotlights the Hawaiian steel guitar masters from the past to the present. "ON THE PLAYLIST" features the musicians heard on the program's playlist. This month we feature vocalist Alfred Apaka!

Alfred Apaka was a Hawaiian singer whose romantic baritone voice was closely identified with Hawai‘i between the late 1940s and the early 1960s. He was arguably the foremost interpreter of hapa-haole music. He was known as "The Golden Voice of Hawai‘i," and his performing bands and studio recordings always featured the best Hawaiian steel guitarists.

Alfred Apaka was born on March 19, 1919 in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. He was of Chinese, Portuguese, and Hawaiian ancestry. He enjoyed playing the ukulele, swimming and surfing at Waikīkī during his school years. He also sang in the Mormon Church choir, although he did not read music nor was he formally trained as a vocalist. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1938.

Shortly thereafter, Apaka auditioned with Don McDiarmid who was looking for a vocalist for his band "The Royal Hawaiians." He was hired and the group performed regularly at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. At the same time, Alfred also played music with Gigi Royce and his band at the Roof Top Garden of the Alexander Young Hotel in downtown Honolulu.

From 1938 to 1944 Apaka joined Ray Kinney as the featured vocalist for the Hawaiian Musical Ambassadors. Kinney's house band played at the world famous Hawaiian Room at the Lexington Hotel in New York City.

Upon returning to Hawai‘i, Apaka and his band played at the La Hula Rhumba night club in Honolulu. He also increased his popularity when he became a featured singer on the Hawai‘i Calls Radio show. In 1947 he became a member of the house band, with Al Kealoha Perry's Singing Surfriders.

In 1949 the group Alfred Apaka and his Hawaiians was formed. It consisted of Benny Kalama, Steppy De Rego, and steel guitarist Tommy Castro.

In the 1950's Alfred Apaka's career was on the rise, and his career was beginning to take off nationwide. He appeared many times on the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby radio and television broadcasts, and in 1957 he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. Back in Waikīkī, Apaka was the headliner at the newly constructed Henry Kaiser's "Hawaiian Village."

On January 30, 1960 Alfred Apaka died suddenly of a heart attack while playing paddle ball at the Honolulu YMCA. He was 40 years old, and his death was a shock to Hawaiian music fans the world over.

Apaka's studio recordings are the legacy he left behind. They include sessions for the Bell, Decca, Aku, and Victor record labels. He recorded with groups such as Alfred Apaka and his Hawaiians; with Danny Stewart's Hawaiians; the Select Hawaiians; J. Aku and the Moana Serenaders; with the Hawaiian Village Serenaders, the Andrew Sisters; Randy Oness and the Select Hawaiians, Al Kealoha Perry and the Singing Surfriders; Ray Kinney's Musical Ambassadors, and many others.

His studio recordings of classic hapa-haole songs include Beyond the Reef, My Isle of Golden Dreams, Bal Hai, Lovely Hula Girl, White Ginger Blossoms, I Will Remember You, and many, many others.

The great steel guitarists who played with Alfred Apaka over the years include Pua Almeida, Jules Ah See, Jake Keli‘ikoa, Danny Stewart, Tommy Castro, David Keli‘i, and others.

In 1997 Alfred Apaka was honored by a posthumous Nā Hōkū Hanohano Lifetime Achievement Award. That same year a life-sized bronze statute was dedicated to him at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikīkī Resort. It is located in the Tapa Tower lobby entrance and he is seen standing tall, arm outstretched, and holding an ‘ukulele!

Today fans seek out the recordings of Alfred Apaka and his beautiful voice. He continues to inspire steel guitarist seeking to emulate his band's fluid Hawaiian style in the hapa-haole genre. His music is now available on CD and online to a new generation of fans who can appreciate this innovative and unique Hawaiian musician!

On the Playlist of Hawaiian Steel: Alfred Apaka

"Hawaiian Steel" with Geri Valdriz is broadcast live every Tuesday from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm (HST) on Mana‘o Radio, Wailuku, Maui, Hawai‘i, KMNO, 91.7FM on the radio dial.

You can catch it on the air, or streaming live at www.manaoradio.com. Listeners can also access our online archives to enjoy previously recorded programs at your convenience. Just search "Listen on Demand" for past shows.