Johmbolaya This Is

This is the beast known as a Seeburg, the jukebox company.

I grew up when jukeboxes were still a primary means of listening to music in a group setting.  When I went to the dentist as a kid, there was a jukebox.  Pizza Hut: jukebox.  Breakfast at Alakea Grill, we could sit on our tables but was fully capable of selecting a song from our table to play.  I will never forget going to a Pizza Hut in 1985 and someone having the nerve to play USA For Africa’s “We Are The World”. It’s a good song, don’t get me wrong, but it seemed foolish to hear a song to help people in Africa when everyone was in the restaurant, consuming slices without a care in the world.

I’m pinpointing this Seeburg jukebox for a reason.  In my youth, my mom did her share of shopping and if it was the weekend, I’d have to tag along as my dad was probably hanging out with friends, fixing his car, or both.  We head to a section of Honolulu called Kaimuki, about four miles from where we lived.  After my mom did her shopping (probably at Woolworth or Kress, I don’t remember), we decided to have lunch at a restaurant on Waialae Avenue.  I think I had a burger, maybe a milk shake, but in my presence at this burger joint was a jukebox.  It was huge, it was massive, and it had that musky jukebox smell.  I had never seen a beast like this, where the mechanics inside made it possible to see a 45 rpm record be selected, filed out of the rack, flipped onto the record player, the needle mounting the record and boom: music.  I believe most of the jukeboxes I had experience with (and experience in this sense means “putting money inside, selecting a letter and number to pick out a song, and waiting) were enclosed, but this looked like it was from the 1950’s, maybe 1960’s.  I stood there, watching how the machine worked.  It was straight out of a Schoolhouse Rock cartoon where I was hanging out with the record machine, but I’m watching things move.  I was not foreign to stereos or record players at that age, but this was so cool to me.  I’d head back to the table, probably had a fry or two, sipped on a shake or soda or whatever I had, and went back to watching the Seeburg.  I don’t remember what song I selected or what songs were being played before I got there: I want to say that I remember the A&M label, and it might have been Captain & Tennille’s “Muskrat Love”, for some reason that sticks out in my mind.

We were probably at this restaurant for 15 minutes before we had to head back home, but I said that if there was ever a time in my life when I lived the good life, I would get myself a Seeburg jukebox that looked like or close to this.  Decades later, I’m still waiting for the day to have a jukebox like this.  I can dream, still.

For a younger generation, they will know this spot in Kaimuki as Kaimuki Saimin & Delicatessen. For me and my family, we knew it as Tanoue’s.  I loved this place for its great saimin, and since my mom is a “Kaimuki girl”, this was her spot during her youth, and through adulthood.  We would always pay a visit whenever we got back home.  They sold other types of Japanese food, but I wasn’t into it at the time.  I always had saimin with a beef stick on the side.  According to this article, Tanoue’s started out as a lunch wagon in the late 50’s/early 60’s.  As you can see, lunch wagons/food trucks/food carts were always near, and I’ll have to ask my mom if she remembers the wagon at all.  But as a kid, going to Tanoue’s was something we would do every few months.  Sometimes, my grandfather would invite us because living in Kaimuki for years, he would always return to his favorite spots, and Tanoue’s was one of them.

What I also loved about Taonue’s was the jukebox.  No rock’n’roll, it was dominated by Japanese music.  While I knew the themes to Kikaida, Kikaida 01 and Kamen Rider, this time of passionate Japanese music was very foreign to me.  I used to laugh at it, because it was strange to me.  I clearly remember one day when I asked my mom for a quarter, and I played a random song.  When I got back to the table, my grandfather, mom, and dad each sang a line from the song.  I could understand my grandfather, since outside of his job, he also played music as a guitarist/singer to make ends meet, and singing Japanese songs was part of his repertoire.  If someone requested something, he would do it on the spot.  But my mom and dad?  Some of those songs: when I would see the conviction, I thought “this isn’t just a song.”

One could find parking at Tanoue’s by parking in the garage, but the garage barely could fit more than 10 cars at any given time.  Fortunately, we were always lucky.  The building was also the home of a barber shop and a taxi service, all Japanese owned.  I never walked into the barber shop, but there would always be a papasan or ojiisan in there, talking story, reading a paper, getting their hair cut.  In fact, if you look at the photo below, you can see the striped barber shop pole on the right.

What’s upstairs? I was always told to never go up there, and why? It may have been the headquarters for the taxi, it may have been a business office, but I never knew because I was always told “no go up dea. None of your business.”  I’m sure at one point I was told the boogie man lived up there, but if it was none of my business, I never bothered to go up.

The taxi service almost seemed like the drivers (or driver, I never really saw more than one car there) catered to a Japanese clientele, because I honestly never saw anyone else in there.  It was always the oldest cars too, or “old cars for old people”, big American luxury cars that was kinda pimped to be honest.  I honestly don’t know if someone called, and the request was “take me to the doctor” or “I got to go get my prescription”, I don’t know.  There were worlds that I sometimes felt left out of, and being a kid, I never wanted to interfere.  I’m much more maha’oe, inquisitive, and curious these days.  When I get back, I would love to be able to “talk story” with someone to find out.

These are my mom’s roots, and very much a part of my grandfather’s roots too.  Each section of Honolulu is very much like people in New York City honoring their love of different sections of boroughs.  They may have been mere eating spots for me and my family, but they are all parts of a puzzle that I would one day like to investigate even further.  I know Kaimuki has changed a bit too, where there are some sections on Waialae Avenue that are becoming hip, while others hold true to its old school charm.  For a lot of people, Waialae Avenue was very much that section’s downtown, so there was no need to get “into town”.

Harry’s Music Store, Kaimuki, #Honolulu, Hawai’i. This was one of my favorite record stores because it was very “old time”.  To be honest, this was a true “music store”, for they not only sold records, but they sold instruments, music books, and this was also the place where I made my first and last attempt at being a saxophone player.  I loved the instrument, but only because my band teacher didn’t allow me to play the drums.  He instead saw me as nothing but a fat kid, so he gave me the tuba.  I thought no, I want to play something cool.  The alto sax became my instrument.  For a brief time I could read music notation.  I had taken a lesson at Harry’s because I wanted to make use of the talent I might have.  It seemed boring, so after one lesson in their practice rooms (which was in the back of the store), I gave it up.  I did play sax at school, but by the 8th grade, I wasn’t much of a player.  I could play half the solo in Hall & Oates’ “Maneater”, but that was the easy part of the solo.

Records were my thing.  Harry’s was of interest to my dad and grandfather, for they were one of the first stores to have brand new Hawaiian albums on release day, or they would have Hawaiian albums that other stores did not stock.  In other words, you wanted the “OOP” (out of print) stuff? You went to Harry’s.  Being a young Beatles freak, I went through their used pop and rock like crazy.  I know I bought Wings’ “Give Ireland Back To The Irish Here”, and I may have bought an Apple promo of Wings’ “Sally G”.

I just know that even with a healthy amount of record stores in Honolulu, Harry’s was very much a mom & pop store, where you got a chance to “talk story” with employees, or you could browse without anyone having issues.  Harry’s represents old school Kaimuki, and look at the top floor.  It had seen better days.  I did not get a chance to go back home to see them during their final days, but look at these photos from the Aloha Got Soul blog.  This Saturday, they will have a grand opening of their new location at 3270 Waialae Avenue, down the street from the original, next door to the McDonald’s and across the street from Sacred Hearts Academy.