Former Ho producer/friend's fond memories of a musical National
Treasure
Cevin Soling was devastated to find out he lost a friend and music
acquaintance with a true legendary singer, Don Ho. The singer, who is
synonymous with the exotic yet relaxed aura of America's 50th State,
Hawaii--is spotlighted on Cevin's 2002 anthology album, WHEN PIGS FLY:
SONGS YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU'D HEAR.
"Don recorded Peter Gabriel's 'Shock the Monkey' for this compilation.
My band backed him. He was a very sweet man and really loved by
everyone around him."
When Cevin promoted WHEN PIGS FLY, Don Ho received the most interest
from the media, "Most of the journalists wanted to interview him,"
even though the album features other incredible stars: Jackie Chan,
Ani DiFranco, Devo, Roy Clark, the late Billy Preston, The Box Tops
featuring Alex Chilton, and Lesley Gore.
"Originally I asked Don to sing 'Firestarter' by Prodigy, and as he
studied the lyrics, he said, 'No, I can't sing "I'm the b*@#h you
hated--filth infatuated." It would upset my fans.'" So they selected
Peter Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey," and created an animated video to
go with the song.
Cevin flew to Hawaii to record Don's vocals, and he also took in the
local scenery courtesy of Don and the rest of the Ho family. They
showed him around a number of the island, and gave Cevin a primo seat
at a table "practically on stage" at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel, in
Honolulu, for a Don Ho concert. "Afterwards, he autographed a ukulele
for me. It was obvious all the extra effort he and his family made to
make me feel very welcome."
"Of all the musicians on the record, I wanted most to work with him
again and we were talking about doing a rock covers album with songs
like 'Whole Lotta Love' for my label (Xemu Records)."
The video for "Shock the Monkey" can be seen on www.youtube.com. And
the music is available for downloads at i-tunes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE-pbBYwPHs
Cevin's band, then, was called Neanderthal Spongecake. Now his group
is the love kills theory, and their new album, HAPPY SUICIDE JIM is
being worked at commercial triple AAA radio.
Cevin's an author and a filmmaker, and his latest, THE WAR ON THE WAR
ON DRUGS is now on DVD with Disinformation Ltd. In production is THE
WAR ON KIDS and JOHN FRUM: HE WILL COME about his experiences as a
cargo cult Messiah for the people on the island of Tanna in the South
Pacific. In all, he has made half a dozen films, including executive
producing the independent feature, RELAX, IT'S JUST SEX, starring
Jennifer Tilly, Lori Petty and Cynda Williams, which premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival and was seen on HBO and Showtime.
http://www.cevinsoling.com
http://www.pigsflycd.com
http://www.thelovekillstheory.com
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