Rap Reiplinger

I had a vacation in Hawaii in 2002 and there wasn’t really any time to look for records – in fact, there weren’t many to be had at all! There were big chain stores (that have no vinyl – now out of business) and a few locally-owned stores, but none of them had what I will call a decent selection of (used or otherwise) vinyl.

The only records from Hawaii that I ever sought out to collect came from a 1970’s comedian called Rap Reiplinger. A friend got me one of the ‘Best of’ CD’s that was issued a while, but until I started thinking about it during my visit to Honolulu, I hadn’t realized that he had a few more records out that I had somehow “missed”.

He doesn’t have a Wikipedia page. And I have virtually never seen any LP’s of ‘Hawaiian origin humor’ for sale in Los Angeles. I’ve got:

LP CRAB DREAMS MTN AP MAC 1007 1979 11 TRKS

LP DO I DARE DISTURB THE UNIVERSE? PARADISE PR 2001 1979 16 TRKS

LP POI-DOG MTN AP MAS 1002 1978 11 TRKS

LP STRANGE BIRD PARADISE SLP 2002 1981 11 TRKS

LP TOWED AWAY PARADISE SLP 2003 1982? 10 TRKS

CD POI-DOG WITH CRABS MTN AP MACD 2020 1992 22 TRKS

Rap was a busy man in his lifetime – he was in a comedy trio in the early 70’s called “The Booga Booga Trio” (I don’t think they ever made records) and he made an Emmy-winning video (or so I read on the internet), “Rap’s Hawaii” (from 1982, which I also couldn’t ever find in Honolulu). You have to have a bit of ‘local knowledge’ to get some of the jokes on his stuff, but the LP’s I have are all slickly produced and genuinely funny. Do I detect a “Cheech & Chong” influence?

I was saddened to read of his death in the liner notes of the CD I was given (and again on the internet) – he passed away in 1984, supposedly from drugs. Comedians and drugs really seem to go together – maybe this is why I never took up either practice?

The 1978 LP “Poi Dog” looks just amazing – he’s dressed up as a half-man / half-woman, making the ‘shaka’ sign while dipping his hand in (presumably) a plastic bowl of poi. My guess is that the copies of this LP that made their way to California were brought home by happy vacationers…and sold to the used LP store as soon as rent was due. Back in the late 70’s / early 80’s, it was cool to drop tracks from the “Poi Dog” LP into mix tapes, and wait for the confused reactions to arise!

If you’re tired of ‘typical’ (English-language) comedy LP’s, try one of Rap’s on for size. If you can find one, that is. It’s in English…but it’s as difficult to understand as some English (or Canadian) comedy. Hawaii is it’s own thing, after all.

Mahalo, Rap Reiplinger! Aloha, Steve & Danno! Harry Owens! Duke’s Hula Pie!

Hawaii Calls!