Finishing up in Reno and off to the Islands

When you’re on a ” set down” indefinite contract ,either party, the club owner or the group can elect to end the contract with two weeks notice. We were rocking along in Reno still having a good time having fun and watching Leon make an old man of himself when we were visited by a booking agent out of Honolulu. We knew the guy from when he was the entertainment director at Harrahs in Reno. He came to see us and cornered our leader , Gary Nieland for a visit. I really didn’t know what was going on until he was leaving and I ran into him in the Lobby. I remember he said ” are you ready to come to the islands”. I went back inside and Hoot said hey boys what do you think about going to Hawaii? It was pretty exciting. That is til I thought about calling Oklahoma to tell Susan. I can’t be sure but I think when the deal was worked out we were to be there mid March. As time approached for us to go ,the agent worked out all the travel plans. Expenses were to be paid by the club owner in Hawaii. The tickets are easy but shipping all the equipment is another matter. We had to think about packing things to be handled by the airlines. We were to fly out of San Francisco. We had , by this time abandoned our equipment trailer and was using a Volkswagen van that belonged to Hoot. ( btw remember Hoot is what we called Gary Nieland. Our drummer and leader). I did not have a car with me in Reno, neither did Leon. I think Gary left his with Ricki in Reno. We traveled to SanFrancisco together. I can’t remember who got us to the airport. It could have been my Brother Jr and his wife but I can’t imagine either of them driving that WW van. So I don’t remember how that worked. This was my first time to fly commercially so I was pretty excited. We flew United Airlines on a DC 8. Arriving in Honolulu was pretty cool. In those days you unloaded on the tarmac. The agent met us and had arranged for some Hula girls to put these large beautiful leis around our neck. That was cool. I will never forget the aroma. There was a van ready. For us and transported us and our equipment to the club. Our place of residence was about a mile and a half from the club. We unloaded then explored the club. It was beautiful. Pretty large and just immaculate as far as decor and cleanliness. Once again outside I was struck by the aroma of the flower beds they were gorgeous. The name of the place was The Merry Monarch, it was located on Beachwalk Avenue just as it curved off Kalakaua Avenue in the Waikiki beach area. Just a couple blocks down from Ft DeRussy which is an R and R base in Waikiki beach. On to our apartments. We had two apartments with kitchenettes and twin beds. Of course Gary and me roomed together and Leon and Hoot were in the other apartment around the corner. This was a place many entertainers and wrestlers would room in Hawaii. Right away we realized we had a problem. We would have to ride a bus or a cab to work. The agent had a car he used to rent to bands he booked in but we chose not to rent it. The next day three of the guys , I don’t know why I didn’t go, went down town looking around. They stumbled into a motor cycle shop and discovered they could buy these little Honda 50 motorcycles for $150. Gary and Hoot bought one. After they left the shop they rode to a clothing store. While shopping they noticed the cops had surrounded their motorcycles. Seems some had been stolen and the cops thought they had found them. Lucky for them they had their receipts and all was cleared up. While we were in Hawaii we had a real problem with Honolulu cops. I’m not sure the reason but it’s true. Now our transportation problem was solved we could scoot around on the bikes, assuming Hoot And Gary would let Leon and I ride with them. Sure as the world on our first night to go to work Leon and Hoot were pulled over. Leon was issued a citation for riding on a motorcycle with no foot pegs. Hoot was issued a citation for letting him ride that way. As I said we had a little problem with Hawaiian cops.

We loved the club. It was packed about every night and on weekends there would be a long line waiting to get in. It was a mix of military people, locals and tourist. We were accepted right off the bat and all was well. Here’s a funny story for you. It makes me laugh even as I write about it. The club did not serve food but it had in the past. It had a large fully equipped kitchen . Wherever we played we would find a place to hang out on breaks away from the crowd. In this place the kitchen was our place. one night Hoot was sitting in the back aisle of the kitchen in a folding chair deep in thought. Gary slipped around behind him with a large pot and a wooden mallet or spoon or something. He lowered the pot over his head and hit it with the mallet. I was sitting in front of Hoot watching the whole thing never giving any indication of what was about to happen. He jumped straight up screaming and cussing man it was hilarious. Oh god I’m laughing now just thinking about it. To see that it never happened again we found a tub of salt or sugar and would sprinkle a little on the quarry tile floor. When someone walked on it it would make a crunching sound.

Another cop story.. the speed odometer on Gary’s bike didn’t work. One day I was riding it on Kalakaua Avenue which is a busy four lane street. I stopped at a stop light and when the light turned green I took off. Two blocks ahead was another stop light. It was red, a motorcycle cop pulls up beside me. He looks over and sees the Glass was broken on the odometer. He said ” how fast were you going?” I don’t know I said the odometer is broken. He said you were doing 50 and the limit is forty. I said sir this bike won’t do fifty if I was running down hill. Pull over he said…. yep got a speeding ticket. Man that happened all the time.

Next time The Hawaiian Mafia