When the US annexed Hawaii, it prompted many, including musicians, to leave. Their music travelled with them and, by the 1930s, Australians couldn't get enough of it.
"Prior to that [popular music was] marching bands, classical music … Then this stuff turns up and it's worlds away."
The music then spread to widely attended vaudeville and variety acts around the country, says Jackie Coyle, an author who has written about the history of Hawaiian music. "It reached 750 stations worldwide at the height of its popularity," Coyle says. And the program always began with the sound of the waves lapping.In 1936, the Hawaiian Club in Australia kicked off its own radio show, on Sydney's 2GB. It was so successful that it was soon broadcast around Australia.One ad proclaimed: "Say goodbye to dull times and be gay with parties, dancing and music.
"It must have been such a gorgeous club to get involved with, because [you'd feel] you're going somewhere now ... you're a musician."
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