Song:Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World
Album:Facing Future
Over the years I have seen some strange records become hits. This medley of Somewhere Over The Rainbow and What A Wonderful World by Hawaiian singer Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole became a hit when it was used in films and TV. Of course there's a long history of Hawaiian music crossing over to mainstream mostly back in the 50s. It hasn't happened much recently. IZ was born May 20, 1959 in Honolulu. His uncle was Hawaiian musician Moe Keale. And his parents worked at a local club frequented by Hawaiian music legend Don Ho. While attending the University of Hawaii, IZ and his brother Skippy formed Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau and they recorded in the 70s. They had local success until Skippy died in 1982 from an obesity related heart attack. IZ released his first solo album in 1990. Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World was on the 1993 album Facing Future. The album is mostly traditional Hawaiian music. IZ recorded the medley as a demo in 1988 and I guess he performed it live. Producer Jon de Mello heard the demo and asked IZ to record it to fill out the album. It was never intended to be a hit. IZ continued to record and perform until his death on June 26, 1997 at age 38. His death was obesity related. At one point IZ weighed over 700lbs. You can see in the video he got a state funeral. Universal Studios licensed the medley and they used it in the 1998 film Meet Joe Black. From there the record was used in several films and TV shows especially an eToys commercial. And by 2004 it had been downloaded over four million times. Facing Future was certified Platinum in 2005. The odd thing is it wasn't a new record or artist that Universal was trying to promote. They decided to use it in a film and it gained steam from there. That's strange even for the music business. Here's a video for Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World by Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole.
I don't know when, but I remember hearing this song some years back. And me and some friends got a good laugh out of it and enjoyed it a great deal. Sorry to hear he and his brother passed away, hopefully he is in a better place.
ReplyDelete