CORPORATE PROFILE
HAWAII CALLS,
INC.® (HCI), is a diversified, privately held family corporation. Founded
in 1935 and headquartered in 'Aiea, Hawai'i, HCI’s has four wholly-owned subsidiaries.
These include: Hula Records®, a record label specializing in Hawaiian
and indigenous World Beat music; Kona-Kai Distributing Co., an international
music distributor and publisher; Ahi Paka and Travel-Lite, respectively
manufacture and distribute Hawaiian and internationally designed resort gifts and
golf accessories throughout Hawai'i and the world.
Recording, publishing and
distributing music has been our core business for over 75 years. Our catalog
contains thousands of titles recorded by Hawai'i’s best vintage
and contemporary artists. Indeed, HCI owns the largest catalog
of Hawaiian music and related software in the world.
We trace our origin back
to July 3, 1935, when the first “Hawaii Calls” radio program was broadcasted
from the Moana Hotel on the beach of Waikiki. Created and hosted by radio
pioneer Webley Edwards, it showcased top Hawaiian musical artists. In its
heyday, the show was heard on over 600 radio stations in North America and scores
of others in Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, South America, Africa, and the Far
East. It was also heard on the Voice of Freedom (the predecessor to the Voice
of America) and on Armed Forces Radio throughout the world.
Over it’s 40-year history,
“Hawaii Calls” made a number of songs world famous including –
“Lovely Hula Hands,” “Beyond the Reef,” “Little Brown
Gal,” and “The Hawaiian Wedding Song.” “Sweet Leilani,”
which made its debut in a 1936 broadcast, became the only Hawaiian song ever
to win an Academy Award when Bing Crosby’s rendition from the movie “Waikiki
Wedding” received an Oscar.
As we look toward the future,
our primary objective is to preserve and celebrate the music of the Pacific Rim.
To that end, we are aggressively pursuing plans to record and distribute international
artists, capitalize on our vast catalog of musical entertainment software and utilize
new technologies to market and promote product.
Above all, we will continue our tradition of
success through innovation.
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