The Blue Hawaiians, an outfit based in Los Angeles, came together in 1994 after bassist and vocalist Mark Fontana joined guitarists Mark Sproull and Bron Tieman plus drummer Tom Maxwell to perform at the debut of a friend’s new venue, the Lava Lounge. Both the band and the club quickly gained favor among local hipsters through a blend of retro exotica and a slightly shadowy, seedy atmosphere, with director Quentin Tarantino ranking among the group’s first supporters. To heighten their kitsch-noir aura, the Hawaiians asserted they were moonlighting as Wayne Newton’s backing musicians on occasional Los Angeles dates, though their actual identities surfaced only after twelve months. By then the quartet had become regulars at such spots as the Viper Room, the Roxy, the Wild Cat, the Derby, and the Hollywood Palladium, headlining their own bills and sharing stages with the Brian Setzer Orchestra and the Ventures.
Studio activity followed in parallel: the Blue Hawaiians contributed to the Del-Fi anthology Pulp Surfin’ in 1995, surfaced again on the same label’s Shots in the Dark compilation the next year, and captured Live at the Lava Lounge in 1997. Their debut full-length studio set, Sway, arrived in 1998, after which the 1999 major-label release Savage Night introduced guitarist Gary Brandin and keyboardist Eric Godal. Beyond live work and recordings, the group also featured in the BBC series History of Rock & Roll and in the PBS portrait of surf icon Mickey Dora, In Search of da Cat.
