There was this great local band called Pagan Babies that played world / reggae “roots dansemusic” here in the mid-eighties. They played weekly at at a bar/club named Anna Bannanas and it was not unusual to see flyers for their gigs plastered around town, so one night, me and a couple of college friends went down to check them out!
It’s hard to describe Anna’s. Situated in Moilili, it’s not anywhere near Waikiki as most of the other clubs are, and set in this huge wooden two story house, it almost seems more like a neighborhood restaurant (in feel) that a club. Really relaxed atmosphere, and PERFECT for a World Music band like the Pagan Babies! Perhaps that added to the whole picture, but we ended up really loving that band! They performed (I think) two separate sets (maybe three), lots of long songs sprinked with percussion instruments, and a handful of easily recognizable Bob Marley tunes, as well!
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| Craig |
A few weeks later, I was down at the local record store (to pick up my special order of The Church’s Of Skins and Hearts CD import…but I digress), and while waiting to pay for it, noticed they were selling a cassette of the Pagan Babies! I pointed to it, and said “I’ll take one of those, too!”
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| Elyce |
Well, we were promptly blown away by what we heard- for the most part, it was a small distilaltion of what we’d seen the few weeks before, a lot of great songs, a Bob Marley cover, and quite a few we hadn’t heard before. One of these songs was a tune called “Sushi By The Pool”, and when it started, my friend perked up, and said, “Hey, yeah! NOW I remember…I read a review in the paper and I think they were promoting this song, or something!” Which is odd, since I’ve never heard them play this, at least not any of the many, many times I’d seen them, but what the heck.
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| Chris |
Later, me and a couple of friends started working just down the street from Anna’s, and it was SO convenient to just mosey on down to the club after work, hook up with friends, and check out the band!
I was alwways happy to hear favorite songs off the cassette like “Surfing in Tunisia” and “Vertical Jerk”, but there were so many terrific tunes they performed live that they’ve never recorded on ANY of their albums, and that’s really a shame! A personal fave was their take on a song called “Fire In Belize”, this song was such a crowd pleaser that the band would usually keep it saved for later in the night! Or maybe it just SEEMED that way to me!
Then there were the more popular cover tunes like “Bed’s Too Big” and “Three Little Birds”, which is probably my favorite version of the song, period! Oh, and they closed many nights with the rousing “Hot! Hot! Hot!” Yes, that song that Buster Poindexter covered!
Ah, what memories…!
Comments From The Original VOX Blog:
Chris Planas wrote:
[this is good]
That's me holding the guitar. Any chance I could get copies of those old photos?
The Pagans were a special part of my life- I learned to play, and was fed the great positive energy by Anna's regulars every weekend. Thanks for posting.
zinkognito wrote:
HEY! Great to hear from you, Chris!
Thank You for all the great music you've created over the years!
I have a handful of photos of the Pagan Babies that my friend Shannon (the gal who shot all these wonderful pics) gave me many years ago, and I'd be more than happy to scan them and load 'em up somewhere you can conveniently access them!
Give me some time to dig up those pics for you and see what I can do!
Thanks again!
Sue Kocher wrote:
OMG, I've been looking now and then to see what ever happened to the Pagan Babies! I still listen to the ONE CD I still have (my favorite tape blew out years ago, all those great songs lost
zinkognito replied to Sue Kocher’s comment:
Hi Sue!
It's GREAT to hear from another PAGAN BABIES fan out there! I'm assuming you were one of those crazy people who jammed into Anna's all those years ago, as well?
Ahahahahaa!
Yep, even after all these years, it's still great to break out those old Pagan Babies songs and give'em a listen, right?! Just takes you back...
Sue Kocher replied to zinkognito’s comment:
You kidding? I knew all the songs, every lyric and change and beat, as I was there pretty much every single weekend. I was the one with the loooong blond hair and a sunburn, dancing my little ass off and working up a sweat. If you were a regular in, let's see, I guess it was 1983-1985, then we probably met on the floor... or the back steps where the party was on breaks. I'm not sure if they got me through grad school, or just made it a miracle that I did. I still have a CD, but that old tape had some favorites that I miss. The Babies never had a bigger fan than moi!
Jon S. Walman replied to zinkognito’s comment: Mar 21, 2009
Hey Z ! I was the drummer for the Pagan Babies back in '83-'85 ! That's me on the tapes.... cheers !
Jim Maisano wrote:
[this is good] Hey there, I just loved the Pagan Babies.
zinkognito wrote: Apr 26, 2009
Hey Jim!
Glad you dropped by!
I've been getting such great response and comments from fans and friends, I think I might have to rip this old cassette tape I have of the Babies performing and upload in in some future post!
Peace!
Cari Vallo wrote:
[this is good] Aloha!
I was and still am a huge Pagan Babies fan.
I danced to the Pagans every weekend from 1986 to 1993/4. When you mentioned the band mates, you forgot to list Bailey Matsuda who was the keyboardist after Seth. He was a very integral part of the Pagans.
Thanks sooo very much for posting this!!!
Mike Muldoon wrote:
[this is good] Hey, this brings back some memories!
Jason Woycke wrote:
Hey Chris!
Jason Woycke wrote:
Hey Chris! You should start a Pagan Babies Facebook Fan Page where you could collect all the old goodies/memorabilia. Elyce says hi to all.
Jason
elyce wrote:
Hey zinkognito, thanks for doing this I wish I'd found this sooner. Hope you still read the comments. Thanks to all those who wrote in. What an amazing time that was. I'm glad to have been a part of it. Aloha
zinkognito replied to elyce’s comment:
Hi Elyce!
Nice to see so many people associated with this awesome group stop by and reminisce! Just awesome! We're still digging the sounds of your wonderful singing!
zinkognito replied to Mike Muldoon’s comment:
Hey Mike!
Thanks for stopping by, and sorry I don't have any clear shots of you onstage there! Y'all were just awesome!
zinkognito replied to Cari Vallo’s comment:
Hi Cari!
You're right and I'm glad you mentioned Bailey! Thanks for commenting!
Mike Muldoon wrote:
No problem at all about the photos Z. It was wonderful to be a part of the Pagans for those years, a special group of folks to be sure!
