Today we’ll look at Hilo musician Mike Pitoy & his Sunshine Society band from the 1970’s. The group wasn’t too widely known, but those who knew of the band were faithful devotees because of their youthful charm and exceptional blend of hard rock, Hawaiian classics, and disco madness.
We know the original Sunshine Society band consisted of 5 members: Lindsay Lindsey (front person), Aaron Kanai (guitarist), Stanley Yamada (drummer), Mike Pitoy (guitar/keyboard/trumpet) and Alfred Anderson (organ). Over the years, different members retired and new musicians filled their spots. The second incarnation included a larger crew: David Kauahikaua (famous Oahu symphony conductor), Billy Ching, George Lopez, Bill Augustine, Tommy Takeshita. In 1976, the group experimented with adding 3 women to their shows, referred to as the Sunshine Dancers.
Keaukaha, Hawaii native & blind musician, Mike Pitoy, started his career in 1971 performing in military clubs with a group called the Palm Tree Express. But it wasn’t until 1973 that he took things to the next level by forming a new rock group called the Sunshine Society. Pitoy declared “We didn’t want to play no old folks music… we didn’t want to play jazz. We wanted to play rock n’ roll.” The Sunshine Society quickly found success in the hotel circuit during the early to mid 1970s, performing at popular Hawaii nightclubs around the islands like The Foxy Lady chain, Kona Tradewinds Nightclub, and the Halemaumau Discotheque.
Pitoy ascribes much of his success to the great mentors he’s had over the years, most notably, the legendary Don Ho. In his own words:
“Although we didn’t want to do it, our mentors helped us realize that we would have a better future if we were to expand our musical genre into other areas besides rock n’ roll. And that’s where things really opened up for us. We got to work with Don Ho and we were the backup band. And, you know, we got to see another side of Uncle Don. We were young, we could get out of control… but he he singled several people out and he mentored us and he was a disciplinarian. He wasn’t at all what you would see on stage. Because we were young, he distilled responsibility and discipline into us. And through him, the great Gabby Pahinui, Arthur Lyman, Martin Denny. We were at a place and time where were very fortunate to have David Tasaka as our manager, who introduced us to all these different people. And eventually a lot of us went on to do shows with them.”
Although they made a sizable impact in a relatively short amount of time, the Sunshine Society never released any albums or 45s. Any live recordings of their work are virtually unfindable. Mike says the band was just too busy doing hotel gigs to ever record in a professional studio.
I’m not entirely sure, but it is possible that a lost 70’s sports soundtrack with Mike Pitoy and Jack DeMello exists somewhere deep in the crates. Let me explain: In 1978, local newspapers reported that Pitoy had started working on a new album with the legendary Hawaiian music producer. But leading up to that moment, Pitoy gives us more backstory. In his own words:
“Jack and my mom used to be playmates when they were kids. So one night, he came in and heard I was performing with a trio at the time, down at the Main Rigger. And my parents happened to be there to come in and watch us. And so when Jack showed up, he mentioned to my mom, “You know I came to hear… that’s your son, right?” And my mom said, “Yeah, that’s our son.” And he said “Good, can you introduce me? I really want to talk to him.” We had watched Jack growing up and really appreciated the things that he does. And so that’s how that all started.”
But what about their lost record? Was it ever officially released? Sadly, the short answer is no. Pitoy says the project took a short detour with a different DeMello commercial project. Jack had the lyrics, but he needed instrumental music for an ABC Wide World of Sports soundtrack called “Rebel of the Rainbow.” Pitoy says he never got to hear the finished product, and never followed or pursued the recordings. For now, the library music remains lost in the archives of ABC Records.
The last thing I wanted to talk about was Pitoy’s signature electric guitar and his appearance at the 1972 Hilo Civic Auditorium that should etch his place in Hawaiian rock history. In his own words:
“We [Sunshine Society] were doing a show for Tom Moffat and they couldn’t get the flashpots to work. So they just said “Oh well, heck with it!” and they shut off all the lights. We were on stage, doing our thing, and the boys kept on saying to me, “Oh cmon, cmon, light her up! Light her up!” I had a Rickenbacker KF360 with a color organ that lit up from the inside. So I hit the switch and all you saw was the guitar on stage, lit up with rainbow-colored lights. I had a control on the guitar that you had to flip, and then it would electrify. It had plexi glass over the bulbs that were in the guitar. And depending what you wanted to do, you could have them stay on, or else they would flash and start running around the edge/outline of the guitar. There was a center portion that you could turn on and leave it, and the lights would be either white, blue, etc. You could fully control it at that time, and that was actually kind of amazing.”
Throughout the 70’s, Mike Pitoy and his Sunshine Society rose to local stardom, continuing to refine and redefine what it meant to play live music in Hawaii. Despite never releasing an official album, Pitoy says he just “feels truly blessed to have been touched and influenced by some of the greatest guitarists – both the Hawaiian slack key masters and also jazz and rock guitarists.” Blind since 8, Mike Pitoy managed to carve out a musical career simply by listening, absorbing, and trying.
