Last year was the 60th anniversary of “The Hukilau Song,” written and originally recorded by Jack Owens. As you might already know from this blog, Jack was also Roger Owens’ uncle.

I found some great YouTube videos of kids and grown-ups alike singing this Hawaiian classic.

And then there’s this little virtuoso in training, not singing “The Hukilau Song,” but rather “Mary Had A Yiddle Yam.”

While the Dodgers have already begun celebrating their 50th anniversary of playing baseball in Los Angeles, and later this year, have plans for the 20th anniversary of their last World Series championship, here are at “The Peanut Gallery,” we have some anniversaries to acknowledge as well.

In a previous entry, It’s A Numbers Game, I pointed out some of Roger’s accomplishments in the last 50 years with the Dodgers, both at the Coliseum and at Dodger Stadium.

But even though Dodger fans might know these things, there is a good chance many aren’t aware of some anniversaries in his personal life, unless they’ve read “The Perfect Pitch” by now.

It was 60 years ago that Roger’s uncle, Jack Owens, wrote and recorded, for independent label Tower Records, the most famous pop hit of his colorful singing and songwriting career, The Hukilau Song.
Popular with Hawaiians, kids, hula dancers, and just about everybody, The Hukilau Song will pull you in with its catchy arrangement and memorable lyrics.

Jack Owens was also a big part of the success, as a regularly featured vocalist, of The Breakfast Club With Don McNeill, the longest running network radio show of all time. It aired from 1933 to 1968. While Jack Owens left the show around 1950 to start his own television program, The Jack Owens Show, there was an unforgettable connection between him and the Golden Age of radio and the show itself, even by the time Paul Harvey recalled in Aug., 1968 on KABC radio the memories and importance of The Breakfast Club With Don McNeill.

In addition to the 40th anniversary of the end of The Breakfast Club, there is the 40th anniversary of the “miracle in Compton” also covered by Paul Harvey on air in Nov., 1968. Roger’s father was an ordained Baptist minister and was caught in a holdup in Compton, CA and was shot at point blank range in 1968. He survived with nothing more than a large bruise since a large wad of Gospel tracts had been stuffed previously in his front coat pocket. For more detail, read the “The Perfect Pitch.”

And next year, it will be the 40th anniversary of Roger’s near-fatal military jeep accident while serving in the California Army National Guard. While he lost his sense of smell ever since then, he amazed the attending surgeons and physicians and went on to be the most acclaimed vendor ever, now celebrating his 50th anniversary with the Dodgers.

And he just turned 65 on Valentine’s Day.

What does he think of that??

Find out here.

After talking with Roger about some of the various longtime vendors at Dodger Stadium, he was able to shed some light on some of their personal histories and stories there at the ballpark. I’ll add an upcoming entry on all of that later.

While many baseball fans are used to hearing the national anthem at a baseball game and music in between innings, and of course, having the chance to sing along to Take Me Out To The Ball Game, here at “The Peanut Gallery,” we are fortunate enough to provide you with a musical experience of our own and one sure to give you “your money’s worth.”

If you haven’t visited “The Peanut Gallery” before, or perhaps even if you have and didn’t realize it, you might be surprised to know that Roger’s uncle was Jack Owens, the famous singer and songwriter, radio star, and host of his own show on radio and television.

Jack Owens was a gifted pianist, singer, songwriter and dynamic live performer whose charisma and playfulness in the audience, yes the audience, earned him the nickname “The Cruising Crooner.”

Take some time and read more about him, right here at the gallery. There are plenty of songs to listen to, song samples, and even a video clip of him singing to his large female audience from a 1948 television special, sitting on their laps serenading them, and cruising through the aisles to sing to someone else.

So when you’ve heard and learned more of Jack Owens’ music, including his three most popular songs, The Hukilau Song, How Soon (Will I Be Seeing You), and The Hut Sut Song, have a listen to another gifted pianist.

Roger’s younger brother is Paul Immanuel Owens, a talented, self-taught piano man and poet who resides in Oregon and has recorded five CD’s over a span of more than 20 years.

His style embraces pure and original piano arrangements as well as synthesizers and sounds from nature, a style he developed years before it was common to find such soothing and relaxing music at your local stores and malls. But his range is not limited to piano and ocean wave sounds. Paul Immanuel Owens adds depth to his sound with melodic slow tempo and fast paced instrumentals that are even perfect for movie soundtracks, and Paul Immanuel Owens is truly a blessed poet. To read some of his poems and to buy his music or to listen to samples of his songs from CD’s like Reflections Of The Heart, Ivory Wings, River Of Peace, Space Ripples, and Tangible Dream, visit his official site at www.paulimmanuelowens.com.

So come for the peanuts, but stay for the music.