… is filled with many anecdotes that will make you laugh out loud while revealing the complexity of the man known as Hawaiʻi’s comic genius. More than a biography, this book traces Rap’s trajectory from his Island entertainment roots to his lasting influence as one of the dominant figures of the revolutionary cultural and artistic movement known as the Hawaiian Renaissance.
Here’s another skit from Booga Booga’s 1982 reunion gig at a Honolulu comedy club called the Laff Stop!
The late Pat Morita, who had yet to star in his world famous role as Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid franchise, was instrumental in getting the trio back together and also emceed their two week run. Here’s an excerpt from Rap’s bio about that reunion, picking up after James Grant Benton confided to Morita that he’d like to get Booga Booga back together:
A few months later, Rap, Jimmy and their other former Booga Booga brother, Ed Ka‘ahea, sort of bonded over a bikini contest at a Waikīkī beach bar. After the guys had the tough job of judging bikini-clad girls at the Shorebird’s weekly T & A competition in late February 1982, a newspaper item dished that the three had “hinted strongly” at a Booga Booga reunion. Behind the scenes, Jimmy was working to sell Rap and Ed on the idea. He proposed, “Heck, it would be a dynamite bill if Pat Morita would be the master of ceremonies for a Booga Booga reunion!” As it turned out, Ed said, “Pat served as the adhesive for these three knuckleheads to get together.”
“James was sort of at the forefront of the fever to get them back together,” recalled Morita. “Ed was non-aggressive, Rap was on another planet. I played a small part in this reunion when they all came and stayed with me for a day and a half, when I had a place at 1350 Ala Moana.”
Click below to see rare footage of the skit, “Aliʻi for One Hour” from one of those shows where Rap, Ed and Jimmy finally came back together (also leaving up the link to another skit from the Laff Stop shows, “Birds”) Then scroll down to see where you can get your copy of Rap’s bio to find out more about the historic group, Booga Booga. Mahalo to David Soon for digitizing these videos from VHS!
July 16, 1950
Can you believe that Rap would be 74 years old if he was still on this planet in 2024?
Happy Heavenly Birthday, Rap!
For Rap’s birthday on July 16th, Perry and the Posse gave multiple shout outs to our favorite comic genius and played several of Rap’s bits. Mike is a huge Rap fan and we were proud that he read and liked Rap’s biography. A great recommendation from a legend in Hawaiʻi radio:
“Rap created brilliant characters and perfect lines that became part of our shared culture in Hawaiʻi.
My grandchildren use expressions that he created decades before they were born! Now Leesa’s book is available for them to learn where it all started, and for us to have a great time laughing and remembering how we were affected by that genius of a man.
It’s well-written and much appreciated!”
MICHAEL W. PERRY – Perry & the Posse, KSSK Hawaii, iHeart Radio
Rap played 16 different characters in the Emmy award-winning show, “Rap’s Hawaii” first broadcast 42 years ago! Click on the photo to see a commercial for Rap’s biography that aired during special 40th anniversary presentations of the program.
You can check out Rap’s biography at most public libraries
throughout the state of Hawaiʻi. If you’d like to purchase a copy
for yourself and/or for a gift, scroll up to see all of the
retailers offering “The Rap Reiplinger Story” or click the word
RETAILERS in the banner menu above or click ORDER ONLINE.
Henry Kapono Kaʻaihue, Karen Keawehawai‘i, Michael W. Perry, Leesa Clark Stone, Ed Kaʻahea and Sweetie Pacarro celebrate the release of “Paradise to Paradise: The Rap Reiplinger Story”
“ Mahalo to Leesa Clark Stone for writing this incredible and very important book about her late husband. With his humor and unique pidgin vernacular, Rap Reiplinger is one of the most influential Hawaiians of the last half-century. As a child who grew up in the 80s watching Rap’s Hawaii and listening to Booga Booga, I had always wanted to learn more about Rap’s story but there was a dearth of information out there. This book pulls the curtain back and details his successes, struggles & demons. I especially enjoyed the behind-the-scenes anecdotes about some of Rap’s most iconic skits and bits. And of course, there is plenty of humor throughout for example, “Hawaii’s celebrity chef, Hari Kojima, invited Rap onto his show so that Rap could share a special family recipe, “boiling water”. Also fascinating to hear what it took for “Puka Shell Tour Guide” to finally be available for legal digital download.
Couldn’t put this book down.
”
“This book does a fantastic job telling the amazing life story of Rap. It’s inspiring to read about someone using their talent to the fullest and having such a positive impact on so many people.
This is a wonderful tribute to Rap.”
“Rap created brilliant characters and perfect lines that became part of our shared culture in Hawaiʻi.
My grandchildren use expressions that he created decades before they were born! Now Leesa’s book is available for them to learn where it all started, and for us to have a great time laughing and remembering how we were affected by that genius of a man. It’s well-written and much appreciated!
”
“It’s a great read! It is a compelling and funny story – a real look at the life and times of a comic genius. This book also perfectly captures the essence of that revolutionary time in our cultural history known as the Hawaiian Renaissance in a way that no book that I am aware of, has ever done before.”
“It’s a fascinating read. Fun, many moments of keen reporting, tons of warmth,
and a tsunami of riotous memories.
”
“I had the honor of being on a panel reminiscing and reflecting on
an amazing person in our lives at an amazing period of time. The person?
The late Rap Reiplinger, Hawaiʻi’s numbah one comedian. The time? The Hawaiian Renaissance.
The occasion was the release of “Paradise to Paradise” the bio of Rap, lovingly and painstakingly written by his wife, Leesa Clark Stone, 35 years after his passing into paradise. Mahalo nui, Leesa for not only sharing Rap’s profound talents and gifts to make us laugh (until our sides hurt), but his off-stage human side – the struggles, the victories – his life-long friendships and his renewed faith in God, but most of all, his Aloha.
I encourage everyone to read this book,
”Paradise to Paradise: The Rap Reiplinger Story.””
“Decades in the making, this new biography of Rap Reiplinger explores what shaped the man behind the side-splitting Hawai‘i humor. Author Leesa Clark Stone manages the sometimes-difficult balancing act of veteran journalist piecing together the behind-the-scenes story alongside her more personal role of persistent widow pressing for answers.”
“ As someone who moved to Hawaiʻi in the mid 70s and soon after joined the entire state in loving Rap Reiplinger and Booga Booga, I could not put Leesa’s book down. She brilliantly captures all the details and nuances of that magical time when young, talented entertainers and future legends were rocking Honolulu. Leesa’s skills as a journalist and a former news reporter, as well as her willingness to delve deeply and write openly about her husband’s life and death, delivers a truly compelling story. She shares the man we all knew through his comedic genius, as well as the man most of us never knew with all his complexities and challenges. But, there is bigger reason why she wrote this book and it’s a stunner.
”
Rap as the room service operator and the tourist, Mr. Fogerty, in the “Room Service” skit in the show, Rap’s Hawaii.
The photo on the left by photographer Jerry Chong is the basis for the portraiture on the right featured on the cover of Paradise to Paradise.
To order, please email: RapStuffs80s@gmail.com
“Do I Dare Disturb the Universe”
“Strange Bird”
“Towed Away”
Rap’s Albums are on iTunes/Apple…but currently da links are all hamajang. Please email: Rapstuffs80s@gmail.com if you want to order an album. Mahalo!!!
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Leesa Clark Stone is a journalist who started her broadcasting career at KKON radio in Kealakekua, Hawaiʻi. She worked at KP01/98- Rock, KMAI and KHVH Newsradio 99 in Honolulu before becoming a morning anchor and reporter at ABC affiliate KITV. Leesa anchored at CNN Headline News after leaving Hawaiʻi. She moved to Nashville to work at CBS affiliate WTVF before launching her own company with her husband, photojournalist Rich Stone. Rich and Leesa have two sons, Nick and Jake Stone. Leesa has won an Emmy Award and multiple Telly Awards for her work with Stone Productions, LLC. She has a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri — Columbia. Paradise to Paradise: The Rap Reiplinger Story chronicles the life of Leesa’s late husband, James Kawika Piʻimauna "Rap" Reiplinger and is her first book.
Just about this time of the year, in 1981, Rap Reiplinger and KGMB brass were planning production of the television special, “Rap’s Hawaii.” Little did they know that 40 years later, old fans would still be laughing, while new fans constantly discover Rap’s work via YouTube, social media and other outlets not-yet-dreamed-of in the early 1980s.