Kilima Hawaiians
The Kilima Hawaiians were a hit band from the Netherlands that had a number one hit in Germany in 1953 with the song It hangs a horse halter on the wall .
Band history
The band was one of the most popular singing groups in the Netherlands and was also successful in Germany. It was founded on June 26, 1934 by Bill Buysman and his wife Mary, who both belonged to the group of four until it was dissolved. Bill Buijsman played the guitar , Mary played the ukulele and sang. Other temporary members were Rudi Wairata, Frans van Oirschot, Smoke van der Elst, Willem Ruivenkamp, Theo Ehrlicher and Jo de Gast.
In the first post-war years they hit the nerve of the times with Hawaiian songs and also played western songs , where they often appeared in cowboy costumes.
In 1948 they published the song Er hangt een paardenhoofdstel aan de muur in the Netherlands , which was a cover version of Carson Robison's Bridle Hanging On The Wall . A few years later, the Kilima Hawaiians then produced the song in German with the title There is a horse halter on the wall . The western song was then a big hit in Germany in 1953 and sold over a million times, which brought in a gold record in 1954 . In the newly created boxing parade , A horse halter on the wall was listed as the first number one hit in the German charts.
The song was later also sung by Bruce Low , which gave him his breakthrough as a pop singer. Ronny was another singer who interpreted this song, and the Peheiros published a satirical version in the early summer of 1954 under the title There is a car tire on the wall with which they reached number 4 on the hit parade of the magazine "Automatenmarkt".
With the advent of popular styles of music like rock 'n' roll , the Kilima Hawaiians ' popularity in Germany declined from the late 1950s. In the Netherlands, however, they performed by the mid-1970s and were successful.
Bill Buijsman died on June 23, 1991, his wife Mary on February 17, 2002.
Discography (selection)
Albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
NL | |||
1979 | 40 greatest successes |
NL12 (13 weeks) NL |
|
1992 | The Story 0f |
NL45 (5 weeks) NL |
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
DE | |||
1954 | There is a horse halter on the wall |
DE6 (96 weeks) DE |
|
Whenever you're in Hawaii |
DE20 (32 weeks) DE |
||
A horse returns home |
DE12 (32 weeks) DE |
||
1962 | Sarie Marei |
DE11 (32 weeks) DE |
Web links
- Kilima Hawaiians in the MCN's Muziek Encyclopedie (Dutch)
- Lyrics of There is a horse halter on the wall ( Memento from June 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive )