Kimo McVay left legacy of bravura

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editorw

Betsy McVay yesterday began the arduous task of planning the funeral for husband, flamboyant promoter Kimo Wilder McVay, who died of cancer at age 73 earlier in the morning at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center.

McVay was considered among the last of a vanishing breed of gimmick-loving talent managers. Advertiser library photo

"We talked about the services before he died," she said. "I asked him, 'What do you want?' And he just looked at me . . . then said, 'When I'm cremated, just flush me.'"

Quintessential McVay. Outrageous and no-nonsense at the same time.

"What I'm thinking is that he'd like to go out the way he did Kinau's funeral," said Betsy McVay, speaking of Kinau Wilder, Kimo McVay's mother, for whom he cared for many years. "Services at the Outrigger Canoe Club, with scattering of the ashes at sea. A big party. But I won't have the hats, the T-shirts, the party favors he did." She's still making decisions.

McVay's grand style was recalled by his peers yesterday, with many speaking of his extravagances and hyperbole, as well as remembering a heart that was as big as his stunts, a personality as colorful as the performers he represented.

"He was a dear friend and a wonderful person," said Tom Moffatt, a fellow entrepreneur. "He was an innovator, a one-of-a-kind. He had a special sense. He could always spot a winner: Don Ho. Tavana. John Rowles. The Beamers. John Hirokawa. And he could do more with $5 in promotion than an ad agency could with $50,000. He was truly remarkable. And no one could say no to him."

Said Keola Beamer, a former client: "In addition to his competent and extremely valuable skills as a manager and promoter, Kimo McVay had a bountiful joy for living that he shared with all those who came into his life. We had so many good times together, so many madcap adventures that it will be hard to imagine the music business as being as much fun without him."

"He easily was Hawai'i's top promoter," said Henry Ayau, who was a manager at the old Duke Kahanamoku's in the International Market Place, when McVay ran the club and launched Don Ho's national and international career. "He loved the business, the ambition to create popular entertainment. ... He shall be missed."

Comedian Andy Bumatai, who also hired McVay as his manager, likened him to the late Col. Tom Parker, the booster behind Elvis Presley's career. "I'm not sure any one of us would have gotten any attention without him making noise," Bumatai said. "He invented spin — before they gave it a name — and a little bit of Hawai'i dies with his passing."

McVay had several aliases — "Knuckles McVay," when he manned the keyboards in St. Patrick's Day celebrations at the old Columbia Inn on Kapi'olani Boulevard, and the "Baron of Waikiki," when he briefly operated a lounge at the Reef Hotel.

He was an old-school publicity wizard who put a buzz on any activity he engineered. His heyday was the Hawai'i of the 1960s and '70s, when he operated Duke Kahanamoku's nightclub. Folks lined up to applaud and cheer an upstart young Hawaiian talent named Don Ho, backed by The Aliis, amid a celebrity clientele hoisting mai tai glasses emblazoned with "Suck 'em Up," which became collector's items and take-home souvenirs.

Although he often quarreled with his clients, he succeeded in putting them on the map. He became obsolete when showrooms started to close, but he downsized accordingly, working with smaller acts and even taking on kickboxer Denis Alexio for a while.

McVay had a keen eye and a sharp ear for discovering talent. Early in his management career, he saw the potential in then-Punahou School student Robin Luke, who had written and recorded a song about his little sister, titled "Susie Darlin'." McVay got local deejays and TV stations to air the song and expose the tune, and "Susie Darlin'" became a Top 10 hit nationally and gave Luke — and Hawai'i — 15 minutes of fame.

McVay was born in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 16, 1927, and was the son of Kinau Wilder, a grand dame of Island theater and a prominent figure in Island society, and the controversial Capt. Charles Butler McVay III, the commanding officer of the USS Indianapolis, which in 1945 was hit by a Japanese torpedo and sank 600 miles southwest of Guam. Only 316 of the Indy's crew of 1,196 survived in shark-infested waters and Capt. McVay was found guilty of negligence, ultimately committing suicide.

Kimo McVay's lifelong efforts to clear the name of his father finally ended last year, when the commander was cleared of guilt through congressional action, 55 years after the sinking and huge loss of lives.

Besides Betsy, his wife of 45 years who was a well-known Island actress several decades ago, McVay is survived by two daughters, Lindsay Roberson of Honolulu and Melissa Mateo of Hacienda Heights, Calif; five grandchildren, Kim, Judd, Robin and Ryan Mateo, and Ashley Kinau Roberson; and a brother, Charles Butler McVay IV.