A quartet of former Latter-day Saint missionaries in Samoa — two with ties to Laie — who created and recorded one of the island chain's most popular songs for many years, put on a series of concerts on Oahu, including:

• Friday, Feb. 15, Waipahu Stake Center, 6:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 16, Kaneohe Stake Center, 630 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 22, Makakilo Stake Center, 6:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 23, Polynesian Cultural Center Hale Aloha, 7:45 p.m.

Signature songs of the group included their own famous "Masi Samoa," "Usi le Fa'afofoga," "Fa'alogo Ia," "Samoa Silasila" and "Koko Samoa," among others.

Carl Fonoimoana, a member of the quartet who was born in Laie and is a former Polynesian Cultural Center executive, explained that in 1963 Samoa Mission President John Phillip Hanks decided to form a musical group "in an effort to open the door for missionary work. Four missionaries were selected: Randy Broadhead, Richard Nielson, Wayne Willis, and myself. Nielson, now a retired Church administrator, was from Magna, Utah. Broadhead, a high school principal, was and still is from Canada. Wayne Willis was from Redondo Beach [California], and I came to the mission from Northern California."

Willis, who passed away several years ago, was related to the Hannemann family in Laie. "We miss him. He would have enjoyed this revival of the Eldares," Fonoimoana said. In fact, the concert series is dedicated to his memory.

Fonoimoana's father moved to Laie in 1926. The family moved to California in 1953. Carl and his wife, Nalani Kalama Fonoimoana, moved back to Laie in 1975 and still own a home here; plus they both have numerous relatives in Ko'olauloa. "Two daughters also recently graduated from BYU-Hawaii and will remain here," he said.

He added that former Laie resident George Murdock, a businessman who's originally from Mesa, Arizona, and later Utah, joined the group when Broadhead got sick in mid-tour and had to withdraw. Murdock subsequently sang in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir until he moved to Hawaii. "Randy never rejoined the tour, so there were really five of us," Fonoimoana said.

THE ELDARES NOW (l-r): Richard Nielson,
George Murdock, Carl Fonoimoana and
Randy Broadhead

Several of Murdock's children have graduated from BYU-Hawaii, and he owns a home in Ko Olina. His grandfather also served a mission in Samoa from 1901–04 and named Murdock's mother Lalovi, after the name of a village where he served.

"We all had musical backgrounds. I think Richard Nielson probably had the most extensive instrumental experience. I had a lot of vocal music background. Randy played the guitar and sang — including lead on 'Masi Samoa,' and Wayne Willis was an excellent ukulele player and added a lot to the sound of our music."

"President Hanks gave us a charge to learn a new song every day, then we had to sing it at night," Fonoimoana continued. "Everyone knew different songs. Ricky was kind of a folk song, rock-and-roll guy; Randy was a country/Western person; Wayne was a ballad singer; and I was just general all-around music. None of us were into Samoan music. If anything, Wayne and I knew more Hawaiian songs. At BYU [Provo] I was part of a group called the Four Pineapples. That's where I really learned to harmonize for a quartet." Murdock added that he had been in  high school groups that performed widely in Arizona.

Fonoimoana explained the group started building their repertoire. "A couple of the songs had religious messages, which pertained to the missionary work, so we took those, like 'Usi le Fa'afofoga' — 'Give Ear to My Song' — which was written by Alema Fitisemanu. It's about the challenges of doing missionary work."

The Eldares started their tour, which included talking chiefs to deal with protocol, in April 1964. "In Samoa everybody likes to sing, and they had concerts all the time; so in a typical program, we sang a song to introduce ourselves and tell them where we were from. They were very interested in that, because it was a different thing to see a 'palagi' [haole] missionary singing…and then when we started singing some of the Samoan songs, it really peaked their interest. Of course, when we hit 'Masi Samoa,' that brought the house down."

"It's a song that talks about this real stink-smelling food, that was created after a hurricane when the bananas and breadfruit would fall to the ground. Rather than waste them, because they couldn't eat them all at once, they would bury them, and then dig it up when they wanted or needed to eat — sometimes months later. It would have mold, worms, was discolored and it stinks. The Samoans would scrape off the mold and cook it. They developed a taste for it, kind of like Limburger cheese."

"When these white missionaries were singing about how they loved to eat this food, they thought that was the funniest thing," he said. The rest of the song talks about all of the Samoan food the missionaries would miss when they returned home.

"We put on a one-hour show every night, maybe six shows a week, for three or four months in Savai'i, Upolu and Manono," Fonoimoana continued. "Richard Nielson wrote most of the original songs. Randy wrote the words for 'Masi Samoa,' and I wrote a couple. The songs that we wrote and sang were kind of reflective of our times and experiences."

THE ELDARES THEN (l-r): Richard Nielson,
Carl Fonoimoana, Wayne Willis, Randy Broadhead
and Mission President John Phillip Hanks

"'Masi Samoa' was originally written with the title 'Palusami' [a Samoan food made from baked young taro tops and coconut cream], and I modified the tune of a rock-and-roll song, 'Hully Gully.' We also used that for our song, 'Peanut Butter,'" Fonoimoana said. He added that revered talking chief Leausa suggested they add the masi Samoa focus. "We didn't know what that was. We thought it meant a [modern sea biscuit or] cracker. We thought, we'll sing about it, but we won't eat it. We put it in, and that really made the song."

The Eldares soon recorded "Masi Samoa" at the national radio station. "It was a huge hit and remained popular for years," Fonoimoana said. "It's sung to this day. When we did our reunion trip to Samoa in August '07 we found the older folks and children are still singing it."

Fonoimoana recalled the song by the original quartet was made into a 45 rpm record and included on an LP album. "A man named Rankin who had a recording business made 10,000 of the LPs called 'Masi Samoa,' and it sold out in two weeks."

He also explained the group reunited for the first time last summer at the request of the current mission president to do a series of concerts in Samoa. Neilson was already there as a senior missionary.

"We were very surprised that people remembered the song. Many thought that we had died, because it was 43 years ago. When we showed up and were interviewed, they were all surprised. They came out in bus loads to see the original Eldares."

Pulefano Galea'i organized the Oahu concert series. Any donations given at the performances will benefit the LDS Church schools in Sauniatu, Pesega and Vaiola, Samoa, to improve libraries, computers, desks and other classroom materials. Galea'i will also help the Eldares produce a new CD containing many of their favorite songs. Details on the CD sales are not yet available.

For more information on the Eldares' CD, contact Galea'i at 808-227-7002.

>> Watch a video of The Eldares singing "Masi Samoa" 

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