Podlipodcast player Webplayer

Tape Spaghetti

Tape Spaghetti

From Tiki Bars to Bing Crosby: The Real Story of Hawaiian Christmas Music

Tape Spaghetti · Dec 16, 2025 · 1:06:33

0:001:06:33

Listen in the Podli app 🎧

Follow your favourite podcasts, listen offline and in the car with CarPlay and Android Auto, and always pick up where you left off. Free to try.

In this year’s Tape Spaghetti Christmas special, Scott & Blake ask a question that you’ve probably never considered – but won’t be able to unhear afterward: why does Christmas music sound so… Hawaiian?

Unraveling X-Mas tunes’ tropical DNA takes us back to 19th-century Hawaiian royalty, to the invention of the steel guitar, through WWII, tiki bars, surf rock, and suburban America’s obsession with escapism.

Along the way, elements of Hawaiian music quietly crept into mainstream country, pop, and holiday standards, making classics like Blue Christmas and Mele Kalikimaka feel downright cozy and festive.

Grab an eggnog, get comfy, and prepare to forever change how you hear Christmas music.

Episodes: Tape Spaghetti

PodliGet the free Podli app
↓ App