First recorded by Ray Kinney & His Hawaiian Musical Ambassadors (1936).
Also recorded by Dick McIntire & His Harmony Hawaiians (1936).
Hit version by Hilo Hattie (Clara Inter) & Al Kealoha Perry and His Singing Surfriders (1937).
From the wiki: “Don McDiarmid and Johnny Noble were members of Harry Owens’ band, the Royal Hawaiians, at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki Beach when they composed ‘When Hilo Hattie Does the Hilo Hop’. Owens considered the song to be ‘inappropriate’ for his band to perform. Instead, former Royal Hawaiian vocalist Ray Kinney (he was the primary vocalist for the the premiere broadcast of Webley Edwards’ Hawaii Calls radio show from the Moana Hotel in July 1935), now leading his own band, the Hawaiian Room Orchestra, arranged the first recording of ‘Hilo Hattie’ on Decca Records under the group name ‘Ray Kinney & His Hawaiian Musical Ambassadors’.
“Hawaiian-born steel guitarist Dick McIntire, and his Mainland orchestra, the Harmony Hawaiians, also released a recording of ‘When Hilo Hattie Does the Hula Hop’ in 1936.
“In 1937, Clara Inter, born Kalala (‘Clara’) Hail, a member of the Royal Hawaiian Girls’ Glee Club, proved Harry Owens wrong by turning ‘When Hilo Hattie Does the Hula Hop’ into a worldwide success, and making it perhaps the most recognized number in Hawaiian history.