No one is more eager to watch this week’s episode of "Hawaii Five-0" than the band members of The Green, whose catchy tunes made them rising stars on the reggae charts.
Their new song "Good One" will be included in Friday’s special, "fan-built" episode of the CBS drama.
The "fan-built" label isn’t a gag moniker. Major elements of the plot, from the scene of the crime (Chin Ho Kelly’s high school reunion) to the murder weapon (a 5-inch stiletto), were selected by fans, who also got to choose one of four songs.
"It’s all these random things," said The Green band member Zion Thompson. "And our song."
This won’t be the first time that "Five-0" has included music by The Green. The show used a segment of "Love & Affection" in season two and "Striking Up a Love" in an episode last month. Both were short, 15- to 20-second bursts, and Thompson doesn’t expect this week’s episode to use much more than that.
But the 31-year-old Thompson, along with the rest of the six-member band, all of whom are from Hawaii, is stoked.
"It’s a popular TV show and people watch it," he said from his home in Kailua. "It’s big. It’s national TV recognition without being on the show."
Four groups selected by CBS were in the running: The Black Keys, a Midwestern group that plays blues and rock; Switchfoot, which got its start in the contemporary Christian music scene before going mainstream; and JohnnySwim, a husband-and-wife duo out of Nashville, Tenn.
CBS started promoting the fan-built episode last October. Afterward the show’s writers went to work fitting together a wild puzzle of elements: Along with Chin’s reunion and the deadly shoe, fans decided the victim would be a macadamia nut tycoon, the evidence would be a toy rocket, the suspect would be struggling illusionist and the takedown would occur in a giant maze.
The Green found its way into the puzzle after a week of furious voting, Feb. 14-21.
"It was supercool," said Thompson, who plays guitar and sings with the group. "We were the small fish in that group of bands. If it was any other TV show across the nation, we wouldn’t have won it."
"Five-0" executive producer Peter Lenkov said "Good One" fits perfectly with the spirit of the show.
"We’re actually using their song to help drive us from one turn in our story to the next, setting the tone of the new scene we’re entering," he said. "It works great. Couldn’t ask for a better choice from our fans."
The episode kicks off a pretty big month for The Green. After beginning a 12-city mainland tour later in April with a show in Las Vegas and two in Anaheim, Calif., the band will fly home to open for Bruno Mars at each of the superstar’s three sold-out Honolulu performances. The group returns to the mainland in May and plans to tour through August.
"I’m a little bit nervous but more just excited than anything," Thompson said. "The Bruno Mars shows are huge."
"Good One" is off the band’s third studio album, "Hawai‘i 13," which was released in August by Easy Star Records and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Reggae Chart.
For Thompson it’s the perfect "Five-0" song.
"It’s a reggae song, and even if you don’t listen to the words, it has an upbeat, peppy kind of Hawaii vibe," he said. "And that’s what I think they were looking for. It will come across more than the lyrics."
And that’s a wrap …
Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.
