Post #22754 by chefgrey2 on Wed, Feb 12, 2003 9:39 AM

Aloha, all! My two cents....jab, I need to remind you that Kakiki had a HUGE monkey head fountain...does that disqualify it?, though I agree that parrots and monkeys are out of place in a "true" tiki bar...My opinion on music...as I am trying to open my own tiki bar in Chicago...If the mix is half Polynesian, I'm cool with that....all those frat kids atRock a tiki will mellow out in a few more years, and then long for the tiki ambiance, then find that rockin'/beer swilling isn't their speed anymore...take a look at all the Shag paintings you guys drool over....they've all got more of a beatnik/jazz sensibility in their stylings and backgrounds...very cool, but not true tiki...but this lets me know that jazz has a place in tikidom....and the fact that we covet Yma Sumac, and others like her tells me that Mambo, and other South American sounds have a place....and exotica itself has lots of jungle themes and monkey and parrot noises, jungle drums, etc. in the background....And then of course the Rat Pack seems to have a place in some tiki collections simply because of the cocktail culture that it signifies...then again a more jazz/swing slant....most of the lounge culture I've noticed in London and Europe, Club Montepulciano, etc. has a jazz/swing/light techno bent...but that's as far as I would take it toward dance music in my bar...as much as I love reggae, I would leave it out of my playlist, as would I rock and roll....I don't figure any businessman could constantly draw clientele on a 100% Hawaiian playlist...atleast not on the Mainland....I used to bitch and moan at the lack of purity in the music selections as well, but then I realized that was just my fantasy dream tiki bar...the one in my head and the one in my house...got a different perspective one I considred opening my own actual place....I believe you've got to meet your customers halfway, and I'm not going to force exotica and the Ka'au Crater Boys down their throats, so I'll give them some Jazz, etc.....but I'll also have Exotica nights, Hawaiian nights, live entertainment nights...whatever it takes to please the hardcore... Please send me your opinions...Mahalo, Grey