Post #25660 by jtiki on Fri, Mar 7, 2003 1:06 PM

I am sure to incur much ire, but I am somewhat confused and put off by the zealous rage that is voiced when Jimmy Buffet and the term “tiki” are mentioned together, (as recently articulated at https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=2905&forum=1&3 )

Now, as George Carlin once said, you can be called (or define yourself) anything you want. “Your name can be spelled SMITH, and you can pronounce it “Jimnopscott” if you want. And I suppose we could claim the term “tiki,” and define it how we want. But just as righteously, couldn’t some other group come along and say Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman have nothing to do with real tiki and that we should only listen to authentic tiki music?

I recognize that “tiki,” as we use the term, refers to a specific period, an American idealization and re-imagining of the South Pacific Ilse. But I can hardly fault or disdain the rest of the world for seeing a guy in a Hawaiian shirt, drinking out of a funny mug and listening to any kind of “island” music; and calling it tiki.

There are folks here who care about the Kono-style of carving versus the Maori influence, and folks here that just think tiki carvings are cool and I don't find their focus any less authentic than mine. Much like the professors of academia we can mutter that the great unwashed don’t know the difference between “real” tiki and fake, and board ourselves up in the white tower. But if you are interested in the real world, you got to lighten up. Even those of us here, who study “tiki” with a scholastic devotion do it ‘cause its fun, and if someone else’s “tiki” fun involves Bob Marley, Jimmy Buffet or The Mighty Iz, who am I to question?

By the By,

Martin Denny and Jimmy Buffet probably get equal time on my sound system of late; Chris Isaak seems to be the most effective for me in invoke the “tiki frame of mind.” The two venues I know of that tried to use the authentic lounge music to complement their lounge décor had to quickly retreat from that approach for lack of interest. Really, how much Martin Denny can you listen to?

If we were to acknowledge the popular inaccessibility of hard core lounge music, I am wondering what would qualify as “accessible tiki-influenced music.” I mentioned Chris Isaak and, for some reason, Los Straitjackets makes me feel somewhat tiki (although they may be somewhat too loud, it could just be a retro thing). Other suggestions?

j

[ Edited by: jtiki on 2003-03-07 13:08 ]