Post #491283 by tiki mick on Sun, Nov 1, 2009 9:01 AM

On 2009-11-01 06:03, Hangtentiki wrote:
I think one of our main goals on this site is preservation of a slice in time.

                      ![](https://tikicentral.com/uploads/10849/4aecdacc.jpg)  

[ Edited by: Hangtentiki 2009-11-01 06:04 ]

Right, and that slice in time is mid-century poly-pop. (an epoch I am entirely devoted to!)

I think where I have (and have always had) a problem is this urge a lot of posters on this forum have to equate hippy culture (which is albeit, a creative and vital culture) with tiki/poly pop. I see no connection between the two, and never have. But over the 6-7 years I have been part of this forum, I have noticed a not-so-subtle attempt by hippies to infiltrate and try to reclaim the music of the Eisenhower and Nixon generation as their own. The Buffet people also try the same tact these days, thinking that a margarita and some thatch in your bar makes things "tiki".

Not to say one is better then the other. Since there are a LOT of hippies on this forum, I won't say too much negative about it at this time. But MY preference is the original, pre-hippy music scene. Sophisticated, urban "savages" and the bachelor pad music they listened to.
I advise all newer posters to this forum to get a copy of Sven Kirsten's "book of tiki". it's practically cannon around here, and will really demonstrate graphically what tiki is (and isn't) about.

Now, before I get flamed to death with rare exceptions of hippies that crossed over to tiki, or co-existed with. (like that one exotica/hippy guy whose name I forgot)..please understand that it is very rare, and not the norm. The music of Les Baxter, for example, is famous for being an exotic type of jazz music, played by guys with neat, short hair. The people who listened to it went to cocktail lounges with their dates, dressed to the nines. it was a very different culture then the hippies that came after. Hippy was a youth culture at heart, exotica/lounge was the soundtrack for urban, middle aged, middle class people. Essentially, the yuppies of yesteryear. it's is true that people like les Baxter and even Arthur Lyman experimented in the late 60's with the current pop scene of the 60's. So did Frank Sinatra, so did Sergio mendes. But I have always disliked those songs and recordings. "Born free"? Give me Les Baxter's "shooting star" any day!

I am sure the usual hippies on this forum will dissagree most vigorously, and they are free to post about why they think hippie and tiki is the same or interchangeable. But I would challenge their reasoning, and always have. yes, a person can like both genres. Heck, I like classical music AND country-western, for example.

Of course, I am referring only to the musical elements of tiki. In the design and artwork (especially the recent incarnations from modern tiki artists) there is some shared elements. Tiki art as it is today could be considered to be "trippy", and some of it shares the same density and colors that hippy art does.

And also, surf culture has always had some shared connection between hippy and tiki.

These are my opinions only, but I am sure there are 2 or 3 other people on this forum that would agree with me.

Now here is something controversial, a theory I have: The bachelor pad/lounge scene and the types of people that listened to it back in those days equate FAR more to those people who listen to and like what is known as "smooth jazz" in this time period. I happen to really like the smooth jazz band "The Rippingtons", for example. A lot of their music is tropical themed, but not very authentic. These are hallmarks (in my opinion) of what the original intent of the exotica/lounge scene was. I also think the demographics where essentially the same. The people who listened to what was known in the mid 50's as "beautiful music" or "easy listening" could easily have been transported to this generation, and I think (or at least my theory is) that they would be more into smooth jazz then they would be into surf rock or hippy music.

So, begin the flaming!