B
Joined: Aug 10, 2004
Posts: 9222
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B
On 2010-04-01 15:55, lucas vigor wrote:
On 2010-04-01 14:50, aquarj wrote:
So personally, I would exclude rockabilly and even most surf. Surf is an interesting one because a lot of songs share some of that minor key exotic feeling, but it's oriented toward more of a teenage audience. The kids at the dance, as opposed to their parents at the bar. But surf was mostly still from the era of ballrooms and matching jackets. The same transition over just a couple years that carried the shift to more garage, psych, and later punk, coincided with the beginning of the end for the classic poly pop culture that we celebrate on TC. So that's part of why these other genres seem more clearly excluded to me, but that somehow surf almost fits.
-Randy
This is a sentiment I personally shared for the longest time. To me, it was always simple: If the music did not have some connection to jazz pop, it was not lounge/exotica. I always said that rock music and all it's derivations (including Surf) were not Tiki. That was an opinion I kept for many years. I would especially get infuriated when Buffet fans or Hippy music fans would insist thier music was Tiki, or should be discussed on this forum.
My opinions came from my belief in the strong difference between professional, trained musicians and amatuer, un-trained musicians. The former being who invented exotica (Baxter, Lyman, Denny, Esquivel) and the latter being some dude with long hair and a guitar in his garage, and knowledge of only three or four chords.
I felt that there was an inherent better quality to the music pre-1964, in that almost all of it was created and performed by pro, trained musicians.
However, since that time I have expanded my opinion of what I think constitutes Tiki Music. For example, back then, had you played me a Ding Dong Devil's song, (apologies, ding dongs!) I would have said emphatically NO! Not Tiki! Not even close! They are a garage punk band....
But a closer look, and taking in to consideration the CURRENT Tiki scene, with it's vast connection to surf, punk and low-brow art/hot-rod culture...would make me change that opinion and now include the Ding Dong Devils as a true tiki band. Same goes for the Ghastly ones and the creepy creeps. They are not out of place at a tiki event.
Look, I have taken a lot of flack for my purist stance on what is Tiki music over the years. I have modified my once hardline stance so that I now can accept those bands that are not jazz based, (performed by guys with short hair and suits, and recorded by guys wearing white lab coats), as being part of our Tiki scene!
Jim Tikiyaki said it best: Why have limits? I agree now.
My personal preference will always be for the original, jazz based exotica and even Hapa Haole music...but can music be good even if not technically inside those parameters? Can a simple 3 chord song be fullfilling and great anyway? You bet!
I am in two "Tiki" bands that are on extreme poles of this style. The Smoking Menehunes is possibly the most Tiki band I have ever heard, because it is straightforward Hapa Haole style, same as you would have heard in the Waikiki Hotels in 1961. But is it popular? No way. Only popular with people over the age of 70, it seems. The Hula Girls technically are only marjinally connected to the original Tiki scene of the golden era...yet, the music is GREAT in my opinion, and I LOVE it! And as I said before, the lyrics are all about Tiki!
I wonder if Lucas still stands by what he said above?
Hmmmmmm?
Jeff(btd)
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