Post #610244 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Fri, Oct 14, 2011 4:58 PM

I understand where Lucas and emspace are coming from to a certain degree. I think they react to Surf music (as one example) being allowed in this forum in the same way I would react if I saw an Swiss Chalet-themed apartment allowed in the Locating Tiki forum.

One radical way to fix this would be to have Hanford divide this forum into "Traditional Tiki Music" and "Music of the Modern Tiki Scene". Over in the Traditional Tiki Music forum, all you would find would be discussions on Hawaiian and Exotica music. That would solve the problem, although one forum would get a lot more traffic than the other.

So why isn't this an issue in the other forums? Why don't we need a "Traditional Tiki Architecture" and "Modern Tiki Architecture"? Why don't we need a "Traditional Tiki Carving" and "Tiki Revival Carving" forum? Why the huge schism in Tiki Music?

Because there's a difference in the aspect of the forums. General Tiki, Locating Tiki, and Creating Tiki are all about the artistic and historical aspects of the Poly-pop movement. Tiki Food & Drink, and Tiki Events tend to be more about the social aspects of the movement. Tiki Music is a hybrid. It's got its artistic and historical aspect (which I think is the primary appeal to users like emspace and Lucas) and then it has a social aspect which is key to the DJs and Bands playing at restaurants and modern Tiki Revival events.

Poly-Pop architecture, decor, and the carved Tiki himself are more foundational to the Poly-Pop movement, because they provide the physical environment under which the social aspects can be enjoyed. The physical environments of the Tiki Movement in the 50s & 60s were SO compelling in fact, that they have become the umbrella that a bunch of other mid-century nostalgia groups have congregated under. In the 60s, you could have seen Hawaiian, Burlesque, Jazz, Swing or Samba music at a Tiki venue. At today's Tiki Revival events it's become even more of a fusion, with surf, rockabilly, etc. thrown in.

I'm trying to think of another themed-movement of the 60s that can even compare. Maybe vintage Las Vegas and the way it has attracted other nostalgia groups besides Rat-Pack aficionados.

Now suppose, for an instant, that the Poly-pop movement had died in the 40s with Don The Beachcomber and a few South Seas bars. Suppose instead, another mid-century movement, the Viking Smorgasbord Restaurant was the one that flowered and grew. There was already one of these restaurants in every major city, and like the Polynesian restaurants, they were a mongrel hybrid containing Scandinavian, Alpine, and Bavarian elements. Suppose giant Viking Longhouse restaurants sprung up in every city with outrigger beams carved like dragon or dog heads, lavish wooden interiors with intricately carved surfaces and Viking longboats hanging from the ceilings and a stylized funeral pyre out front to light the entrance. They would serve a wonderful array of Smorgasbord foods and fine-crafted German beers and ales. Suppose that was the most compelling restaurant and apartment theme of the 60s?

I can guarantee that in this forum, folks would be saying, "How did Surf and Burlesque become Smorgasbord? We should only be discussing Yodeling and Polka music, since that's what they played in those restaurants." And other folks would be saying, "Yodeling and Polka music is fine in limited amounts, but when I'm at Valhalla VI, I want to have my Viking soul stirred by dark Nordic Surf and I want to watch a hot valkyrie in a winged helmet strip down to pasties and a chastity belt to a bump-and-grind band."

But instead of the Viking Smorgasbord, it was the Polynesian Restaurant that went full mutant and evolved to such a cultural freak, and now it is the compelling venue that all these other mid-century subcultures are getting together at.

I'm all for purity in the history of Tiki and foundations of the movement. However, for the current Tiki Scene, I want it to be a bastard. As long as the new elements ENHANCE instead of DILUTE the experience. I think emspace sees these new elements as diluting the history of the movement, where I see the best of them as enhancing the current social aspect of the movement. If over in Tiki Drinks, we can embrace a new cocktail recipe that complexly adds new ingredients to the classic rum base, why can't we in Tiki Music embrace a band that melds Hawaiian and Rockabilly music together and creates something that is eminently danceable in the bar after I've eaten my dinner listening to Exotica in the dining room?