Post #641135 by tiki mick on Wed, Jun 20, 2012 12:57 PM

I think this is a hard assignment for anyone to undertake....because there are strict definitions of "tiki" made by some, and looser definitions by others.

I can totally see the viewpoints from both sides.

I personally like everything mid-century...in my mind, I don't make any distinctions between tiki and other forms of similar architecture, style, art, music....feeling that truly what we find in tiki is pure escapism, not realistic, not culturaly correct...and yes, influenced by atomic age and hollywood.

Never is this more clear then when you have many 50/60's era motels next to each other.

Example: One is called the Mana loa motel, has the lava rock walls, tikis, palm trees and perhaps a rock waterfall...right next door you have the Ali baba motel, with fake middle eastern style including arches, minarets, etc...then next to that you have the Covered Wagon hotel, then next to that the Orbit motel....and the funny thing is, various consistent googie-esque themes are used by ALL of them. By this I mean, fake rock, lava or other siding material on the walls, palms out front, shake roofs....another unifying factor is that all were built around the same time.

personally, my favorite genres are tiki, space age and safari....but they are literally interchangeable in my mind. Same goes for the music. les baxter, for example, did Space, African and tiki recordings. I am firmly in that camp when it comes to this stuff. And the only reason tiki occupies a position of primacy in my mind is because there is more documentation...thanks to people like Sven.