Post #651347 by tiki mick on Sun, Sep 9, 2012 11:48 AM

On 2012-09-09 10:41, Bora Boris wrote:
Sorry John-O,

I'm not going to let you turn this into an Anti-Axis of Tiki post.

Your Zombie Road Trip, Jungle Style and Frank Bowers posts, along with your bar crawls and love of live bands that post on Tiki Central qualify as contributions. Lucas' huge passion for Hapa Haole and other great music counts as well as his interest in Buena Park attractions like Jungle Island and the Japanese Deer Park, ATP with his Do It Yourself - Home Bar and Cooking posts as well as his love of Don's and the Tonga Room at the Fairmont, all get a pass in my book.

Like I said, sorry. :lol:

I think you are absolutely right (and I thank you for your support!)

All of us members of the "pot stirrers club" are very passionate about tiki. hell, I was into it before I even knew it's name. My first real experience here was in 2003 (posting under a different name) and that was when I received Book of Tiki as a birthday gift. Suffice to say I read this book over and over for about 2 weeks, utterly amazed and transfixed on what I was seeing. Someone actually took the time to compile, archive and describe in great detail not only the world of tiki, but the cultural reasons for it's existance. For that, I am eternally greatful to Sven Kirsten. I agree basically with his entire take on what tiki is, with the exception that I wholeheartedly dissagree with his take on the tiki music scene...barring that, his book is my guide. I use it whenever I judge personally what tiki is and what tiki is not.
But even before that (as some here know) I was into Arthur Lyman and Martin Denny. My love for that was based on the fact that the first three albums I ever bought myself (when I was 6, can you believe that?) was "meet the beatles","Rock around the clock" and "Taboo". The beatles record was hardly listened to, as I found it an instant turn off....but the Bill Haley record was worn out completely. The Arthur Lyman was a revalation to me. I read the liner notes over and over. This was 1970 or so, so you can imagine I had noone to talk to about this stuff.
As a young child (and as was mentioned by Boris) I was always searching out tiki stuff...being a big fan of Disney's tahitian terrace, adventureland...and anything that was remotely like it. Me and my little brother wrote our own science fiction stories of an entire world that was a jungle...we were really into it.
In 1983 I was stationed in hawaii...and while every single one of my army friends was into the local metal acts in honolulu...I was searching out hapa haole stuff and going to the vintage bars on hotel street looking for that feeling of the past. I spent hours on the bridge of our army ship speaking with the old first mate, CW3 Richard "dick" Elmore, an eccentric guy who lived in Waikiki during the golden years, and had seen both Denny and Lyman live many times. His stories were very entertaining and educational to me...and helped cement my love of tiki.
In the end, I would love to keep tiki pure. I disagree with John O and ATP very little, and probably only when it comes to music...because again, I like to see it kept pure..and I don't really like the neo-tiki scene as regards the music. For me, it is only pure exotica and definately Hapa Haole music that rules supreme. I also like to see tiki kept small...almost a special secret among us...something the rest of the world does not get...and I fear the advent of neo-tiki dillutes things too much.
I love tiki central, and thank god for it. So much good stuff here!
And unlike a lot of other forums, this forum has a lot of really talented people...I mean REALLY talented people! Most everyone contributes something good here. Very little crap. Even the bands I don't particularly like are excellent musicians...but just go to any tiki event with vending and you will see excellent hand made stuff. I only wish I had more money or I would have bought something from every table.