Post #790731 by HotelCharlieEcho on Fri, Oct 26, 2018 5:02 PM

Since nobody has answered the South Pacific soundtrack question yet, I'll give my two cents on that topic too.

If you're looking for songs to add to a high-brow, literate tiki bar playlist, I think the whole soundtrack fits just fine. I know the musical isn't considered strictly tiki by purists (are there any tikis used in the movie? can't remember), but in my mind it's one of the three legs of the Hollywood stool inspiring the mid-century Polynesia frenzy that in turn pushed tiki culture to its golden era, the other two being From Here to Eternity (1953) and Blue Hawaii (1961). Tiki nerds will enjoy the reference.

But if you're looking for something to blend in with a more diverse playlist of Bing Crosby, Don Ho, etc., then in my opinion the only song from the soundtrack that really works is Bali Hai (a whole thread on the song here: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=25123&forum=11&hilite=south pacific). That said, you don't want Bloody Mary's version from the actual soundtrack - you want one of the solid early covers that were done by Bing, Peggy Lee or Sinatra. For my money I would take Peggy Lee's, but I have always been a sucker for her music.

TL,DR: Your South Pacific soundtrack idea is a good one, and Bali Hai is the best of the bunch.