Wanted- Lively luau music

Hello again- Its manny the moocher asking for more ideas from the collective. In preparation of my upcoming party I am trying to put together a whopper of a music selection. I currently have:

• 12 CD's from the Ultra Lounge series
• a 2 disc set from Martin Denny
• a greatest hits from Arthur Lyman
• Hulilau Hulas (old versions of classic Hawaii-American Songs)
• Drums of Bora Bora (very tribal)
• Disney Hawaiiana-Lilo & Stitch, Tiki Room
• Don Ho.

Can any of you recommend any additional tiki/hawaiian/luau music that you enjoy or have found to add a real cool touch to a gathering?

When I get the kinks worked out of the first party, I will extend the invitation to all of you in the area (North San Diego County)
for the second one.

I am starting to work on the 7 foot tall cardboard Moai that will flank the sides of my garage for the event.

Thanks

Da Monkeyman

For my parties, I'm partial to Hawaiian stuff:

Bruddah Iz - Facing Future, Alone in IZ World

Sons of Hawaii - Sons of Hawaii

Anything by George Kuo, or by any of the Pahanui boys (Gabby, or his sons Cyril, Martin or Bla) you can rely on to be fantastic.

I also like the Moonlighters, they're more of an old-timey Hawaiian sound, and maybe not great for parties, maybe better for wind-down later.

Moonlighters - Dreamland, Hello Heartstring

'The Forbidden Sounds of Don Tiki'
'Skinny Dip With Don Tiki'

'Idol Pleasures' and
'Suburban Savage' by the Tiki Tones.

Vern

I, too, am partial to vintage (1920s through 50s) Hawaiian music. I had a nice collection before I left them all in a cab after a long night at Trader Vic's and never got them back. :(

A couple of my favorites are/were:

A History of Hawaiian Steel Guitar (mostly lively, good for a party)

Legends of Falsetto (more mellow, my personal favorite of all)

To create a diverse soundtrack for my bar I've been buying all the Hawaiian/Polynesia albums I find at the Goodwill and other thrift shops! Then I transfer them to CD - one album per CDR and then I load them into my 100 disc changer. You hit the random mode and you won't hear the same song all night - or at least the same version. (I think every album from that era has a rendition of 'Hawaiian Wedding Song'?) Of course you have to add the Denny, Lyman and Baxter - you just use the thrift store finds to fill in the blanks.

How about Voodoo?

You know, you've already got about 20 hours of great music on your list. Exactly how long were you planning on this party lasting?

-martin, who finds that the trusty ol' 5cd changer gets him through most parties.

That is a good question regarding the number of hours that I already have compiled.

Truth is, I can never accept anything as it is. I always do something to make it my own. I will most likely poach the "best" music off all of the discs and compile it into one MP3 collection that can shuffle for the duration of the event. Considering that some of the selections from all of those discs can be rather irritating to the mainstream (and me) I find that hand picking will yeild the best result.

Thanks

On 2003-05-02 15:53, Tiki-bot wrote:
I had a nice collection before I left them all in a cab after a long night at Trader Vic's and never got them back. :(

Tiki-bot, that sucks! Don't you hate it when that happens? If you ever leave anything in cab, you might as well kiss it goodbye. I left my virginity in a cab, now that's gone forever too...

it's ok you guys....i am here...i beign the man that has owned EVERY SINGLE HAWAIIAN comp that has vintage tunes on it...the guy that has SCOURE the hawaiian section for singular legendary guitar wizards known for their own personal flair and string styling.

all kidding aside...i can't get enough of the sounds from the far west...in fact int eh teens and twenies no one could. more hawaiian records sold than any other type of music period!

to me there are 2 types of sounds for a lounge...vocal and instumental.

#1 in the voacl catagory HANDS DOWN....

Kalama's Quartet
a reprint exists on folklyric label...GET THIS! (a track or 2 onlegends of flasetto which is grand to say the least.

#1 in the instrumental section GOES TO....

Roy Smeck
a comp is on Yazoo that will BLOW you away! he has SEVERAL LPs that were made available on teh ABC paramount label that are effectastic! find him!

then there is always
King Bennie N
Sol Hoopii
and a slew of others on comps in your local music store...tickling the strings also on Yazoo won't let you down.

sorry to be a know it all...but i just CAN NOT listen to this music enough!

if you feel llost and want something old...the label says everything about the repressing...
Yazoo
Harlequin
Rounder (aka yazoo)

http://www.yazoobluesmailorder.com/

here you go!
there is also some stuff on hawaiian labels that is great too...

That is exactly the info I was looking for. I tend to gravitate toward the older hawaiian music. Back when cowboy music and hawaiian were not far apart. Many cowboy tunes used a ukelele and falsetto yodeling in a folky kind of way.

The old Hawaiian/American standbys (little grass shack, huki lau etc., have a great deal in common with the music style of Roy Rogers, Gene Autry etc)

Thanks a ton for the hot tip

Monkeyman
(haole in the saddle again)

i really didn't see falling in love with a bunch of off key hillbilly types in all varieties being my personal rediscovery of rock music when i listened to STYX fleetwood mac and the moody blues as a kid. but it seems to me that i just like listening to any old recording...radio talk or whatever...so every once in while i hear something new that i like...and i have noticed that the newer music is the harder it is for me to give up $14.00 to hear it over and over...this is of course with few acceptions...today's radio SUCKS ass as hard as public education!!! and recordings are singular...youcan only bear one at a time if you aren't INSANE!

if you like guitar look into andres segovia/classical
if you like rythm look in your local cuban section and get comp from the 30s sextets

if i have to name martin denny then...wow

sorry to bea know it all again

You've got a pretty good collection already, but for the truly hands-free approach, hook up some speakers to your PC and point it at:

http://www.live365.com/stations/brianeh

About 9 hours of killer exotica (with a few surf tracks thrown in to keep it real). This way you won't have to worry about spilling yer Mai Tai into the CD player....

Aloha,

Vic

well...

i have to say that the hands free thing is pretty cool....

and so i move on to the NEXT level...streaming audio is cool...i myself have a live365 station...

though it gets no better than an iPod...line them up and get on with it...several different playlist for the different crowds at your gathering...the early to the late crowd...the only thing they could add to make me happier is an airport extension so i can dj from where i am whenever i am there...mix a drink and the tunes in one place...why not?

i am streaming your tunes now...pardon me whilst i float pleasantly away....

headed to the tiki ti this weekend anyone???

On 2003-05-05 16:11, kooche wrote:
though it gets no better than an iPod...line them up and get on with it...several different playlist for the different crowds at your gathering...

Ex-cell-ent! (said with a nodding grin in Mike Myer's as Wayne World character fashion).

I've heard of this iPod DJ thingy, even heard that some crafty practitioners have figured out how to "scratch" by deftly depressing the controls. But we digress....

Aloha,

Vic