I don't know if this is kosher tiki music, but if Rockabilly is, then why not Son? When I'm in a mood for some music with passion and soul, I love The Buena Vista Social Club. It blew my mind the first time I listened to it. It's great for listening or dancing, with that tropical Afro-Cuban vibe, and all of the musicians featured on the album are freakin' amazing in their own right.

besides, I can't think of anything better to listen to while drinking a Mojito, Cuba Libre, Daiquiri, or a Piña Colada.

While not Exotica per se, it is great music, very rum-kosher.

There is a Latin root to Exotica, but it is only one of three. Without the other three cultures, you don't get Exotica, you get exotic music.

There are many other discussions of Exotica here, and elsewhere on the web:

http://www.fraternalorderofmoai.org/huimalu/viewtopic.php?t=4811

http://randywong.net/exotica/

It's a rich style, with lots of history, and beautifully crafted to accompany a Tiki experience in a great tiki bar with friends, and cocktails. I'm glad you are interested.

Just chiming in to say that I, too, love the Buena Vista Social Club. I bought that album on a whim and from the first song to the last, it truly transported me to another time and place - and isn't that what Exotica music was intended to do? Don't get me wrong, I know quite well that the Buena Vista Social Club is NOT Exotica, but it is great music just the same! :wink:

Speaking of true Exotica music, I just recently picked up Les Baxter's Tamboo!/Skins!: Bongo Party with Les Baxter and it is smooooth! I can't believe I waited so long to buy it. Collecatables/Oldies.com certainly did right when they reissued these albums on a 2-for-1 CD back in 2000. The sound quality is first rate and I love the little paper umbrella that's printed on the actual CD!

Peace,
Peter

Definitely not exotica, but people who appreciate the latin-inspired rhythms from exotica might dig Son Cubano just because it's great music. Plus, it goes well with rum.

My tattoo artist (Flip @ Eights & Aces) did most of my full arm sleeve to it, that & Morphine who I find to be quite exotic without being Exotica...

On 2008-07-06 18:19, Chinarose wrote:
besides, I can't think of anything better to listen to while drinking a Mojito, Cuba Libre, Daiquiri, or a Piña Colada.

By all means, since these are non-Tiki cocktails, why should one not dance to non-Tiki music while enjoying them? :D

The greatest achievement of the movie and soundtrack of Buena Vista Social Club is that it almost singlehandedly saved the classic Cubano music from extinction. It had survived for long time because Cuba was so isolated, but by the late 80s/early 90s the younger generation was heavily into rap and other "hipper", Western music styles and relegated their fathers sound to the museum. Along came Wim Wenders and Ry Cooder with Buena Vista Social Club, creating a Cuba fad in Europe that brought waves of tourists to the island, who all wanted to hear THAT sound. Since it was not extinct yet, the tradition got a rejuvenating shot in the arm, and gave the Cubans something to be proud of. Nowadays the one cultural icon that is mentioned as often to tourists as Ernest Hemingway is the Buena Vista Social Club, and there are live bands playing in every bar and Hotel.

On 2008-07-06 18:15, Chinarose wrote:
I don't know if this is kosher tiki music, but if Rockabilly is, then why not Son? When I'm in a mood for some music with passion and soul, I love The Buena Vista Social Club. It blew my mind the first time I listened to it. It's great for listening or dancing, with that tropical Afro-Cuban vibe, and all of the musicians featured on the album are freakin' amazing in their own right.

Exoticas inspiration comes from "an escape to far away (usually tropical) places". It would take more fingers and toes than I have to count the number of Exotica tunes with an Afro Cuban rhythm involved in there somewhere. Cuba and Africa are both exotic locations traveled heavily by traders for hundreds of years. Granted, exotica music is for the most part "lounge jazz", but it's roots come from all over the pacific and Carribean. So I say YES, Buena Vista Social Club is kosher.

Tiki Bill.

On 2008-07-07 18:05, bigbrotiki wrote:

On 2008-07-06 18:19, Chinarose wrote:
besides, I can't think of anything better to listen to while drinking a Mojito, Cuba Libre, Daiquiri, or a Piña Colada.

By all means, since these are non-Tiki cocktails, why should one not dance to non-Tiki music while enjoying them? :D

doesn't anything automatically become pseudo-tiki if I serve it in a tiki mug? :)

On 2008-07-07 22:51, Chinarose wrote:

On 2008-07-07 18:05, bigbrotiki wrote:

On 2008-07-06 18:19, Chinarose wrote:
besides, I can't think of anything better to listen to while drinking a Mojito, Cuba Libre, Daiquiri, or a Piña Colada.

By all means, since these are non-Tiki cocktails, why should one not dance to non-Tiki music while enjoying them? :D

doesn't anything automatically become pseudo-tiki if I serve it in a tiki mug? :)

uh-huh, I like my martikis shaken while I'm crawlin' in somthin' made by the farm...

I was fortunate enough to see their concert in L.A. in the Wiltern Theater a few years back. I saw the whole group, it was great. Another time I saw Eliades Ochoa at the Roxy.

Interesting someone should bring up the BVSC. This is terrific music, soulful and passionate (like you said); new recordings of old songs of an old genre of folk music of Cuba -- one that preceeds the Cuban dance music most of us know. But it is not Tiki music. In fact, there really is no such thing as 'Tiki Music', unless one looks to some of the music (not all) of Les Baxter and Martin Denny as being representative. And it is far wiser and more accurate to refer to said 'Tiki Music' as Exotica, as Tiki implies Polynesia only and not the rest of the exotic locales of the world -- locales of which both Les Baxter and Martin Denny explored in their own unique musical fashion. Then, of course, there's the short-lived spin-off groups and bandwagon-jumper albums that followed Baxter and Denny's sound(s), but I won't go there.

But neither is the BVSC's music Exotica. Exotica music is a unique musical expression of far away, exotic places, conjured up and composed largely by those and for those who didn't/don't live in such locales (nor have ever been to such). On the other hand, some -- i.e., Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman -- actually did live in such exotic places, albeit in urban surroundings. Did they consider their place of residence exotic? Probably not so much as they thought of neighbouring islands and the mysterious islands of long ago that they could not access as exotic locales. But the music they conjured up sounded like no other musical form, it wasn't cultural, traditional. Whereas the music of the BVSC IS cultural, traditional -- hence, authentic.

Exotica music is rather about imagination and fantasy; and its sound evolved into a short-lived musical genre at a time when leisurely travel to far away places became more accessible to the middle and lower classes, particularly in North America. And whilst one could classify traditional Hawaiian music or any of the forms of progressive Hawaiian music that still incorporate traditional Hawaiian form, rhythm, and instrumentation as 'Tiki Music', traditional Hawaiian music is not Exotica; not Exotica because of its authenticity and tradition. Exotic, not Exotica.

A further paradigm to illustrate my point:
Augie Colon brought Latin (Cuban) rhythms to the Martin Denny group, transforming a George Shearing-esque jazz sound into more of a Cal Tjader-styled sound. At the time and slightly before, this Latin fusion into jazz, and vice versa, was one that was happening all over the place, especially in New York city. One could compare the styles of Tito Puente and Perez Prado -- they both were Cuban bandleaders inside and out and both played firery Cuban dance music often mixed with jazz, but, with the exception of some of his earlier recordings, Perez Prado's music wasn't traditionally Cuban along the same lines as Tito Puente's music. Prado took his firery brand of Cuban music further, adding jazz and rock rhythms, electric organ, electric guitar, etc., -- all making his music less traditionally Cuban. Still, it does SCREAM of Cuba in its performance, despite the infusion of musical styles from the U.S. Perez Prado could possibly be the first Cuban to make Progressive Cuban music.

It was/is often claimed that Perez Prado was trying to appeal to the white-bred audiences of North America; and with the political relationship of Cuba and the U.S.A. in the 1950s and '60s, it makes a lot of sense. And it is perhaps because of this implementation and fusion of Western instrumentation and beats (and general imaginative musical fun and exploration) that Perez Prado fits so well into the colloquial genre 'Lounge Music', whereas Tito Puente fits in less so: authentic versus inauthentic, traditional versus non-traditional. That's not to say that certain artists and genres within the 'Lounge Music' category aren't authentic (the jazz ones in particular, of which Lounge music is based heavily), but when it comes to World music, then it becomes a different story. Why? Because such World music that is unauthentic, untraditional should evoke a romanticised ideal of an exotic locale or style of music, not be representative of it. And perhaps this is where the kitsch factor comes in. It is for this same principle that the Buena Vista Social Club doesn't fit into the 'Lounge Music' category, either: it's too folk, too authentic, too traditional, too serious. Though it's good music, it isn't fun and whimsical, experimental music. It's traditional folk music reflective of its society and social way of life -- sort of a Cuban Blues.

As far as Rockabilly and Surf music, though I enjoy both, I certainly do not include these forms of music as 'Tiki Music' or 'Lounge' music (of which the former is merely a component of the latter). Some people associate these two genres with 'Tiki' and Lounge music because of their proximity in decades (the 1950s & '60s) and because the music is still round and being played today -- a link to the past. But cultural fashion/time period is the only link between Rockabilly and Exotica and Lounge music. Exotica and Lounge music is non-rock music; adult music of the easy listening variety -- largely jazz-based -- of the 1950s and '60s, and Rockabilly couldn't be further from it. Surf music ties in perhaps more realistically with the two ('Tiki' and Lounge) as it deals with elemental similarities of Hawaii, is clean-sounding and instrumental, and as many surf music groups covered easy listening songs of the day, as well as traditional/contemporary Hawaiian songs.

A tiki is a statue, a totem. It is not a culture, not a musical style, not a decorative style. There is more to totems in the world than tiki; more to the tropics, bamboo, thatch, and grass huts than Hawaii.

So embrace the Buena Vista Social Club for what it is: Cuban.

[ Edited by: DJ Terence Gunn 2008-08-10 14:10 ]

It is nice to see such an erudite definition of the various musical genres that make good accompaniment to the the Tiki experience. I really appreciate it when someone spends the time to compose an intelligently written post like this, and I agree, that, technically, in a historic sense, there was no "Tiki music", ( just like there were no "Tiki Cocktails").

But :

On 2008-08-09 15:40, DJ Terence Gunn wrote:
A tiki is a statue, a totem. It is not a culture, not a musical style, not a decorative style.

Basically you are saying that all my writings are a sham, then? That the fact that I identified and have proven the Tiki to be THE symbol of the mainland Polynesian style of the 50s and 60s (as opposed to mainland Polynesian style in the 30s and 40s), in decor, architecture, graphic design, and other applied arts, does not warrant its examples to be called Tiki style?

And that, the Tiki being its figurehead, the escapist lifestyle lived out in Polynesian restaurants, bars, backyards and parties, which added cocktails, fashion and music to the mix, did not make up its own pop culture, now termed Tiki culture? And that the re-appreciation of that period today, with its creative outpour of art, decor, mixology and music, (which are all represented on this board) shall not be called Tiki culture either?

What is it then?

I think, Sven, that you codified something that had never been codified before.
When I first read BOT, all of a sudden everything was made clear. A common thread was identified for me. Basically, you gave a name to something that never had a name. In my opinion.
BOT is a work of genius.
I agree with DJ on the music part, though. Rockabilly and surf have very little to do with the exotica. I have always said that exotica and lounge was performed by expert studio jazz musicians. Rockabilly, rock, surf, ect...I hate to say it but for the most part they are created by non-professionals. By professional I mean the ability to play jazz or classical, sight read, etc..As good as Dick Dale is, I doubt he does those things except at the most rudimentary level.
But the trend nowadays is to merge genres. Surf blended with exotica, ect..or surf with "tiki" imagery/themes/artwork.

Well, the Surf that I like is Rock’n’Roll Exotica. The two genres even shared some standards. Tiki necklaces and statues could be seen around surfers’ necks and homes. Before ANYONE else did it.

[ Edited by: Kawentzmann 2008-08-12 12:02 ]

[ Edited by: Kawentzmann 2008-08-12 13:30 ]

On 2008-08-12 10:22, lucas vigor wrote:
I agree with DJ on the music part, though. Rockabilly and surf have very little to do with the exotica. I have always said that exotica and lounge was performed by expert studio jazz musicians. Rockabilly, rock, surf, ect...I hate to say it but for the most part they are created by non-professionals. By professional I mean the ability to play jazz or classical, sight read, etc..As good as Dick Dale is, I doubt he does those things except at the most rudimentary level.
But the trend nowadays is to merge genres. Surf blended with exotica, ect..or surf with "tiki" imagery/themes/artwork.

I know, I am not really into blending like that, either. But I am not against mixing. :)

So you think Terence is simply not aware of anything else other than music, and unaware of the whole background of Tiki culture, that's why he throws it into the same pot with terms like "Tiki music"?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-08-12 11:17 ]

I think he is right when it comes to the music part of his statement.

But I think that when it comes to "tiki" culture, literally, you wrote the book.

Though it is true that a tiki is really just a sort of totem pole, I think you pretty much defined "tiki" as the name of a style of art/music/culture and even architecture.

And when a tiki newbie first reads your book, they go "aha!" so THATs what it is all about!!
At least that's what I thought when my sister first bought me the book. I did not know what the scene was called at the time. And I had been listening to Arthur Lyman records (and all the other exotic themed recordings..cuban..latin american, african, middle eastern, asian,) and lusting for fake cantonese food since I was 5!
I grew up here in socal, and always wondered why small motels looked so cool, and remember the tiki, space age and googie buildings all around Disneyland is the early 70s. I just never knew there was an actual word for all of this fun stuff. It is my opinion that you provided us with that word. Which is "tiki".

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2008-08-12 11:38 ]

Well, thank you. And what makes it "worse", I even insist to spell Tiki with a capital "T" all the time, because it was the mythical demi-god Tiki that gave tiki statues their name, and thus, as an act of respect and ancestor worship, I invoke the mana-increasing name of Tiki even if it might be considered grammatically incorrect.