Unpopular Tiki Opinions

On 2018-08-23 11:01, MrFab wrote:
Wonder if Denny knew that, and what he thought of it!

Your question is answered exactly and in detail here on the Telepathica web site. For posterity, this is the text of that page, and it relates clearly that Martin Denny was made aware but wasn't sure how to take it:

*(Unbeknownst to me, in 1989, Genesis P-Orridge sent a record I made with his daugher Caresse P-Orridge called, "R.U. Xperienced?" to Mr. Martin Denny.
This is what happened.)

Attached is a foto of what he sent me which reads as follows:

August 1, 1989

Turning Shrines
P.O.Box 337
Boston, MA 02180

Dear Sirs,
Just recently I received a LP addressed to me from Brighton England entitled "R.U. Xperienced?" I am curious as to who may have sent it to me. Is it for real or a put on ? I have not been able to detirmine (sic) which. It's so far out and I'm inclined to think someone was on a heavy trip when it was recorded.

A few years ago I received another LP made in England titled "Throbbing Gristle's" Greatest Hits. It was put out by Industrial Record's, London. At the bottom of the liner notes written by a Claude Bessy was a line that read "this album is dedicated to Martin Denny". Have you ever heard of this record? At the bottom of the LP jacket cover the slogan read: Entertainment through Pain" . There is a reference to a P Orridge which is also mentioned in the R.U. Xperienced LP.

Could you clear up this mystery to me. I do have a sense of humor. However both these recordings leaves me incredulous that someone would go to the expense of producing both of these records or is it intended to be a shocker?

I would appreciate a reply.

Sincerely,
Martin Denny

Included was a photocopy of the back of the TG greatest hits sleeve.

So about a year later I was working on my solo Wax Trax project and I called Mr. Denny and I tell him I received his letter and I'm getting back to him and he replies, " It took you a year to respond to me !!!!" I excused myself and explained that I had been on tour a lot and living in England and that I'm working on a song about this now and that I was taping the conversation, (which I don't think really registered with him). So we began talking about Throbbing Gristle and we had a funny, pleasant chat which I sampled quite a bit of and used on my song. He provided such concise sound bites.

He did have a funny anecdote about when he started his career people in LA were making fun of his records and one time he heard a radio dj announce that he had a new record by Martin Denny and he played this horribly out of tune piss take on him. So he went out looking for the actual record and he found it and the cover was a close up of 2 hands on a piano keyboard. But if you looked closely, they were 2 left hands.

When my Fred CD came out I sent him a copy but I never heard back from him. Maybe he didn't have a CD player ?

telepathic regards,
Ĩed*

(Edited to add photo of Martin Denny's letter on his cool stationery.)

[ Edited by: AceExplorer 2018-08-23 13:18 ]

Most interesting thread on TC in a long time.

I love how this thread keeps circling back to Boyd Rice and Throbbing Gristle.

If we love tiki so much, and tropical paradises, why not go to one of the sources more often?

Because I'm poor, perhaps?

Recent Tiki History

1959 Adventures in Paradise TV show premiers.

1959 Hawaiian Eye TV show premiers.

1964 Gilligan’s Island TV show premiers.

1966 Boyd Rice wears a cheap Robert Hall Hawaiian Shirt and the Tiki Necklace sold with it to elementary school. His favorite TV show at this time is Hawaiian Eye, already in reruns. He is part of a huge group of imaginative, often West Coast baby boomers who were more interested in Tikis and Hawaii than the Hippie Beatle Drug shenanigans just starting to explode nationally.

1968 The Hawaii Five-0 TV show premiers.

1969 Retro rockers Sha-Na-Na play 'Teen Angel' before Jimi Hendrix goes on the stage at Woodstock.

1969 Arthur Lyman and his Combo continue playing live in Honolulu.

1973 American Graffiti movie is released. Retro is now cool; a PG rating ensures that younger kids just coming of age pack the seats. They like the music.

1973 American Graffiti double-LP set goes triple platinum. Classic ultra-hip mood music like Green Onions and The Stroll blows boomer’s minds when played on 1970’s stereo sets with killer speakers turned ALL the way up.

1975 English group ‘Throbbing Gristle’ formed, coining the term Industrial Music. They used Nazi imagery, pornography, glaring lights and clashing noise in their performances. Their last show was in 1981, in San Francisco. Classic Exotica was played at the end of their concerts, partly just to cool the audience down so no riots would take place.

STAY TUNED KIDS...

Would the Brady Bunch episode with the cursed tiki be in there somewhere?

Skip - you bet. It’s coming.
I don’t know why nobody’s done a list like this before here on TC.

On 2018-08-24 06:51, tikiskip wrote:
Would the Brady Bunch episode with the cursed tiki be in there somewhere?

Hell, you could make a good argument that there are loads of folks whose first exposure to / knowledge of "tiki" comes from that very episode.

It's fascinating how a LOT of stuff happened in the first 5 years after Hawaii statehood. You wonder if even surf culture was part of Hawaii obsession, or the other way around inside out.

Recent Tiki History

1951 Les Baxter’s The Quiet Village song is released on an unsuspecting public. Oddly it is about a village in Africa, not Hawaii.

1957 Martin Denny releases his version of Les Baxter’s Quiet Village song. By 1959 it reaches number 4 on the pop charts, making even Elvis Presley a bit nervous.

1959 Hawaii becomes a state. The country goes wild for anything Polynesian.

1959 Adventures in Paradise TV show premiers.

1959 Hawaiian Eye TV show premiers.

1961 Elvis stars in Blue Hawaii.

1961 The Beach Boys record Surfin’.

1962 The Trade Winds motel chain cracks open a few.

1963 Jan & Dean record Surf City

1963 The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room opens. Walt himself supervises all the details, including that not a single nail, electrical cord, screw or speaker wire shows anywhere inside. The rain effect, subtly moving Tiki poles and birds from the rafters are still astounding.

1963 The film Beach Party opens to an appreciative audience.

1964 The Ilikai opens; the first ultra-modern high rise hotel on Waikiki beach. It’s the one Jack Lord smiles from the top of. A frantic land grab starts and Honolulu tourism skyrockets.

1964 Gilligan’s Island TV show premiers.

1966 Boyd Rice wears a cheap Robert Hall Hawaiian Shirt and the Tiki Necklace sold with it to elementary school. His favorite TV show at this time is Hawaiian Eye, already in reruns. He is part of a huge group of imaginative, often West Coast baby boomers who were more interested in Tikis and Hawaii than the Hippie Beatle Drug shenanigans just starting to explode nationally.

1967 I Dream of Jeannie visits Waikiki for real, visits Duke’s, stays at the Ilikai and hangs out with Don Ho.

1968 The Hawaii Five-0 TV show premiers.

1969 Retro rockers Sha-Na-Na play Teen Angel before Jimi Hendrix goes on the stage at Woodstock.

1969 Arthur Lyman and his Combo continue playing live in Honolulu.

1971 Disneyworld’s Polynesian Village opens for business.

1972 Oahu’s North Shore surfing gets real popular with Californian surfers.

1972 The Brady Bunch visits Waikiki for real; Greg gets cursed, tanned and shows off on his shortboard. Mr. Brady throws back a few tall ones with Florence. The girls learn to hula. The entire nation feels like they just visited Hawaii.

1973 American Graffiti movie is released. Retro is now cool; a PG rating ensures that younger kids just coming of age pack the seats.

1973 American Graffiti 2-LP set goes triple platinum. Classic retro mood music like Green Onions and The Stroll blows boomer’s minds when played on early 1970’s stereo sets with killer speakers turned ALL the way up.

1975 English group ‘Throbbing Gristle’ formed, coining the term Industrial Music. They used Nazi imagery, pornography, glaring lights and clashing noise in their performances. Their last show was in 1981, in San Francisco. Classic Exotica was played at the end of their concerts, partly just to cool the audience down so no riots would take place.

I just wanted to see these side by side...

On 2018-08-24 12:21, Hakalugi wrote:
I just wanted to see these side by side...

Seeing that is inordinately satisfying.

Recent Tiki History

1951 Les Baxter’s The Quiet Village song is released on an unsuspecting public. Oddly it is about a village in Africa, not Hawaii.

1957 Martin Denny releases his version of Les Baxter’s Quiet Village song. By 1959 it reaches number 4 on the pop charts, making Elvis Presley a bit nervous.

1959 Hawaii becomes a state. The country goes wild for anything Polynesian.

1959 Adventures in Paradise TV show premiers.

1959 Hawaiian Eye TV show premiers.

1961 Elvis stars in Blue Hawaii.

1961 The Beach Boys record Surfin’.

1962 The Trade Winds motel chain cracks open a few.

1963 Jan & Dean record Surf City

1963 The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room opens. Walt himself supervises all the details, including that not a single nail, electrical cord, screw or speaker wire shows anywhere inside. The rain effect, subtly moving Tiki poles and birds from the rafters are still astounding.

1963 The film Beach Party opens to an appreciative audience.

1964 The Ilikai opens; the first ultra-modern high rise hotel on Waikiki beach. It’s the one Jack Lord smiles from the top of. A frantic land grab starts and Honolulu tourism skyrockets.

1964 Gilligan’s Island TV show premiers.

1966 Boyd Rice wears a cheap Robert Hall Hawaiian Shirt and the Tiki Necklace sold with it to elementary school. His favorite TV show at this time is Hawaiian Eye, already in reruns. He is part of a huge group of imaginative, often West Coast baby boomers who were more interested in Tikis and Hawaii than the Hippie Beatle Drug shenanigans just starting to explode nationally.

1967 I Dream of Jeannie visits Waikiki for real, visits Duke’s, stays at the Ilikai and hangs out with Don Ho.

1968 The Hawaii Five-0 TV show premiers.

1969 Retro rockers Sha-Na-Na play Teen Angel before Jimi Hendrix goes on the stage at Woodstock.

1969 Arthur Lyman and his Combo continue playing live in Honolulu.

1971 Disneyworld’s Polynesian Village opens for business. Restaurants and bars in the Orlando area stock a LOT more Tiki Mugs, as does the Village itself.

1972 Oahu’s North Shore surfing gets real popular with Californian surfers.

1972 The Brady Bunch visits Waikiki for real; Greg gets cursed, tanned and shows off on his shortboard. Mr. Brady throws back a few tall ones with Florence. The girls learn to hula. The entire nation feels like they just visited Hawaii.

1973 American Graffiti movie is released. Retro is now cool; a PG rating ensures that younger kids just coming of age pack the seats.

1973 American Graffiti 2-LP set goes triple platinum. Classic retro mood music like Green Onions and The Stroll blows boomer’s minds when played on early 1970’s stereo sets with killer speakers turned ALL the way up.

1975 English group ‘Throbbing Gristle’ formed, coining the term Industrial Music. They used Nazi imagery, pornography, glaring lights and clashing noise in their performances. Their last show was in 1981, in San Francisco. Classic Exotica was played at the end of their concerts, partly just to cool the audience down so no riots would take place.

1976 Boyd Rice first listens to Martin Denny albums given to him by a biker friend of his father’s. He starts collecting Martin Denny records around this time.

1978 Grease hits movie screens and the whole world goes nutzo over Olivia and John singing pseudo-50’s songs and dancing in penny loafers and white socks. Japan starts dressing in fluffy dresses and greasing their thick black hair. Even Michael Jackson sits up and takes notice, borrowing the Ravoltish dance moves for the rest of his career...

1978 Boyd Rice sees English group Throbbing Gristle for the first time in London.

1978 Boyd Rice goes to Kelbo’s for the first time. He has a drink that arrives in a skull shaped mug. On fire.

1979 Arthur Lyman and his Combo continue to play at the New Otani in Honolulu.

Shaping up to be a great list, Cammo. Couple thoughts:

Wasn't the North Shore popular long before 1972? Waimea Bay pops up in surf rock lyrics in the early '60s.

I thought Michael Jackson got his 'moonwalk' moves from James Brown. Unless 'Grease' inspired different dances from MJ.

Gotta add "Kon Tiki" and "(Tales of the) South Pacific." Or is the '40s not recent enough?

[ Edited by: MrFab 2018-08-25 11:42 ]

[ Edited by: MrFab 2018-08-25 11:48 ]

"Wasn't the North Shore popular long before 1972?"

Check out the history of it - locals wouldn't let mainlanders surf the North Shore until the very early 70's. The battle for the North Shore changed surfing forever.

"I thought Michael Jackson got his 'moonwalk' moves from James Brown. Unless 'Grease' inspired different dances from MJ."

I think he got the moonwalk from WAY before James Brown, and the rest from Grease; leather jacket, pennyloafers, white socks, on the toes poses, silhouette moves. Check out the Grease dances, they're amazing.

"Gotta add Kon Tiki and Tales of the South Pacific."

Then I'd have to go back to Melville's Typee, which truly started it all.
And I really think people read too much into Mitchener; South Pacific is just a bunch of pub tales he heard down there.

This list is really about the supposed "rediscovery" of Tiki, which looks more and more like a myth to me as the list fills out.

I was heavily into the industrial scene in my youth, but never connected that with tiki. I did have (might still have) TGs Greatest hits on cassette, and it never registered as tiki influenced.

That being said, my interest in tiki and industrial music grew independently of each other.

What's more interesting is that those of us who were into industrial were sorta anti-fad and anti-pop culture, so it's ironic to me that we find ourselves in this stereotype of "riverheads turned tikiphiles". The more it changes, the more we stay the same...

[ Edited by: tikitube 2018-08-30 08:18 ]

On 2018-08-30 08:16, tikitube wrote:

What's more interesting is that those of us who were into industrial were sorta anti-fad and anti-pop culture

I was really into industrial music as well and agree with this. The conscious rejection of that sort of stuff.

However, I also feel that, in whole, it describes a fairly particular and narrow slice of industrial fandom/fans, something like your stereotypical goths. While there were certainly a lot of folks who were rigidly like that, there was also a very tongue-in-cheek element of dark humour. I always thought it was hilarious that TG went as far as to dedicate that record to Martin Denny. When TG came out, I don't think there was anything less cool than exotica music - they were yer grandparents' records. So it still ran very much against the grain, playing those records after gigs and doing era-correct photo shoots. And going against the grain was the essence of Throbbing Gristle.

I've always felt that approach was one of the gateways that brought the punks to tiki.

On 2018-08-23 11:01, MrFab wrote:
Yeah, I think the back of that Throbbing Gristle album actually reads "Dedicated to Martin Denny." Wonder if Denny knew that, and what he thought of it!

Did TG make any actual exotica-inspired music?

YES!!! Look on the 20 Jazz Funk Greats album and the Journey Through a Body album. Both include electronic exotica tracks!! Quite good I may add!! :)

On 2018-08-23 11:46, AceExplorer wrote:

On 2018-08-23 11:01, MrFab wrote:
Wonder if Denny knew that, and what he thought of it!

Your question is answered exactly and in detail here on the Telepathica web site. For posterity, this is the text of that page, and it relates clearly that Martin Denny was made aware but wasn't sure how to take it:

*(Unbeknownst to me, in 1989, Genesis P-Orridge sent a record I made with his daugher Caresse P-Orridge called, "R.U. Xperienced?" to Mr. Martin Denny.
This is what happened.)

Attached is a foto of what he sent me which reads as follows:

August 1, 1989

Turning Shrines
P.O.Box 337
Boston, MA 02180

Dear Sirs,
Just recently I received a LP addressed to me from Brighton England entitled "R.U. Xperienced?" I am curious as to who may have sent it to me. Is it for real or a put on ? I have not been able to detirmine (sic) which. It's so far out and I'm inclined to think someone was on a heavy trip when it was recorded.

A few years ago I received another LP made in England titled "Throbbing Gristle's" Greatest Hits. It was put out by Industrial Record's, London. At the bottom of the liner notes written by a Claude Bessy was a line that read "this album is dedicated to Martin Denny". Have you ever heard of this record? At the bottom of the LP jacket cover the slogan read: Entertainment through Pain" . There is a reference to a P Orridge which is also mentioned in the R.U. Xperienced LP.

Could you clear up this mystery to me. I do have a sense of humor. However both these recordings leaves me incredulous that someone would go to the expense of producing both of these records or is it intended to be a shocker?

I would appreciate a reply.

Sincerely,
Martin Denny

Included was a photocopy of the back of the TG greatest hits sleeve.

So about a year later I was working on my solo Wax Trax project and I called Mr. Denny and I tell him I received his letter and I'm getting back to him and he replies, " It took you a year to respond to me !!!!" I excused myself and explained that I had been on tour a lot and living in England and that I'm working on a song about this now and that I was taping the conversation, (which I don't think really registered with him). So we began talking about Throbbing Gristle and we had a funny, pleasant chat which I sampled quite a bit of and used on my song. He provided such concise sound bites.

He did have a funny anecdote about when he started his career people in LA were making fun of his records and one time he heard a radio dj announce that he had a new record by Martin Denny and he played this horribly out of tune piss take on him. So he went out looking for the actual record and he found it and the cover was a close up of 2 hands on a piano keyboard. But if you looked closely, they were 2 left hands.

When my Fred CD came out I sent him a copy but I never heard back from him. Maybe he didn't have a CD player ?

telepathic regards,
Ĩed*

(Edited to add photo of Martin Denny's letter on his cool stationery.)

[ Edited by: AceExplorer 2018-08-23 13:18 ]

Nice research Ace. The FRED CD actually has an exotica type track on it called Letter From Mr. Denny. Good stuff!! :)

On 2018-08-30 10:30, HopeChest wrote:
So it still ran very much against the grain, playing those records after gigs and doing era-correct photo shoots.

Back in the day, I always assumed that they just played that type of "grandpa" stuff after a gig to convince the audience to go home. :wink:

The Gristle was a part of the Exotica resurgence, but it depends on who you talk to, and what their experience was.

For instance, podcaster The Big W of Buddie's Lounge says he was first exposed to swank music on his parents' 1967 Hi-Fi set - then started serious collecting in the 1980s when it was cheap. It wasn't trendy, he just liked the songs.

No Gristle, throbbing or not, involved.

Recent Tiki History

1951 Les Baxter’s The Quiet Village song is released on an unsuspecting public. Oddly it is about a village in Africa, not Hawaii.

1957 Martin Denny releases his version of Les Baxter’s Quiet Village song. By 1959 it reaches number 4 on the pop charts, making Elvis Presley a bit nervous.

1959 Hawaii becomes a state. The country goes wild for anything Polynesian.

1959 Adventures in Paradise TV show premiers.

1959 Hawaiian Eye TV show premiers.

1961 Elvis stars in Blue Hawaii.

1961 The Beach Boys record Surfin’.

1962 The Trade Winds motel chain cracks open a few.

1963 Jan & Dean record Surf City

1963 The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room opens. Walt himself supervises all the details, including that not a single nail, electrical cord, screw or speaker wire shows anywhere inside. The rain effect, subtly moving Tiki poles and birds from the rafters are still astounding.

1963 The film Beach Party opens to an appreciative audience.

1964 The Ilikai opens; the first ultra-modern high rise hotel on Waikiki beach. It’s the one Jack Lord smiles from the top of. A frantic land grab starts and Honolulu tourism skyrockets.

1964 Gilligan’s Island TV show premiers.

1966 Boyd Rice wears a cheap Robert Hall Hawaiian Shirt and the Tiki Necklace sold with it to elementary school. His favorite TV show at this time is Hawaiian Eye, already in reruns. He is part of a huge group of imaginative, often West Coast baby boomers who were more interested in Tikis and Hawaii than the Hippie Beatle Drug shenanigans just starting to explode nationally.

1967 I Dream of Jeannie visits Waikiki for real, visits Duke’s, stays at the Ilikai and hangs out with Don Ho.

1968 The Hawaii Five-0 TV show premiers.

1969 Retro rockers Sha-Na-Na play Teen Angel before Jimi Hendrix goes on the stage at Woodstock.

1969 Arthur Lyman and his Combo continue playing live in Honolulu.

1971 Disneyworld’s Polynesian Village opens for business. Restaurants and bars in the Orlando area stock a LOT more Tiki Mugs, as does the Village itself.

1972 Oahu’s North Shore surfing gets real popular with Californian surfers.

1972 The Brady Bunch visits Waikiki for real; Greg gets cursed, tanned and shows off on his shortboard. Mr. Brady throws back a few tall ones with Florence. The girls learn to hula. The entire nation feels like they just visited Hawaii.

1973 American Graffiti movie is released. Retro is now cool; a PG rating ensures that younger kids just coming of age pack the seats.

1973 American Graffiti 2-LP set goes triple platinum. Classic retro mood music like Green Onions and The Stroll blows boomer’s minds when played on early 1970’s stereo sets with killer speakers turned ALL the way up.

1975 English group ‘Throbbing Gristle’ formed, coining the term Industrial Music. They used Nazi imagery, pornography, glaring lights and clashing noise in their performances. Their last show was in 1981, in San Francisco. Classic Exotica was played at the end of their concerts, partly just to cool the audience down so no riots would take place.

1976 Boyd Rice listens to Martin Denny albums given to him by a biker friend of his father’s. He starts collecting Martin Denny records around this time.

1978 Grease hits movie screens and the whole world goes nutzo over Olivia and John singing pseudo-50’s songs and dancing in penny loafers and white socks. Japan starts dressing in fluffy dresses and greasing their thick black hair. Even Michael Jackson sits up and takes notice, borrowing the Ravoltish dance moves for the rest of his career...

1978 Boyd Rice sees English group Throbbing Gristle for the first time in London.

1978 Boyd Rice goes to Kelbo’s for the first time. He has a drink that arrives in a skull shaped mug. On fire.

1979 Arthur Lyman and his Combo continue to play at the New Otani in Honolulu.

1980 Magnum P.I. TV show premiers.

1980 Boyd Rice uses Nazi imagery, pornography, glaring lights and clashing noise in his performances; just like his favorite group Throbbing Gristle. Some of his shows now take place at Kelbo’s.

1981 Baby boomers born in 1960 turn 21 and can now go out to bars in most states.

1981 Stray Cat Strut released.; it hits big in the UK, then later in the US. Retro instruments, mid-century clothing and tattoos play a big part in the song’s video produced in England. It’s impossible to not snap your fingers and sway to the song. This becomes a favorite of the new MTV Network, also founded in 1981. A revival music genre and its anthem is born.

1982 Boyd Rice travels to Hawaii to meet Martin Denny and gives him a copy of Throbbing Gristle’s Greatest Hits, which was designed with a retro Denny-esque cover. Boyd begins to collect Tiki Mugs around this time, and searches for original Tiki Bars still in business.

1982 National Lampoon publishes "The Utterly Monstrous Mind-Roasting Summer of O.C. and Stiggs", later made into a film in 1984. It features a neighbor with an exotic Tiki backyard and lots of Tiki drinks.

1983 Linda Ronstadt releases What’s New, a collection of lounge, swing and jazz standards. It goes triple platinum against all predictions, changing the music business overnight.

1982 Martin Denny releases The Enchanted Isle.

Great list of historical bullet points...you should give it it's own dedicated thread!

Then I'd have to go back to Melville's Typee, which truly started it all.

Heck, I think you should. Go ahead and make this a sprawling, utterly comprehensive list of tiki and proto-tiki influences. Typee, Omoo from Melville, Gauguin in Tahiti, the possibilities are endless. I'm joking, but simultaneously serious. :)

(Thanks to Hakalugi for some of these entries!)

I'll think about expanding the list, but I'm still trying to just get to the year 2000!!!!

There are updates all through this, too. Combustible Edison is becoming a very interesting turning point here....

Recent Tiki History

1951 Les Baxter’s The Quiet Village song is released on an unsuspecting public. Oddly it is about a village in Africa, not Hawaii.

1957 Martin Denny releases his version of Les Baxter’s Quiet Village song. By 1959 it reaches number 4 on the pop charts, making Elvis Presley a bit nervous.

1959 Hawaii becomes a state. The country goes wild for anything Polynesian.

1959 Adventures in Paradise TV show premiers.

1959 Hawaiian Eye TV show premiers.

1959 Gidget movie released.

1961 Elvis stars in Blue Hawaii.

1961 The Beach Boys record Surfin’.

1962 The Trade Winds motel chain cracks open a few.

1963 Jan & Dean record Surf City

1963 The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room opens. Walt himself supervises all the details, including that not a single nail, electrical cord, screw or speaker wire shows anywhere inside. The rain effect, subtly moving Tiki poles and birds from the rafters are still astounding.

1963 The film Beach Party opens to an appreciative audience.

1964 The Ilikai opens; the first ultra-modern high rise hotel on Waikiki beach. It’s the one Jack Lord smiles from the top of. A frantic land grab starts and Honolulu tourism skyrockets.

1964 Gilligan’s Island TV show premiers.

1964 Ed “Big Daddy” Roth releases the Surfite surfers’ mini-car and Revell model kit, with “Tiki Hut” included.

1965 Hawaiian born and raised Bette Midler moves to New Your City with a stack of sheet music arranged for her personally by Paul Conrad, the pianist/arranger for the Gene Rains Group. For the rest of her career she becomes a spokesperson for the aloha life; playing ukuleles, singing classic Hawaiian songs and having hula parties whenever possible.

1966 Boyd Rice wears a cheap Robert Hall Hawaiian Shirt and the Tiki Necklace sold with it to elementary school. His favorite TV show at this time is Hawaiian Eye, already in reruns. He is part of a huge group of imaginative, often West Coast baby boomers who were more interested in Tikis and Hawaii than the Hippie Beatle Drug shenanigans just starting to explode nationally.

1967 I Dream of Jeannie visits Waikiki for real, visits Duke’s, stays at the Ilikai and hangs out with Don Ho.

1968 The Hawaii Five-0 TV show premiers.

1969 Retro rockers Sha-Na-Na play Teen Angel before Jimi Hendrix goes on the stage at Woodstock.

1969 Arthur Lyman and his Combo continue playing live in Honolulu.

1971 Disneyworld’s Polynesian Village opens for business. Restaurants and bars in the Orlando area stock a LOT more Tiki Mugs, as does the Village itself.

1972 Oahu’s North Shore surfing gets real popular with Californian surfers.

1972 Bett Midler’s first album, The Divine Miss M goes platinum, snags her a Grammy, and makes Boogoe Woogie Bugle Boy a chart-topper for the first time in 30 years. Bette continues to sing and release retro swing songs, ones that her Honolulu based Navy dad played at home.

1972 The Brady Bunch visits Waikiki for real; Greg gets cursed, tanned and shows off on his shortboard. Mr. Brady throws back a few tall ones with Florence. The girls learn to hula. The entire nation feels like they just visited Hawaii.

1973 American Graffiti movie is released. Retro is now cool; a PG rating ensures that younger kids just coming of age pack the seats.

1973 American Graffiti 2-LP set goes triple platinum. Classic retro mood music like Green Onions and The Stroll blows boomer’s minds when played on early 1970’s stereo sets with killer speakers turned ALL the way up.

1975 English group ‘Throbbing Gristle’ formed, coining the term Industrial Music. They used Nazi imagery, pornography, glaring lights and clashing noise in their performances. Their last show was in 1981, in San Francisco. Classic Exotica was played at the end of their concerts, partly just to cool the audience down so no riots would take place.

1976 Boyd Rice listens to Martin Denny albums given to him by a biker friend of his father’s. He starts collecting Martin Denny records around this time.

1978 Grease hits movie screens and the whole world goes nutzo over Olivia and John singing pseudo-50’s songs and dancing in penny loafers and white socks. Japan starts dressing in fluffy dresses and greasing their thick black hair. Even Michael Jackson sits up and takes notice, borrowing the Ravoltish dance moves for the rest of his career...

1978 Boyd Rice sees English group Throbbing Gristle for the first time in London.

1978 Boyd Rice goes to Kelbo’s for the first time. He has a drink that arrives in a skull shaped mug. On fire.

1979 Arthur Lyman and his Combo continue to play at the New Otani in Honolulu.

1980 Magnum P.I. TV show premiers.

1980 Boyd Rice uses Nazi imagery, pornography, glaring lights and clashing noise in his performances; just like his favorite group Throbbing Gristle. Some of his shows now take place at Kelbo’s.

1981 L.A. band Monitor releass a 7” single under band name The Tikis, with an enclosed coupon for a free Tiki. Album artwork by Boyd Rice and Jeffrey Vallance.

1981 Baby boomers born in 1960 turn 21 and can now go out to bars in most states.

1981 Stray Cat Strut released.; it hits big in the UK, then later in the US. Retro instruments, mid-century clothing and tattoos play a big part in the song’s video produced in England. It’s impossible to not snap your fingers and sway to the song. This becomes a favorite of the new MTV Network, also founded in 1981. A revival music genre and its anthem is born.

1982 Boyd Rice travels to Hawaii to meet Martin Denny and gives him a copy of Throbbing Gristle’s Greatest Hits, which was designed with a retro Denny-esque cover. Boyd begins to collect Tiki Mugs around this time, and searches for original Tiki Bars still in business.

1982 National Lampoon publishes "The Utterly Monstrous Mind-Roasting Summer of O.C. and Stiggs", later made into a film in 1984. It features a neighbor with an exotic Tiki backyard and lots of Tiki drinks.

1982 Martin Denny releases The Enchanted Isle.

1983 Jeffrey Vallance travels to Polynesia to investigate the origins of Tiki. The resulting artwork is displayed worldwide and establishes a new genre; Tiki Art. Artists begin to use classic Moai Tikis in their work.

1983 Linda Ronstadt releases What’s New, a collection of lounge, swing and jazz standards. It goes triple platinum against all predictions, changing the music business overnight.

1985 Boyd Rice co-edits the book Incredibly Strange Films.

1985 A feeding frenzy starts on thrift shop and old record bin stores; most Exotica is available for 25 to 50 cents a record, no matter how rare or what condition it’s in. Student boomers, musicians, and hip young stereo owners with their own first time apartments grab dozens at a time.

1986 Retro-designed PeeWee’s Playhouse uses Quiet Village in it’s theme song, and PeeWee stands a big Tiki at his front door.

1987 San Francisco’s Amok Books founded.

Cammo, are you Boyd Rice?
LoL

2005 Boyd Rice Founded Tiki Boyd's

[ Edited by: naugatiki 2018-09-01 17:17 ]

1962 Boyd Rice gets his first pair of flip-flops

Yup, leave it to a son of the Ozarks to cut through the BS and see the obvious - Boyd Rice's contributions to the "Rediscovery of Tiki" may be exaggerated, self serving or nonexistent.

Believe it or not, Boyd actually has published ALL of the above facts as examples of how he and ONLY HE was at the center of the Tiki Revolution.

It's a recurring idea - just like Boyd, the first time a hipster steps into a Tiki Bar they think they "invented" or "discovered" the place, even though it has been in business for 50+ years and already had a huge clientele who have supported it for decades and were still sitting there in chairs all around them!

The list marches on...

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone he had three missed calls from Boyd Rice.

Quote from Rice - "The strong rule the weak, and the clever rule the strong" Profound!!!

Cammo, I may have to steal some of these events for the "On This Day in Tiki History" thread

2018 Boyd Rice discovers the Holy Grail hidden under the sink of the men's loo in Rosslyn Chapel. It bears an unmistakable resemblance to a Tiki Bob mug.

I am a founding artist of the initial revival. 3,2,1 cue man panty wadding

[ Edited by: Sophista-tiki 2018-09-07 18:21 ]

I can't believe we have a mention of Rosslyn Chapel here on Tiki Central!

Thank you Mr. Bali Hai wherever you are!

I put that mug there AND built the Rosslyn Chapel.

On 2018-09-10 10:12, Cammo wrote:
I can't believe we have a mention of Rosslyn Chapel here on Tiki Central!

Rice is a big fan of grail lore and Tiki, so I couldn't resist taking a swing at that softball.

On 2018-09-10 11:43, tikiskip wrote:
I put that mug there AND built the Rosslyn Chapel.

That explains the image of the Kahiki Moai wearing a Loyal Order of Water Buffalo hat that's carved on the Apprentice Pillar.

Ha!, Yes, Yes it does.

Unpopular Opinion- I don't really like to drink out of tiki mugs.

While I love the look of mugs, when I'm having a drink I much prefer a glass, or even the ubiquitous Libbey footed glass mug.
I like to see my drink.

Tiki Bob mugs look like some kind of a worm face ...like a bad children's book illustration of a face carved in a tree or something

"Unpopular Opinion- I don't really like to drink out of tiki mugs"

I totally agree with this one the Mai Tai glass is the glass we use.
They are way more easy to clean and can be really cool looking.

Plus who wants to break one of your good tiki mugs.

"Tiki Bob mugs look like some kind of a worm face"

WAIT so you don't like Tiki Bob?
I for one have never heard this opinion, Ha!

Do like Tiki Bob really it's just over done kinda like the coco Joes stuff, now some of the coco Joes are cool but there is so much out there I pass on buying it all the time.

Bosko did some cool Tiki Bobs, even the Bob o nut is cool by Swizz.

My Unpopular Opinion is I hate Led lighting.
It does not give a good glow for a tiki room in most cases IMHO.
Plus Led lights were forced on us like the electric car is going to be in a few years.

On 2018-12-12 10:42, Sandbartender wrote:
Unpopular Opinion- I don't really like to drink out of tiki mugs.

While I love the look of mugs, when I'm having a drink I much prefer a glass, or even the ubiquitous Libbey footed glass mug.
I like to see my drink.

Shocking! Next thing someone will tell me is that the plates from Franklin Mint are used only for display by most people and not for serving meals :D

My Unpopular Opinion is I hate Led lighting.
It does not give a good glow for a tiki room in most cases IMHO.

Really, Sip? I had no idea! :lol:

I totally sympathize regarding the LEDs available a few years ago. All the light was skewed to the blue end of the spectrum and really harsh. I've been thoroughly impressed by the variety that's become available in the past year, however. Lots of warm ambers and dimmables available now, with a wide array of lumens. Are they perfect for all applications? Of course not, but it's nice to have a bunch of light strings in series without having to worry about the blown fuses I got with C9 bulbs.

On 2018-12-13 10:04, King Bushwich the 33rd wrote:

Shocking! Next thing someone will tell me is that the plates from Franklin Mint are used only for display by most people and not for serving meals :D

LOL! Fair call. Although I'd appreciate a warning before I'm surprised by such fine art in the future. :D

It's just weird, I feel like I SHOULD enjoy drinking out of tiki mugs, but I much prefer a DOF/Mai Tai standard glass like Skip mentioned, or a tall Zombie or Hurricane glass every time.

The only time that serious ceramics are really called for is with a bowl for two or more. And I can count the times I order those on the number of fingers I have on my head.

On 2018-12-13 12:44, Prikli Pear wrote:
... I've been thoroughly impressed by the variety that's become available in the past year, however. Lots of warm ambers and dimmables available now, with a wide array of lumens. Are they perfect for all applications? Of course not, but it's nice to have a bunch of light strings in series without having to worry about the blown fuses I got with C9 bulbs.

Same boat here. I LOVE that I can run my underbar lighting for hours at a crack without worrying about sending the already sky-high winter energy bill even further toward the moon.
The option to change colors, or fade, or dim (something regular fairy lights are typically not set up for) are all awesome as well.

that Red Skelton plate is lit...i would put that in my chikee hut and eat a cheeseburger off it

"skewed to the blue end of the spectrum"

When we drive down the road I can see in people houses and see the blue light from the LED bulbs.
I'm kinda a bit freakish when it comes to light bulbs and the glow it makes in the house or even outside, and not just for your tiki bar but everywhere.
I think most people just don't care.

So I can't live with that blue cast, I don't even like a blue painted room, that's just me.

I hope you are right and they have fixed that.

The small Christmas lights for decorating your house is just not for me it can look good on some houses but C9 is true Christmas for me.

I have never blown fuses with my C9s in my 40 years of using them but then if they had that fuse thing in the string I cut that out first thing and put on a new plug.

In fact now I make my own strings of C9 light sets for my house and it is custom to my house and fits just right with sockets that actually work really well.

It costs a bunch at first but is great every year not to mess around with f-ed up lights.

It's all what you like, but damn to regulate certain bulbs out of existence that's nuts.

I am a bit surprised at how people put up with stuff that does not really work that good and how things are supposed to be replaced after four years like computers and phones.
Our parents would have never gone for that.

Old man rant, wonder what the old people in 20 years will be like.

Skip, I agree. Most people don't pay attention and/or don't care. I like deep blue lights, but those blue-white LEDs were the worst of all worlds. Actually, I've gotten to the point where I hate "warm white" as well. After learning about photography and white balance to assist The Wife in her business, I need something closer to a natural daylight balance to be comfortable. It takes paying attention to the light temperature of the bulbs one buys, which isn't something most people bother with.

One thing the old C9 strings are good for (and they're still available new, so not all of the incandescents have gone away) are wrapping tropical plants in the winter. Pair that with a frost cloth, and my bananas and citrus and (hopefully someday soon) avocados weather freeze events intact. That's not something LEDs can do. Of course, we only have intermittent flirtation with winter here. That's not really a solution for climes further north.

Yeah I'm sure most people will get used to the LEDs and then hate incandescent lights.
Right about then some do gooder "I'm going to save the world" person will do away with the LEDs just cuz they can.

I used to change lights and rewire all the lights at the OSU campus so I know about the natural daylight balance lights, They used to be called Chroma 50s and were expensive.

Side note I changed a light that was called a Ken-Rad light company light bulb and it looked really old so I asked about it and they told me that company was sold to GE and GE killed Ken-Rad because the bulbs lasted so long and were competion for GE bulbs.

But it's all what you like and I for sure like the more warm light.

There was a study that said blue light Is bad for you.

See the study below is what they will use to ban blue spectrum lights once you get used to the LEDs and make you change to the bulbs from the company that just gave tons of money to their foundation or campaign.

http://www.bluelightexposed.com/#bluelightexposed
"Artificial sources of blue light include electronic devices such as cell phones and laptop computers, as well as energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs and LED lights.

Why should we be concerned about blue light exposure?
Blue light waves are the among the shortest, highest energy wavelengths in the visible light spectrum. Because they are shorter, these "Blue" or High Energy Visible (HEV) wavelengths flicker more easily than longer, weaker wavelengths. This kind of flickering creates a glare that can reduce visual contrast and affect sharpness and clarity.

This flickering and glaring may be one of the reasons for eyestrain, headaches, physical and mental fatigue caused by many hours sitting in front of a computer screen or other electronic device.

Our eyes' natural filters do not provide sufficient protection against blue light rays from the sun, let alone the blue light emanating from these devices or from blue light emitted from fluorescent-light tubes. Prolonged exposure to blue light may cause retinal damage and contribute to age-related macular degeneration, which can lead to loss of vision."

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2018-12-14 09:20 ]

There was a study that said blue light Is bad for you.

Heh. Talk about coincidence. I just spoke with a researcher here about a paper pending peer-review publication. I'll spare you the background details and cut to the chase: Common fluorescent lighting triggers genes that contribute to inflammation and autoimmune issues. That's because they just put out a narrow spectrum of light, not the full daylight spectrum which we've evolved under. Other wavelenghts act to deactivate those genese, and vice versa. I didn't think to ask if this applies to incandescent and LED, but I expect it does. The detail they've mapped this out on the genome is kinda astonishing. It'll be published sometime next year, so I expect some degree of hysteria about fluorescent lighting, but really, it's the quality of the light that matters, as opposed to the source. Blue's bad. Violet's bad. Yellow's bad, etc. On their own, that is.

Sorry to derail the thread. I just find this fascinating.

"Sorry to derail the thread"
That might be on me.

But debate is good I think.
Not having a good alternative that offed incandescent and went with flawed LEDs, and ya gotta think some of the data saying how great they are is skewed to what they want the data to say.

I don't hate decorative deep blue light just that fluorescent or LED blue cast light.
Man fluorescent light, does anybody like fluorescent lighting?

I would like to see more studies on both sides of the kind of new regs and things we are doing BEFORE we put these types of things in place.
The do this crap fast so you don't know the pitfalls before hand.

Like E cigs, they go bat $hit crazy on Cigarettes, raise the age to buy them at the same time they want to legalize pot.

NOW E Cigarettes the alternative to the evil Cigarette is as bad or worse they say.

I don't smoke by the way.

But Electric cars will go down the same path one day I tell ya.
Plus they will NEVER be as cool as a 56 T-bird, Or old Mustang, corvette, Woody, Ford Bronco, ect.

Now that was a derail.

On 2018-12-13 13:43, tikiskip wrote:
Old man rant, wonder what the old people in 20 years will be like.

Complaining about single-use disposable computers.