Exotica vintage LP poll

I'm curious about the favorite exotica records of the TC faithful. I've been collecting these records for about ten years now and still get a lot of enjoyment out of pulling an LP out of the box and spinning it on the turntable.

How about a short poll about your favorites?

Favorite LP:
Favorite cover:
Favorite artist:
LP that more people should hear:
Rarest LP in your collection:

I'll start it off..

Favorite LP: Baxter's "Tamboo"

Baxter composed the entire album, and the songs contained within have been aped by dozens of people with half the talent. The only other possibilities for me would be "Ritual of the Savage" or Frank Hunter's "White Goddess"

Favorite cover: "Tamboo" again.

What a cover.... beautiful lettering, too.

Favorite artist: Les Baxter

He's the exotica Beatles. Baxter was the saviour, while Denny spread the gospel.

LP that more people should hear: Frank Hunter's "White Goddess"

Rare to begin with, and even harder to find in good condition due to the crummy Kapp Records pressing, but worth every effort. Hunter wrote a number of the tunes and included the ondioline for a mysterious sound. Great record.

Rarest LP in your collection: John McFarland's "Provocatif" sealed, in stereo

Hard to say... NM stereo "White Goddess" could qualify.

Just one man's opinion! What say you, exotica fan?

[ Edited by: Mganga on 2004-05-17 17:46 ]

now im fairly new to the tiki scene, although i do know about Baxter,Denny,yma sumac, arthur lyman etc...
if you wanna try something thats a bit different but still nice and exotic, with a hint of bachelor style maybe try
de-phazz
hotel costes
and thievery corporation
those are a few of the top of my head that i think will make a good edition to any lounge!!!
but me im a raggae mon!!!!!!
mad respect for tiki
--------------RESPECt---------

Favorite cover: Robert Drasnin' "Voodoo"...Favorite album Eden Ahbez's "Eden's Island"

Uh, let me try:

Fave Album:
EXOTIC ISLAND, The Surfmen
(brought to you by Miller International, aka Dave Miller, the man who gave us The 101 Strings series. He later sold the rights and went to Germany, where he founded the Somerset and EUROPA low budget labels with my father, Harold Kirsten.)

Fave album COVER:
1.) THE SOUL OF THE DRUMS, Les Baxter
2.) TAHITI, The Surfers (shot in front of The Luau, Beverly Hills)

Fave artist:
1.) PAUL PAGE. A mixture of Johnny Cash, Criswel and Martin Denny, he played at the Ports of Call/Pieces of Eight/Castaway in LA and his best album came out under those three titles, with the same songs on it. Magic.

2.) Elizabeth Waldo. Inspired by the success of Yma Sumac. On her "Rites of the Pagan-Mystic Realms 0f the Ancient Americas" she strived to use authentic pre-columbian instruments "fashioned either in zoomorphic (animal) or effigy (human) forms, made of human or animal bone, baked clay, sea shells, reed, stone, copper, gold, and bronze."

Fave Song:
"I-HA-SHE", from "Marais & Miranda Go Native"

Fave rare album:
1.)KAPU (FORBIDDEN), Milt Raskin, on Lava-red vinyl
2.)DON BLANDING reads from Vagabond's House (signed)

Fave liner notes: RITUAL OF THE SAVAGE, Les Baxter

Fave Exotica hero: MARTIN DENNY

Good choices of the covers of "Voodoo" and "Soul of the Drums"... both are favs of mine, too.

By the way, "Kapu" is another very difficult album to find in good condition.

Favorite artist:

Arthur Lyman

Favorite LP:

Robert Drasnin "Voodoo"

Favorite cover:

Have Kapu as well...Neat logo.

Another great cover: Ralph Font's "Tabu"

Favorite LP: Hypnotique, Martin Denny
Favorite cover: Exotic Istumentals, Hawaii Calls
Favorite artist: Crazy Al Evans and Ape
LP that more people should hear: Exotic Percussion, Stanley Black
Rarest LP in your collection: Quiet Village, Les Baxter

Here are some more albums

note the Tiki

This is a promotional album for Jan-u-wine Chinese food.

Phil Moore, Exotica and Hawaiian Favorites Exotica style.Lots of bird calls, Nude album cover.

George Cates, Hawaiian Favorites, Exotica style.

Dick Kessner and his Magic Stradivarius. I love the Idea behind this, "Sure he has a million dollar violin, but, can he do bird calls?" "Birds of Paradise" on this album rules.

I just got this one. Not Exotica but one cool album cover.

[ Edited by: Alnshely on 2004-02-26 08:22 ]

I;m still fairly new at collecting old LPs. Alnshely- you really made my mouth water with some of this LPs!! Great collection. To date, my personal favorite by far is:
Robert Drasnin- Voodoo! (available on CD)
Others are a very close second but I find that I play that disc more often than all others.

[ Edited by: mriddle on 2004-02-26 10:37 ]

Ha!

I gotta go with les Baxter "tamboo" too!!

I had a great album called "voodoo drums in hi-fi" which is really, really cool!

Lyman's "leis of jazz" is great, but not technically exotica.......

Right now I am looking for any albums by the late great David Rose!!!

Top 3 Voodoo albums : Robert Drasnin : ”Voodoo”, Richard Hayman : ”Voodoo”, Perez Prado : ”Voodoo Suite”

Favorite cover : Webley Edwards : ”Exotic instrumentals of the islands”

LP that people should listen to : Rex Kona and his mandarins : ”Wild Orchids”

Rarest : the Voodoo Suite in 2 German EP of Perez Prado.

Favorite artist : Martin Denny

[ Edited by: Mganga on 2004-05-17 17:46 ]

Favorite LP: Hypnotique - Martin Denny

Favorite cover: Primativa - Martin Denny

Favorite artist: Tie - Martin Denny/Les Baxter

LP that more people should hear: Exotica - Ted Auletta

Rarest LP in your collection: Too many to choose from, but here's a few:
Exotic Paradise - Paul Conrad
White Goddess - Frank Hunter
Sondi - Sondi Sodsai
Mganga! - Tak Shindo
Eden's Island - Eden Ahbez

Listen to Vegas Vic's Tiki Lounge
Visit Vic's Site

[ Edited by: vegasvic on 2004-02-28 05:50 ]

I've always loved the cover to "Primativa"... definitely one of my favorites. I have an LP from Mexico (forget the artist) that has uses a photo of Sandy Warner from the same photo session in the same outfit. It's a stunner just like the "Primativa" one.

I've been collecting Hawaiian/exotica LPs since kindergarten..LOL.
Favorite lp: Exotic Island/Surfmen (also realeased as Tradewinds Romance From Hawaii To Tahiti by The South Seas Serenaders) A totally classy, elegant exotica venture. Timeless.
Best Cover: Hum...probably Drasnin's Voodoo.
Rarest LP I own: ? Bora Bora by Les Baxter (which I got for .50 at a cut out sale when I was a kid.) White Goddess by Frank Hunter. Que Mango by Les Baxter, Provoctiv by McFarland..I think those are all fairly rare.
Needs More Exposure: Polynesian Paradise/Phil Moore Orchestra (Full Orchestra, plenty of minor chords, exotic), 'Spacifica/Johnny Spencer & His Kona Koasters (great instrumental tracks), Kapu/Milt Raskin..Exotica that always annoyed my mother when I played it in my youth..I think it was too "Oriental" for her taste!

Favorite LP: Tough one. Too hard at this moment.

Favorite cover: I'm down with Webley Edwards' Exotic Instrumentals too, though Webley Edwards' Fire Goddess is quite sweet as well. Primitiva for my favorite in the Martin Denny catalog fo' sho'.

Favorite artist: Martin Denny / Arthur Lyman tie. I realize Les Baxter is top of the heap, but I don't love a lot of his orchestral stuff.

LP that more people should hear:

Lotus Land by Gene Rains and His Group

Exotic Percussion and Brilliant Brass by The John Evans Orchestra (another Martin Denny knock off, but still very nice)

Jun'gala by Marty Wilson and his Orchestra (leans a little Latin, but has a good "Taboo").

Jungle Obsession by Nino Nardini and Roger Roger (Technically not exotica, but 1970s French soundtrack music that's quite exotic with electric guitar and funky drums)

Rarest exotica LP in my collection: I think Paul Page, Pieces Of Eight, autographed, scored for a buck a big record sale here in Seattle.

Thanks bigbrotiki for the Paul Page info in regards to the 3 albums with the same songs. Now I don't need to look so hard for the others. Is there any other Paul Page records with different songs?

cabinguy,
I too am a fan of some current "down tempo - chill" artists with exotic flavors. Another artist I will tout again here is Boozoo Bajou and their debut release Satta. Very spacy, tropical and exotic. And I'm also a sucker for 1970s era roots reggae and dub. My brother is slowly getting me hip to current dancehall stylee, but much of that is still too abrasive for me.

[ Edited by: Selector Lopaka on 2004-02-29 18:39 ]

Those are a couple more really good records: Lotus Land by Gene Rains and Jungle Obsession by Nino Nardini. The latter is a very hard record to locate as an original pressing.

How about Chaino's "Africana"? That is one terrific album.

I'm also a big 70's era reggae fan. I really enjoy artists such as Johnny Clarke, Augustus Pablo, John Holt, Cornell Campbell, U Roy, Horace Andy, Jah Stitch, etc. But the biggest draw for me is the engineering wizardry of dubmaster King Tubby.

Here's a link to buy Jungle Obsession. It's out of stock at the moment, but Dusty Groove has carried it for awhile, so I would hope it would be in stock again soon, unlike the infamous "Exotic Sounds of Les Baxter".

http://www.dustygroove.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/dga/search.cgi?usersrch=nino+nardini+jungle+obsession&issearch=yes

I also bow down to King Tubby, as well as the knob twisting genius of Lee "Scratch" Perry.

Great idea Mganga!

Hi Al and Shelley, I love the album pictures. Where did you get the cool bamboo frames? Sven, I didn't know your Dad started Somerset Records. That is way cool. Below are my answers to the Exotica Vintage LP Poll...............

Fave Covers....

1. Martin Denny; Primitiva
2. Robert Drasnin; Voodoo
3. Les Baxter; Ritual of the Savage
4. John McFarland; Provacatif
5. Masque d'Afrique; Voices of Africa (Bob Keene)
6. Arthur Lyman; Tabbo Vol.2 (Shrunken Head cover)

Favorite LP....

Tie between Les Baxter's "Tamboo" and Robert Drasnin's "Voodoo"

Favorite Artist....

Les Baxter

LP that more people should hear....

Richard Hayman's "Voodoo!"
Dominic Frontiere's "Pagan Festival" (now on CD)
Robert Maxwell's "Shangri-La"
Leo Diamond's "Skin Diver Suite"

Rarest LP in your collection......

Masque d'Afrique; Voices of Africa (Bob Keene) This Del Fi record is even rarer than the Eden Ahbez LP. Especially in great shape.

Les Baxter; Bugaloo in Brazil (rare production music library LP from the U.K on KPM) It took me many years to find this!

Keep this post up. This is all great info for "The Book of Exotica". (shhhhhh Don't tell anyone!)

Mahalo,
Jeff

Fav Lp- Aphrodisia by Bob Romeo, his Flute and the Jungle Sextet. Eden Abez wrote a few on this and according to the liner notes it "has been known to turn strong men and circumspect ladies into temporary zombies."

Fav Cover- Fire Goddess, suitable for framing, and mine has fire red vinyl

Fav artist-Martin Denny, he's consistent, Les Baxter tends to get trapped in the ultra easy listening zone.

Artist More People should hear- Orienta The Markko Polo Adventures. I'd wish I owned a Chinese restaurant just so I could play it in the background.

Les Batxer's Skins is also a good one.

Rarest LP Denny's Exotic with the side 2 pressing on both sides. It's Quiet Village free.

And if I may add another category- Cheesiest Exotic concept- Enchanted Island by The Now Sounds of Hawaii, features 70s pop music peppered with Haw Slide guitar and a hula dancer hugging a coconut tree on the cover.

Tell me more about this Martin Denny mis-pressing. I am intrigued.

Also, for the Exotica Cheese category lets not forget "The Primitive Sounds of Henny Youngman" Classic! Or one of the most beautiful covers ever "Music for Big Dame Hunters" with Irish McCalla on the cover. WOW!!The music isn't Exotica but the cover rivals "Primitiva" for pure sexism in a jungle setting. One of my all-time favorites.

Regarding Denny and Baxter....

It's true that Les did some ez listening orchestral material, but keep in mind that Les also had a career prior to his hugely influential "Ritual of the Savage". Look at the records he produced in about 8 years time: "Ritual of the Savage","Tamboo","Jungle Jazz","African Jazz","Ports of Pleasure","The Sacred Idol". That's consistency. He simply did more records than his just his exotica output.

I don't know why I'm defending Les Baxter, since I believe that the man was one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. To say that he didn't do enough exotica, is like saying that Jesus didn't heal enough lepers!

Martin Denny all da way fo'me.

Ez listening? exotica? lounge? space-pop?

I have a theory that back then, no one referred to themselves as one of the above-mentioned genres..It is my belief that artists such as Baxter and Denny just considered themselves "Jazz" but with an exotic twist...

Even today, the record bins can't seem to get it right!

Les Baxter's "skin's" album is really not easy listening, but I found the record in that section!

I am going to put the blame for the demise of this type of music where it belongs..The BEATLES killed exotica!!

That's true... it only became a "genre" in the 90's.

Speaking of the Surfmen.....I have 2 copies of their album Hawaii. 1 has Hawaii with a purple background behind the lettering-9 tracks-by Miller International. The other has a blue background behind the lettering-10 tracks (4 different)-by Alshire International.

Does the Robert Drasnin "Voodoo!" cover look the same on the LP as on the CD? I have the CD but have never seen the LP. Can anybody post a picture of the Drasnin cover?

Here's the Voodoo LP cover:

This LP was also called "Percussion Exotique"... same music, but a plain geometric cover, no photo.

Mganga, what a cool cover!! Its nothing like the CD!! Thanks for the post!!
Mark

Speaking of the Somerset label, I wanted to mention another record that maybe marginally fits in the exotica genre:

Edmund DeLuca's "Safari"

It's lighter fare, but I enjoy this one a lot. The opening track is great!

Yeah, that Dave Miller...I have the Safari cover, but it's more purple than red...

We could start another thread, "Best Cover with MOST dissappointing content", like Nina Dova's "CHILD OF THE SUN" Songs of the TORRID ZONE!... or "APHRO-GYPSIA"

I always wondered why Lee Joseph did not use the original cover photo for his Robert Drasnin CD re-issue, it is one of the best, really.
Instead he used this really unknown artist named "Shag" to do some masks (..that was in 1995)

I went and saw Robert Drasnin play at the Lava Lounge several years ago. Was more Jazz, though, he couldn't really replicate the sound of "VOODOO!" live.

Right, that cover scan's color is off. The cover is actually more purple than red, as you say.

Disappointing content? How about this one:

Cool cover! Lame music!

On 2004-02-29 18:37, Selector Lopaka wrote:

Thanks bigbrotiki for the Paul Page info in regards to the 3 albums with the same songs. Now I don't need to look so hard for the others. Is there any other Paul Page records with different songs?

[ Edited by: Selector Lopaka on 2004-02-29 18:39 ]

Yup! Thanks to Domenic Priore, Paul Page specialist:

THE BIG ISLAND SAYS ALOHA (on the cover: Oil painting "The Volcano" from the Kona Steak House collection!)

HAWAIIAN HONEYMOON

I REMEMBER BLANDING (!)

LETS HAVE A LUAU

PASSPORT TO PARADISE with Jerry Byrd (with the great song "Big Luau in the Sky", where Paul lists ALL Hawaiian entertainers that ever existed..even Zulu)

All on Paradise Records, his label. Domenic phoneinterviewed him, that man had an incredible life... a male model in the 40s, he then played with Sol Hoopi at the "Seven Seas" in Hollywood, had a Polynesian Radio show and then the first Polynesian TV show in 1949, then moved to Hawaii...he was Exotica's Leeteg, in that he told Domenic "I must've gone to bed with over 400 women in my time.."
Yep, the lure of Exotica!

I second that about the cover art thread. Or we can just do that here. These old LPs have some of the coolest covers I've seen. One cool cover I like is Arthur Lyman's "Bahia" The LP is not on CD, but the cover is of a villiage and palm trees silhouetted by a bright moon. Very exotic looking!

I hate to throw this off in a different direction, but...

After many years of listening, I have become a Hapa Hoale and Tahitian music fan. I crave a good singer, you know.

I'll just throw out a couple that everyone should own. Not Exotica, more "traditional", if I can bastardize it like that.

Sam Makia - On the Beach at Waikiki - EP - Has a yellow cover with a hula girl on it. Best set of songs I own. Period.

Charles Mauu & The Royal Polynesians - Polynesia! - on EP and 45 - Some of the classics of Tahitian music done by the guy who wrote some of them. Lots of energy.

Waikiki Boys - Hawaiian Holiday - There are 1,000+ records out there called "Hawaiian Holiday" by similarly named groups. This one features some great standards sung right. "The Luau Song" being a gem.

Chongo & His Polynesians - Polynesian Percussion - This is a nice twist on the tahitian music. Some good versions, like Maururu A Vau.

Werner Muller - Hawaiian Swing - Not traditional at all, but the songs he starts with are. This record is it's own catagory. Very up tempo and raucous.

I keep buying records when ever I find them for $1 or less. The pile grows and grows. Yet these records I keep coming back to.

I have to vote for Tabu or Primativa for the cover catagory.

Eden's Island takes me away, but Exotica? Is it? Yes, I suppose.

I dn't own any rare records. I got them all in thrift store or antique stores for $2 or less. How rare can they be?

Under appreciated: Any besides the big 3. I did get one recently, and I can't recall which, but they seemed to have thought the bird calls were the secret and put even more of them in their music. That, I can do without. I felt like I was in "The Birds" and they were about to attack!

Best LP: Forbidden Island by Martin Denny
Runner Up: Tamboo! by Les Baxter
Best Spoken Word LP: Eden's Island
Best Cover (Painted): Ritual of the Savage
Best Cover That Should Have Been On An Exotica LP But Wasn't: The Best Musical Comedy Songs (Bettie Page at Africa USA)
Runner Up: Music For Big Dame Hunters
Most Bizarre Cover: The Chaino one of the native whipping some woman
Rarest: 10" UK pressing of Exotica by Martin Denny
Best Single: Tiki Twist by the Vistas

[ Edited by: Mau Mau on 2004-03-10 16:23 ]

Re:
Frank Hunter's "White Goddess"
John McFarland's "Provocatif"

Could I do a CDR swap with one you suave people for one or both of these? Never heard 'em and they are very hard to find.

Unfortunately I don't have a turntable with line-level outputs that enables me to burn to CD. My turntable setup is a joke at this point.

The Chaino NIGHT OF THE SPECTRE album cover is hands down/whips up thee most bizarre cover of the '50s...but matches the music perfectly...savage!

[ Edited by: Mau Mau on 2004-03-11 20:38 ]

What about tiki singles on 45 rpm? I am the proud owner of "Tiki Twist" by the Vistas on the TIKI label. This record was made in Greenville, South Carolina in about 1963. Musically it is inept, dopey twist-rock (not exotica at all) but that suits me just fine. In a weak moment I almost gave this prized relic to the charming and enchanting Tiki Goddess (Formikahini); fortunately better sense prevailed, much to her chagrin :)

[ Edited by: Mau Mau on 2004-03-11 20:47 ]

Since this thread has gradually taken a turn. That German crooner Heino has made a few Hawaiian themed songs like Aloha oi and Hula that would brighten up any twisted luau.

http://www.cordinternational.com/new_releases.htm

i usually buy records for the sounds...you want a rare record that resembles an island recording but really has roots in jazz...it's a vibraphone record by lionel hampton on the Decca label called "Moonglow" he is accompanied by a hammond B3 but LH's mallets are percussive as only primitive tunes can be...

covers are covers...i can't make time to list the specific records but i like anything with james flora or david stone martin art on it...album art is an indistry that has made well for itself as long as white men have been selling records to minorities nationwide

for sounds and graphics let's face it...labels are dependable as ever...rounder arhoolie folklyric and others are like cap'n crunch peanut butter crunchies as is hanaola reocrds...

any SOLOIST that'll pluck a stringed box and sing falsetto like they are shot i'll love no matter who they are...just do it slowly and deliver it in a personal way...drum cirles are great fun too especially if birds are nearby...smoke and mirrors...pullies and levers

Favorite LP: Si Zenter Plays Martin Denny
Favorite cover: Ditto, I mean hot babe, and a real thatch gatefold?!?

Heres Traderpups link to the cover art and description.
http://www.traderpup.com/albums/md_suite.htm

Favorite artist: Ditto, I love that record.
But overall fave artists has to be Mr Denny.

[ Edited by: Tikigardener on 2004-03-12 23:48 ]

[ Edited by: Tikigardener on 2004-03-12 23:55 ]

i have eto admit that i have't seen that si Z record...and i am now sad...what can i do? martin D is one sleek set leadin bird lover of that there can be no question at all

oh record art! i love you!

...my mind is on like 7 new "collector series" records on the hanaola label that are sitting in amoeba record's various hawaiian section just minutes from my house...i can hear them from here but the sound is only a faint echo...