What Tiki Music Are You Listening To? (plus reviews)

Hula Girls - "The Curse of the Tiki". Downloaded from iTunes. GREAT production !!

Before that it was the Martini Kings. The album with the topless Asian chick pointing her finger.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2010-10-07 22:49 ]

Actually, right at this moment:
"Winter Wonderland" LP by The Mexicali Brass....just finished their "Jingle Bells" LP....I'm digitalizing all my old Christmas favorites onto my external hard drive for the holidays this year...:) Just taking a break from the endless pocess of digitalizing my Hawaiian/exotica collection. I figured I do my Xmas ones in sections..starting with "Tijuana Brass Xmas Cash-In Groups"..there are many...:)

And thank you for listening to the HGs, John.....I was at almost every recording session we did for that album...it was really a very intense, creative atmosphere.

The only part about it I was sorry I missed was watching Crazy Al doing the birdcalls....from what I hear, he was moving around the room, heavily utilizing the stereo field...it would have been AWESOME to watch!

[ Edited by: Lucas Vigor 2016-04-06 12:25 ]

A new tikiyaki song that y'all haven't heard yet. :wink:

On 2010-09-23 19:42, tikiyaki wrote:
A new tikiyaki song that y'all haven't heard yet. :wink:

It's a good thing you don't post it right now, Jim...'cause I would steal it for the Rhesus Monkeys!!!!! (after changing a couple of notes here and there and playing it on my Casio)

But seriously, whatever you create is ALWAYS top notch!!

On 2010-09-23 19:50, lucas vigor wrote:

On 2010-09-23 19:42, tikiyaki wrote:
A new tikiyaki song that y'all haven't heard yet. :wink:

It's a good thing you don't post it right now, Jim...'cause I would steal it for the Rhesus Monkeys!!!!! (after changing a couple of notes here and there and playing it on my Casio)

But seriously, whatever you create is ALWAYS top notch!!

I'd be honored if the rhesus monkeys stole from me. They're my fave exotica band.

"Strange Enchantment" by Vic Damone.

On 2010-09-23 19:42, tikiyaki wrote:
A new tikiyaki song that y'all haven't heard yet. :wink:

Oh snap. Where's it at?

Tiki Joes Ocean under the Midnight Sun.

I'm listening to the Smokin' Menehunes "My China Town".

http://www.myspace.com/thesmokinmenehunes

Next week I'll get to see them live in the Longboard Room at DTBC !!

On 2010-09-24 12:12, socksoff wrote:

On 2010-09-23 19:42, tikiyaki wrote:
A new tikiyaki song that y'all haven't heard yet. :wink:

Oh snap. Where's it at?

On 2010-09-24 20:42, tikiyaki wrote:

On 2010-09-24 12:12, socksoff wrote:

On 2010-09-23 19:42, tikiyaki wrote:
A new tikiyaki song that y'all haven't heard yet. :wink:

Oh snap. Where's it at?

2011 South AWESOME avenue!

Les Baxter's "Space Escapades". I must say for a Baxter concept album it's not quite as "space age-y" as I would have expected. Still quite enjoyable but I think the album's reputation exceeds the reality.

Before that it was the Rumblers' "Boss" which is an early 60's instrumental band that bridges the link between R&B and Surf Music. I learned about these guys on the Surf Guitar 101 website. WOW, they play some mean saxophone !!

Space capades is one of my favorite Les Baxter albums! There is hardly anything spacey about it save for the song titles. But, it is awesome 50's "shopping mall" jazz.

Right now? John Berberian's "A Mid Eastern Odyssey". Is it exotica? Depends on how you want to define it. But I like this kind of Middle Eastern music. I like collecting vintage belly-dance LPs.

Is this different somehow from the other thread in Bilge?

-Randy

Bilge ???

That's for losers !! :)

Right now I'm listening to a song called "Shit Sandwich" by Satan's Pilgrims. I dunno I'm really trying to educate myself on this Third Wave of Surf Music but I still much prefer JFK-era. I really like that wailing sax vs. too much "drip, drip, drip". I would post that opinion on SG101 but it would only make me an outcast (vs. all of the love and respect that I get on TC).

Also did you know you can download the Rhesus Monkeys on iTunes now ?? Unbelievable !!

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2010-10-01 08:52 ]

joe satriani's new disc. black swans and worm hole wizards. freaking great guitar. and yeah, its not tiki or exotica.

[ Edited by: talo ka 2010-10-04 15:47 ]

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2010-10-08 13:58 ]

Back to the First Wave.

My CD of "The Best of the New Dimensions" arrived in the mail today. This early 1960's Surf band was comprised of 13-15 year olds !!

They recorded several albums which were targeted straight for the cut out bins.

They however hold their own (IMHO) with the best of them including icons like Dick Dale, the Belairs, and the Surfaris (Original and non-Original). :)

It's shocking how much great Surf music was recorded from 1961-1965 that flew low and under the radar.

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2010-10-08 13:58 ]

........Was lisnin to Dick Dale today! Yeah, now Agents of vOoDo0...mmmmhhmmm

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2010-10-08 13:57 ]

The slurpy sound the straw makes at the bottom of a cocktail.

It is a really sad sound.

On 2010-09-30 16:37, aquarj wrote:

Is this different somehow from the other thread in Bilge?

The difference should be that this thread should only contain music relevant to this particular sub-forum.

On 2010-10-04 21:06, JOHN-O wrote:

My CD of "The Best of the New Dimensions" arrived in the mail today.

[...]

They however hold their own (IMHO) with the best of them including icons like Dick Dale, the Belairs, and the Surfaris (Original and non-Original). :)

Yeah, one of my all time favorite surf bands! Front cover shot at Waikiki Beach.

Currently listening to my somewhat trashed copy of Bob Romeo's great Aphrodisia album. :drink:

On 2010-10-06 13:05, Klas wrote:

Front cover shot at Waikiki Beach...

Ya know, I've always thought that album cover (along with the Sentinal's "Surfer Girl" album cover based on the same photo shoot) was pretty risque for the time.

We're talking about 13-14 year olds cavorting with much more "mature" ladies. Those lucky lucky kids. :)

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2010-10-06 17:18 ]

Thee Swank Bastards need more listeners. Email [email protected] for your copies of cds. For downloads go to http://www.tunecore.com/music/theeswankbastards. You can always go to last.fm and start a station with our name.

On 2010-10-06 17:14, JOHN-O wrote:

Ya know, I've always thought that album cover (along with the Sentinal's "Surfer Girl" album cover based on the same photo shoot) was pretty risque for the time.

My main thought about those two album covers have always been that the Sentinals must have been totally pissed off by having a rival band (Michael Lloyd and Jimmy Greenspoon of the New Dimensions) on the front cover of their album!

The Sound of Plaid..................

http://dfm.nu/

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2016-04-06 12:27 ]

[ Edited by: Tikigoddess 2010-10-08 14:21 ]

Actually here's an idea to add more meaningful content to this thread. Rather than just naming the song or album you're listening to, how about posting a review (and album picture) of the music?

This could be a vintage album or net-new Tiki music. Maybe something like this that I did for the Ding Dong Devils..

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=37363&forum=17&vpost=546323

Also having listened to the same Les Baxter comp (that I'm sure everyone here owns) over and over, I've been seeking out the original concept albums. It's really great stuff to hear the music in the exact context that Les Baxter intended. I will be posting those reviews on this thread.

Please feel free to do the same with whatever you're listening to. :)

And it would be nice to stick to the definition of "Tiki Music" on this forum.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2010-10-07 22:55 ]

Thee Swank Bastards in the truck
Pucho and the Latin Soul Brothers in the house
Frank Sinatra in the studio

Wow, I try to raise the bar and then (hardly) no one wants to play anymore. :(

Right now I'm listening to an album of Louis Prima and Keely Smith live at the Sahara Lounge.

This is really great stuff. It capture the improvisation, joking around, and song retakes of their live Vegas show.

People remember it as the "Rat Pack Years" but to me, Louis Prima and Keely Smith were the definitive Las Vegas act.

Just been listening to the new reissue of the Tiki Tones' "Suburban Savage".

Never heard them before, but I would certainly buy more of their stuff on the basis of this one. Cool, surfy instrumental rock, rather than exotica. Weird that they do a cover of the James Taylor Quartet's "In the Park", but rename it "Zombi Hut".

[ Edited by: Quiet Village Idiot 2010-10-20 04:38 ]

Found a REALLY COOL ONE a couple of weeks back...the name of the band is "The Water Melon Group", and the album is called "Cool Music".

There's a GREAT version of "Quiet Village" on here (check out the Youtube someone put up at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvYS0I0rmN8 ), as well as a lot of other exotica tracks (Jungle Flower, ALL of side 2). What little info I could find about it, is that this was a project by Toshio Nakanishi who was the lead singer of Japanese New Wave band "The Plastics".

It's a really excellent album!!! I know Haruomi Hosono of Yellow Magic Orchestra did SOME exotica music, but is anyone aware of any more Japanese exotica? I'm totally digging on this one...

Hey, nice find!

The only other modern-day Japanese exotica I'm aware of is Kenny Sasaki and the Tiki Boys, who have several CDs available from CDBaby.

The New Kenny Sasaki album is quite good.

On 2010-10-21 00:29, Quiet Village Idiot wrote:
Hey, nice find!

The only other modern-day Japanese exotica I'm aware of is Kenny Sasaki and the Tiki Boys, who have several CDs available from CDBaby.

Cool! I'll check them out!!!

Surprisingly, the Water Melon thang is from 1984! Not a ton of exotica going on at that time!!!

Watermelon were friends of Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, who early on went to Hawaii to see Martin Denny play, and also recorded the Denny-esque theme song for Pewee's Playhouse. The early Exotica revival (with artists like Throbbing Gristle,Boyd Rice and Monitor) was ten years ahead of the early 90s Tiki revival.

On 2010-10-20 02:16, Quiet Village Idiot wrote:
Just been listening to the new reissue of the Tiki Tones' "Suburban Savage".

Never heard them before, but I would certainly buy more of their stuff on the basis of this one. Cool, surfy instrumental rock, rather than exotica. Weird that they do a cover of the James Taylor Quartet's "In the Park", but rename it "Zombi Hut".

[ Edited by: Quiet Village Idiot 2010-10-20 04:38 ]

congrats,
try to find also the Idol Pleasures cd.
for sale here:
http://www.google.com/search?q=tiki+tones+cds&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.yahoo:en-US:official&client=firefox#q=tiki+tones+cds&hl=en&client=firefox&hs=3ib&rls=com.yahoo:en-US:official&prmd=ivs&source=univ&tbs=shop:1&tbo=u&ei=vYzHTIuhLIq-sQPTkoCODQ&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CDEQrQQwAg&fp=499faa430ac3503f

and also the 2- 45s,
"songs for Rum drinkers"
and "Wilt Disner Presents the Enchanted Tiki Tones"

and if you didn't know,
Shag was the Guitarist in the Tiki Tones.

Surprises me how many tiki people don't know that he was a musician also,
other bands include the Swanp Zombies, and the Huntington Cads.

Jeff(btd)

Cheers Jeff, and thanks for the tips. I knew Shag was in them, but didn't know which instrument he played, as all the members used stage names.

I mean - how many pseudonyms does one guy need?

I saw Shag with the Tiki-Tones at the Lava Lounge in Hollywood back in 1999.
I think he played a Blue Fender Jaguar guitar then...

On 2010-10-19 22:04, JOHN-O wrote:
Wow, I try to raise the bar and then (hardly) no one wants to play anymore. :(

Right now I'm listening to an album of Louis Prima and Keely Smith live at the Sahara Lounge.

This is really great stuff. It capture the improvisation, joking around, and song retakes of their live Vegas show.

People remember it as the "Rat Pack Years" but to me, Louis Prima and Keely Smith were the definitive Las Vegas act.

I was hanging out in the New York, New York casino sometime in the late 90s
when Sam Butera & Keely Smith came on the main stage, I did not even know that they were playing that night
it was a real amazing show!

On 2010-10-27 00:50, HelveTiki wrote:
I saw Shag with the Tiki-Tones at the Lava Lounge in Hollywood back in 1999.
I think he played a Blue Fender Jaguar guitar then...

I think I was at that show too.
But I saw them at the Doll Hut in Anaheim, probably over 20 times in a few years period(from 1997 to 2000)
I saw their second to last show, there.
the last being at Otto and Baby Does wedding (I heard)
of course they still play from time to time with a new guitar player.
But it's not the same to me.

Jeff(btd)

The new Quiet Village podcast...

http://www.digitiki.com/podcast.htm

It's a Halloween-themed "Spookilau".

• Intro (Theme from The Tiki Wonder Hour / Combustible Edison / I, Swinger)
• Halloween / Betty Grable
• Deadman's / The Blue Hawaiians / Sway
• Theme from 'Our Man Flint' / Elliot Fischer
• End Credits Can Suck it (end titles from 'Land of the Lost) / Michael Giacchino
• Tubular Bells (theme from 'The Exorcist') / Mike Odlfield
• Laurie's Theme / John Carpenter / Halloween soundtrack
• Curella Deville / The Replacements / All for Nothing
• The Female of the Species / Space / Austin Powers soundtrack
• Dinner with Drac / Zacharle / Dinner with Drac
• Theme from 'Dark Shadows' / Robert Covert
• Oggie Boogie Song / Rodrigo y Gabriela / Nightmare Revisited
• The Jungle / Diablito / Jungle Exotica vol. 1
• Jungle Safari / Novabouts / Jungle Exotica vol. 1
• I Put A Spell On You / Screamin' Jay Hawkins
• Old Devil Moon / Lena Horne
• Witchcraft / Frank Sinatra
• Angry Johnny / Poe
• Life, Lounge and Lesser Evils / Paul Haslinger / The Score
• Coronation / Martin Denny
• Sies Nueve / Chaino / Eye of the Spectre
• Theme from 'Day the Earth Stood Still / Chincinnati Pop
• I Want To Be Evil / Eartha Kitt
• Whatever Lola Wants / Sarah Vaughn
• Theme from 'The Blob / Burt Bacharach
• One Eyed, One Horned, Flying Purple People Eater / Sam The Sham & the Pharoahs
• Witch Doctor / Dave Sevelle
• Monster Mash / Bobby 'Boris' Pickett
• Time Warp / Rockey Horror Picture Show soundtrack
• Theme from 'Little Shop of Horrors / Little Shop of Horrors soundtrack
• Theme from 'War of the Worlds / Cincinnati Pops
• Taboo / Jimmy Virani / Beachcombing in Outer Space

I really enjoyed this edition, especially the TV/Movie soundtracks.

Where does the Betty Grable track originate from ??

John-O, their is a reference to Betty Grable & the Skeleton dance
and the movie "Song of the Islands" I will have to see if it is from that movie?