Guest post by Nathan Arizona
In a deep freeze like the one we’ve been locked into, one’s thoughts naturally turn to palm trees, tiki torches and exotic bird calls to warm us up in mind if not body.
And if your thoughts need a little nudging, well there’s music for that.
Exotica is an easygoing, semi-jazzy concoction derived in the 1950s from Polynesian and other Pacific Island cultures, sometimes with a touch of the Caribbean, Africa or the Far East. It was born to remind post-World War 2 middle-class Americans there was a whole world of pleasure out there beyond the suburban patio, and they could enter it without leaving their split-level homes.
Arthur Lyman, Milt Raskin, Robert Drasnin and others soon followed with their own versions of exotica.
The ringing marimbas, chirping flutes and rippling percussion of exotica played not just on new home stereos but in tiki bars where folks could drink mai tais and pretend they were somewhere near a jungle. Tiki was the First Man in Polynesian cultures; there’s no sign he was a drinking first man.
The craze had died down by the end of the next decade but came back as part of the space-age-bachelor-pad lounge revival of the ‘90s. Exotica has carried on at a low hum ever since with bands like Don Tiki, the Tikiyaki Orchestra and Mr. Ho’s Orchestroica.
Here’s a colorful video of “Quiet Village” by Martin Denny that should warm you up. He did not write the song, as the video implies at the end, but he had the hit.
Exotica had come to television by 1959 in the form of “Adventures in Paradise,” which sent Gardner McKay’s character sailing around the Pacific to pursue passengers, cargo and excitement. Here’s the contemporary band Waitiki 7 with a version of the theme song.
This is former Martin Denny band member Arthur Lyman and his group on a 1964 TV show playing “Taboo” in a hotel tiki bar. Lyman’s on the vibes.
