Martin Denny - "Misirlou" (1961)

Hello Friends,

Some genius decided to take Martin Denny's version of "Misirlou" and set it to a scene from Fritz Lang's 1959 adventure film, The Indian Tomb.  It's diabolically sexy and borderline unbelievable!  Take that Tarantino...

By the way, the brunette hottie performing the snake dance is Debra Paget who also appeared in Cecil B. Demille's The Ten Commandments & Elvis Presley's film debut, Love Me Tender.  Give this girl an Oscar!

Sunday Jazz Brunch on the tiny island of Espiritu Santo

Les Brown and his Band of Renown - "Dance to South Pacific" (1958) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We're enjoying another Sunday brunch here on Vinyl in the Valley.  The mimosas are flowing and Tiki T. is poaching up some eggs benny.  I'm no soothsayer, but I can see into the future of this Sunday and I see a lot NOT getting done today!

The chores can wait.  In the meantime, we've got this great Les Brown record on the turntable.  Twelve mostly swinging tracks lifted from the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical that captivated the nation throughout the fifties, South Pacific.

"Dites-Moi" and "Some Enchanted Evening" are fun, bouncy numbers punctuated by a solid brass section.  Frank Comstock's arrangement of the brunch-themed "Bloody Mary" is pretty solid as well.   "This Nearly Was Mine" is Brown and his orchestra at their somber creamiest.  "There Is Nothin' Like A Dame" sounds like something that The Count Basie orchestra might have recorded. The album's highlight is probably Billy May's cha-cha arrangement of the tiki anthem, "Bali Ha'i". 

All today needs to be perfect is a hammock strapped between two palm trees and a sexy native bringing me rum drinks in hollowed-out pineapples!

Oh and if someone can do the dishes!

RATING: 3.5 gonna wash that man right outta my hairs out of 5

Havana in Hi-Fi

Richard Hayman and his Orchestra - "Havana in Hi-Fi" (1957) - Mercury Records

Hello Friends,

This record was a great thrift store find and we're enjoying the hell out of it while we suck down some mojitos and wait for the summer sun to set.

We were first introduced to bespectacled bandleader Richard Hayman on his record, Voodoo (1959).  (Review here.)  This LP, like that one, has a very soundtracky quality to it.  The heavily orchestrated arrangements are at times classical, at times jazzy, with hints of exotica and a healthy dose of spaghetti western.  (As Tiki T. points out the opening number, "Rhapsodero" would not sound out of place in a Quentin Tarantino movie!)     

The liner notes on the back of the record describe in great detail the recording process and instruments used!  In the 50's, the term "High Fidelity" was used by record labels to help market their products by promising a fuller, more authentic sound.  (Eventually, the term "Hi Fi" became pretty generic and was mostly used to replace "phonograph" or "record player.")  So if you care you can read about the "authentic"-sounding oboe on "Caminito", what kind of RCA microphones were used on the violas, or how the track "Love and the World Loves With You" is a real "treat for tweeter fans", you can! 

Plus, we love the cover!  We're always suckers for a bongos and a brunette with nice gams!

RATING: 4 Tropical Merengues out of 5

Soft Lights and Sweet Music

Stanley Black and his Orchestra - "Soft Lights and Sweet Music" (1958) - Richmond High Fidelity

Hello Friends,

An imprint of London Records, the Richmond High Fidelity record label was a budget label that re-released mono and stereo LP's in the U.S. from 1958 to 1963 and sold for $1.98.  What a bargain!

British bandleader & conductor, Stanley Black delivers some swinging, late night instrumental lounge music on this 1958 LP.  Lush and softly exotic, its the perfect soundtrack to a balmy spring night at the old tiki bar.

The highlights here include a trio of Cole Porter songs, "Just One of Those Things", "Begin the Beguine" and "Why Can't You Behave?"; the Rodgers & Hart ballad, "My Heart Stood Still"; the Exotica staple "Bali Ha'i"; the South-of-the-Border lounge of "Adios" & "Estrellita"; and the jumpy "Alice Blue Gown"-- which would sound right at home in a Woody Allen movie.

RATING: 4.5 Trips to the Moon on Gossamer Wings out of 5   

Romantica!

Martin Denny - "Romantica" (1961) - Liberty

Hello Friends,

Tonight on the turntable?  How about the lush and exotic sounds of Martin Denny?  I'll drink to that!

Actually we picked up this gem in a used bin during Record Store Day.  Another great Martin Denny album cover featuring the incomparable "face of Exotica", Miss Sandy Warner and those inviting eyes!

As the liner notes state, "Denny has chosen twelve selections that are ideal for a dream voyage on an ocean of serene romance" and folks we couldn't have said it better ourselves!  

Pianos and vibraphones square off with exotic percussion sounds and lush string arrangements.  

Songs include: "And This Is My Beloved", "Romance", "My Reverie", "Magic is the Moonlight", "A Fine Romance", "Tenderly" and Denny's own compositions, "Love At Sight", "Aloha, I Love You" & "Blue Paradise".

RATING: 4 La Pampas Y La Punas out of 5 

Yma Sumac

Yma Sumac - "Miracles" (1972) - London Records

Hello Friends,

Our favorite Peruvian princess with a five octave vocal range is on the Vinyl in the Valley turntable tonight!

Yma Sumac is one of the legends of the 50's Exotica movement.  Contrary to popular belief, "Yma Sumac" was NOT born "Amy Camus" in Brooklyn, NY.  From what we can tell, however, she was born Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo in Callao, Peru in 1922 and she may or may not have been a distant descendant of the last Incan emperor, Atahualpa.   

In any event, Yma Sumac's voice was unlike any other and she had a string of albums in the 50's that are essentials in the Exotica pantheon.  Albums like "Voice of the Xtabay" (1950), "Flahooley" (1951), "Legend of the Sun Virgin" (1952), "Mambo!" (1954) and "Fuego del Ande" (1959) helped defined the genre and sounded unlike anything else at the time-- or ever since!  From her baritone growls to her higher-than-normal soprano trills, she's really needs to be heard to be believed!

Miracles is Sumac's foray into rock & roll music.  Produced and arranged by none other than Les Baxter, the results are definitely weird and cheesey-- but in the best possible way.  Sumac's music of the 1950's was unlike anything anyone heard before-- give her an utempo, rock & roll backing band and that statement doubles in meaning!     

There's a very proggy feel to this record.  Her voice sounding more like something coming out of Rick Wakeman's early synthesizer rather than a South American woman's vocal chords! In fact, with all its strange and other-worldly sounds, lyrics and experimental (sometimes outlandish) arrangements, you can make the argument that Exotica was to lounge music as Prog Rock was to rock & roll.   

Thanks to Danny & Ross for this record!

RATING: 4.5 Descendants of Atahualpa out of 5

Voodoo Child

Richard Hayman and His Orchestra - "Voodoo!" (1959) - Mercury Records

Hello Friends,

The natives are restless on Vinyl in the Valley tonight!   I'm busy playing records and mixing up some cocktails while Tiki T. is busy poking needles into some voodoo doll she made!  Man, I hope these chest pains are just indigestion!  

Aptly titled, "Voodoo", this album is weird and scary like a good tiki album should be.  The rhythms are tribal and spell-binding.  The moods are exotic and dense.  This reaks of atmosphere! Perfect for your next Halloween party!

As the liner notes state: "Here is the fearsome fire and the brewing pot.  Here are the frightening shadows... You're not alone any longer.  The room is shaken with the frantic dances of the hungans-- so-called priests of voodoo... the cauldron boils and froths.  The walls echo to the cries and wails of the believers.  That's voodoo!"

There's a very soundtrack-y feel to this record.  Its almost as if Hayman was scoring a 1950's travel documentary about Haitian sugar plantations after dark!  One "song"-- "Incantation"-- with its exaggerated shaman incantations, actually makes you feel like some of the bodies buried in the backyard have started stirring!  

Great Googly Moogly!  

RATING: 4.5 so-called priests of voodoo out of 5

Finger Pickin' Good

Les Baxter's "Wild Guitars" (1959) - Capitol Records

Ole Friends,

Tonight we're listening to another fun entry in the Les Baxter Capitol Records library.

Tiki tunes with a Latin and Flamenco flair featuring a trio of classical guitarists-- Nestor Amaral, Joe Carioca and Pepe Gamboa.  Andres Segovia this ain't!

From the opening frenzy of Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance", these tracks contains Baxter's exotic percussion and choral accompaniments accented by the sounds of rhythmic six strings.  The standard, "My Buddy" is disguised as a feverish samba. The songs "Mandolino", "Cubana Mulatta" and "Cabayo" are Baxter originals and sound like something you might hear upon entering some South American cantina in the late 1950's.

The album closes with some excellent finger-picking on the speedy "Tico Tico"-- a song composed by Brazilian composer, Zequinha de Abreu in 1917 and made famous not only for its numerous versions but for the fact the Grateful Dead would often play in during their tuning jams between songs.  I'll take the Les Baxter version any day!

RATING: 4 Brazilian Slave Songs out of 5 

Happy Birthday Hawaii

Ray Kinney and his Coral Islanders - "Hawaiian Favorites" (1957) - RCA Camden

Aloha Friends,

We're celebrating Hawaii's birthday tonight!  It was on August 21, 1959 that the Hawaiian islands officially became our 50th State!  So grab a hula girl, a stiff drink in a pineapple and let's get lei'd!

To celebrate, we're coming to you tonight from the Hawai'i Room in New York City's Lexington Hotel featuring the swooning, exotic island sounds of Hawaiian-born Ray Kinney and his orchestra. (Not really... this place stopped existing in 1966 but we're pretty loaded on rum and nostalgia tonight!)

Singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, Ray Kinney had a career that lasted over 57 years, mostly specializing in Hawaiian music.  This late 50's entry, contains a lot of the standard Hawaiian music that he created throughout his career.   The Hawaiian boy with an Irish Name!

Here are some pretty cool-looking menus and photos from NYC's Lexington Hotel!

RATING: 4 Okoolehao Slings out of 5

The Heart of Darkness

Les Baxter - "Les Baxter's African Jazz" (1959) - Capitol Records

Jambo Friends,

We're in store for a sonic tiki trip to the dark continent tonight and there's no better tour guide than Les Baxter.  So brush up on your swahili, put on your safari hats and let's go!

To quote the liner notes from this fantastic LP, "Africa still echoes with the primitive beat.  But the continent is no longer dark.  For ancient Africa has collided with the twentieth century and the result is a flamboyant explosion."  Hmm.

The titles to some of these songs is worth the price of admission alone: "Congo Train", "Elephant Trail", "Banana Boy", "Mombasa After Midnight", "Walkin' Watusi", "Ostrich Hunt", "Cairo Bazaar", "Jungalero" & "Balinese Bongos".  Between the cover art and these song titles, how could you see this record in 1959 and NOT buy it???

The album is all instrumental with all selections composed by Baxter.  There's some jazzy trombone and tenor sax playing, but what stands out are the exotic percussion sounds and sound effects, punctuated by manic bongos, floating vibraphones and tiptoeing marimbas.  (Not to mention some cool-sounding pre-surf rock guitar work on "Cairo Bazaar"!)

There's pretty much nothing not to love about this album... "a thrilling adventure in exotic sound!"

RATING: 4.5 Shrunken Heads out of 5

Forbidden Island

Martin Denny - "Forbidden Island" (1958) - Liberty Records

Hello friends and welcome to the Forbidden Island!

Why is it forbidden?  We're not sure exactly!  Perhaps its an island full of blood-thirsty headhunters?  Or, perhaps its inhabitants are giant, prehistoric beasts?  If we're lucky it is an exotic isle populated by sexy brunettes, dressed in sarongs, who tempt us with fancy rum drinks, a cool island breeze and the distant sounds of some out-of-this-world tiki music!

Whatever the reason, Forbidden Island is a classic of the Exotica genre.   Its Martin Denny's third album and it is a fantastic trip through the dark jungles, sandy beaches and swinging hotel lounges of the South Pacific!

While taking a break as house band at Don The Beachcomber's Bora Bora Lounge in the heart of Waikiki, Denny's quartet came up with a dozen atmospheric & hypnotic tracks including 5 originals ("Cobra", "Exotica", "Goony Birds", "Primitiva" and the title track) and some excellent covers ("Port Au Prince", "Bali Hai" & "March of the Siamese Children").  As far as instruments go there's a lot of string bass and piano, but there's also bongos, marimbas, celestes, xylophones, vibes and of course the highly exotic bird calling and special effects of percussionist, August Colon.  

What an album!  From start to finish each of these 3 minute masterpieces is a luau for your ears!   

And yes, that's Exotica girl, Miss Sandy Warner once again gracing a fantastic album cover!

RATING: 5 Mai Tai's out of 5  

Holiday on those Magical Islands of Hawaii

Willie Alunai and his Band - "Holiday on those Magical Islands of Hawaii" (1959) - Parade Record Company

Aloha Friends!

Hawaii became the 50th state of the union on August 21, 1959.  This LP, released shortly thereafter, captures the enchanting and island moods of our most famous archipelago!

With steel guitar galore, this album is the perfect soundtrack to a midsummer's night luau!  

More importantly we like what the seemingly innocuous cover art is implying:

"Come and knock on our door..."

Alright!  Alright!  


RATING: 3.5 Island Threesomes out of a Possible 5

Poking the Starfish

Les Baxter's Jewels of the Sea

As the LP Cover says, "Titillating Orchestrations for Listening and Loving"... well I for one AM titillated after these deep sea adventures of Mr. Baxter's.

The music here is lush and very cinematic.  Its like a soundtrack for a movie that doesn't exist! 

Jewels of the Sea stars Steve McQueen as "Decker" and Ernest Borgnine as his bumbling sidekick, "Spence".  Its the tale of two lovelorn sailors on leave on the South Pacific island of Vanuatu.  One night, after breaking up a fight at the local cantina, these two meet a beautiful woman wading in the water.  As they approach her, a thick, mysterious fog rolls in and when it clears, the woman is gone.  Thinking her drowned, Decker dives in tries to save her and he too is pulled down by the tide.  What he sees next, he can't believe!  Is he hallucinating from a blow to the head that he received in the bar fight? Or, is the woman a mermaid who tells him that the military's presence is disturbing their otherwise tranquil underwater kingdom?            

Sounds like something I'd get in line for! 

Also, I'm not sure if the girl on the cover is a mermaid or just a regular girl who can still look sexy while holding her breath?  Though I guess it really doesn't matter!

RATING: 3.5 sea monkeys out of a possible 5  

Setting the Bar...

Hello Friends!

Tiki Tuscadero chiming in here with a few tips on home bar decor.

While the central focus of "Vinyl in the Valley" is the record at hand, your living room lounge should be nothing to sneeze at. The most industrious scrapper can make a living room bar out of some stuff from Goodwill and Job Lots...so strap on your "Can Do" Pants, bucko!

Should Ned and I ever have the opportunity to get this record show on cable access, I feel you would better understand what we're trying to achieve with the red light bulbs and stolen Chinese restaurant napkins. But for now, I suppose I can only try to best use the written word...

1. I like colored light bulbs in the lamps at the bar. We favor red ones, actually. What better color to set a sultry tone for tiki records? Or a spacey tone for prog rock records? Or a glowing backdrop for your triumphant fist pumps and leg kicks at 2 am?
2. Frame your cooler album covers for the walls around the bar. Why didn't you think of that, dummy?
3. As mentioned before, lots of Chinese restaurants have kitschy paper napkins that are yours for the taking. Set up little piles of cheerfully designed ones for your delighted guests (or no guests, as is often the case for us!)

See you next week. Until then, happy vinyl!

XO,

Tiki T.

Get Lei'd!

Martin Denny - Hawaii Goes A Go-Go

Lounge music was largely on its way out by the late 1960's.  This 1966 LP was an attempt to cross-over to a more youthful audience and keep the party going!

In an effort to stay contemporary, Martin Denny does away with his fuller, more orchestral sound in favor of a lighter, discotech atmosphere.  In lieu of wild bird calls and exotic-sounding instruments, there's saccharine piano, hand claps, upbeat tempos and some real tinny-sounding electric guitar. 

Even the LP's cover art--  featuring a smart-looking blond with a confident gaze (and her finest go-go slacks!)-- pales in comparison to the surreal and forbidden women and landscapes from the exotica albums of a decade earlier. Like this one.

Overall, its not terrible... just seems like its trying a little too hard to stay relevant. 

RATING: 3 pairs of checkered hipster slacks out of a possible 5.

 

Dueling Pianists



"I see you!"

Pianos in Paradise?  Yes please! 

How about dueling pianos in Paradise?  I say, pass the mojito!

Ferrante & Teicher are in fine fingered form on this 1962 release.  They take a break from their usual fare of piano-laced movie themes and the usual pop standards and invite us into a virtuosic world of "Jungle Rhumba", "Taboo" and "Moon of Manakoora."  

Oh, have you seen these two btw? 

"We're here for the gang bang..."

RATING: 3 1/2 creepy moustaches out of a possible 5
  

This shit's better than Nyquil

This is like audio Ambien.    Seriously, if you're having trouble sleeping put this on.  Its so lush and smoldering that it will probably put you to sleep before you even have to flip it to side B.  

The Jackie Gleason LPs on Capitol are all pretty stellar examples of lounge music from the late 1950's and early 60's.  The funny thing is that Jackie Gleason was best known for his portrayal of the brash, Ralph Kramden, on television's "The Honeymooners"-- his albums, however, are quite the opposite of that fat, sweaty, manic, spousal-abusey loudmouth. 

Also, he's on my top 10 list of favorite drunks.

Ssssh... its Quiet Village

What a horribly-named album.  This village is not quiet at all!  Its full of ocean sounds, angry Hawaiians, exotic-sounding birds, sci-fi sounding organs and weird, spacey percussion.  Its like a tiki drink for your ears!


Great album cover too... wish my porch looked like that!


That's one Miss Sandy Warner gracing the cover.  Known as "The Exotica Girl", this saucy brunette with the "bedroom eyes" appeared on a bunch of album covers for Martin Denny in the 50's & 60's.  Not too shabby!  


I wonder if she held up with age... I couldn't find a recent photo.   Back in the day though, I certainly wouldn't kick her off my bamboo porch.  [winks and nudges guy next to me]