MARTIN DENNY 1911-2005

I'm no music critic, not even a free lancer, so I'm not going to babble on about Martin Denny's artistic identity and his contributions. All that should be known is generally what he did and why his records invaded your parent's record collections, as well as mine. Denny, more or less, recorded and created the musical term called 'Exotica'...and, thus, invading your parent's record collection.

'Exotica' is, basically, Americanized version and arrangements of Polynesian/Hawaiian music that's usually played in elevators and lounges. Thanks to the additional the pressures of conformity of the period (50's and 60's), this all lead to the creations of Tiki bars, restaurants, apartments and office buildings.

Some have called it 'Easier Listening Music'; though I question this as most of these recorded songs contain the sounds of, say, the more-white-than-Wonder-Bread Ray Conniff Singers chanting, almost yelling, Exotica's harsh Polynesian lyrics. A safer bet is sitting in the middle of Disneyland's Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Fucking Tiki Room to get a general mainstream view on Exotica.

The bottom line is that Martin Denny provided just the right balance of smoothness and inventiveness to keep these Tiki backyards from falling asleep on their BBQ pork and Mai Tai. Leave that to bad cover versions of Burt Bacharach and 101 Strings.

It was all about the search for alternative scenery, a frame of mind and escape route that offered a chance to control your own world and, for that time, Tiki was the pill and the music was the background music to help you swallow it.

Personally, this tiki party was all but largely over when I grew up. All I got from the party was the old shells of those buildings and the records.

Whenever I went to places like Playa Del Ray and Long Beach were most of these shells reside and find myself in a neighborhood where I'm surrounded by them, I find myself whipping out a Martin Denny CD and I find myself placed in another time were you can un-self consciously create your own surrounding without fear of real estate prices and smell that BBQ.

BTW, a small side note of thanks goes to Sandy Warner. The Exotica model who graced her presents upon many of those Martin's LP covers! Yowie! They don't make 'em and her anymore.

Don-O