Otto von Stroheim writes about Tiki Oasis 8 musical programming:

Tickets are on sale for Tiki Oasis 8!
Tickets have been on sale for a while
But I wanted to let you know
Hotel rooms are going fast and there are only a few VIP passes left

We very quietly added Robert Drasnin and Waitiki to the schedule recently
One of the best classic Exotica acts and one of the best new Exotica acts on the same bill!!

The Robert Drasnin orchestra features Skip Heller on atmospheric guitar, Alice Berry on wordless vocals (aka Formica Dinette), and Mark Riddle (Tikiyaki Orchestra) on keyboards, as well as members on Waitiki in the backing group.

To get an idea of what the show will be like on Sat check out this video from last year

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHXuIF7qd_k

If you are already booked and are not aware of the room parties, please check them out here:

http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=27862&forum=17&97

Brian Chidester, co-author of Dumb Angel Magazine 4 and the upcoming Pop Surf Culture book (among other things) has a short film about the Waikiki Beachboys on YouTube currently.

Quote from Tiki central:

It’s a short documentary that I directed four years ago, as a teaser to a larger project about the Waikiki Beachboys… native Hawaiian surf instructors and nightclub entertainers from the jazz age up through the ’60s. There were two great generations of Beachboys, and even though there are still beachboy concessions on Waikiki Beach today, the music and scene is nowhere near what it was back in the day.
I hope you enjoy the clip. I have tons of interview footage ‘in the can.’

from Jerry Cole’s MySpace profile:

Our dear friend Jerry Cole died Wednesday night at his home in Corona, California. Funeral services are still pending but a public memorial is also being planned for the near future. Jerry’s wife Gale was with him when he suffered a massive heart attack. Jerry was 68 years old and is survived by Gale and their daughters, Monique and Katrina, and son, Cane. Jerry’s other son, Keith, died just a year earlier at the age of 28.

from Answers.com

Throughout the ’60s and , guitarist/songwriter Jerry Cole worked with some of the most prominent talents in rock’n’roll, including Them, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, and as a session man in Phil Spector’s ‘Wrecking Crew.’ With his own group the Spacemen, Cole released four albums of space-age surf music in just over two years, beginning with 1963’s Outer Limits. As the ’60s progressed, Cole worked on sessions for the Byrds’ ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’/’I Knew I’d Want You’ single and Them’s 1965 self-titled album. He teamed up with Roger McGuinn again in 1972 for McGuinn’s debut solo record, and session work with Roger Miller, Chuck Howard and Susie Allanson sent him in a country-rock direction. Cole’s work with the Spacemen was collected in the 1999 Sundazed compilation Power Surf! The Best of Jerry Cole & His Spacemen. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Jerry Cole

I found this blog by accidents – looking for the publisher of a Chubby Checker song. The first time I stumbled across a great blog by someone I know personally and I didn’t know he was doing it!

Berlin Beatet Bestes is where Andreas Michalke presents his odd vinyl findings. I think it’s just 7”s. He has a talent for finding incredible stuff of all kinds (and not just records). Often with great sleeves – being a comic book artist he wouldn’t let a nice artwork illustration pass by. It took a while until I gathered how to listen to his samples in the stream player on the right sidebar. Maybe this would be a good plug-in for his WordPress? He could have the sound where the article is – and not alphabetically crammed into a small box. Anyway, I totally dig this. Check out the thorough descriptions he writes for the records. He loves vinyl oddities. If you’re similarly adjusted have a look and a listen.

I knew about this big back-catalogue re-issue being planned before, but I somehow never could view the web-page until now.

Arthur Lyman died a couple of years ago, and it was a great loss to the people into Exotica and Tiki as he was still performing. He used to play with Martin Denny before he ventured out with his own group. Both artists released similar styled albums, but Lyman kept more Hawai’i in his music as the sixties went on, being hawaiian might be a reason. He had some of the deepest, most atmospheric and soulful Exotica recordings, combining authentic ethnic instrumentation with modern jazz. Another interesting point of note are humorous tunes he often selected to appear towards the end of his LPs. He may not have had a Sandy Warner on the covers, but many are very beautiful, classic Exotica designs. Taboo 2 had an authentic shrunken head on the front, until it was repackaged with a shot from the Pele roll of film.

Kevin Crossman writes on the Exotica list:

Collectors has released 18 Lyman albums in their entirety as 9 two-fer CDs.
…
Don’t be fooled by lame, generic cover art. each release has the cover of both LPs printed in full color. All you have to do is take the front booklet out and fold it backwards to show the cool orig Lp cover art! The CD also contains a reprint of one of the Lp back covers
…
Look for the double titles separated by a slash. Steer clear of the Greatest Hits package – it is not bad but I’m sure you would rather have the full experience of a Lyman lp in its original format
…

go to Collectors’ Choice Music

Jeff Chenault on the Exotica Mailing List writes about his upcoming appearance at this year’s Tiki Oasis. Quote:

Aloha Exoticats,

It hasn’t been formally announced yet but I will be presenting a seminar on Exotica Music at the Tiki Oasis event in San Diego this year. The dates are August 14th-17th 2008. More info can be found at www.tikioasis.com

Below is a brief description of my presentation…….

Jeff Chenault presents Sounds for Sophisticated Savages

Exotica researcher Jeff Chenault has become a well-known figure in the Exotica world. His extensive research comes from a lifetime love affair with music and his consummate passion for unusual sounds. For the past two years he has presented his Exotica seminars to enthusiastic crowds at the Hukilau event in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His ultimate goal is to share, educate and enlighten people with this extraordinary and fascinating form of music.

This year Jeff will present an ever-expanding version of his music seminar. The show will include an introductory overview of Exotica pioneers Martin Denny, Les Baxter and Arthur Lyman, and also chronicle more obscure artists such as Eden Ahbez and Jimmy Namaro. As an added bonus Jeff will highlight the career of Hollywood film composer Robert Drasnin. Bob’s quintessential first album Voodoo is considered by many to be a masterpiece of the genre. Bob will also be making a special guest appearance.

Join us for an entertaining and educational journey into the world of Exotica.

Cheers and Mahalo,

Jeff

I would go and have a good listen!!

From Domenic Priore:

Friday on Volcanic Action you’ll hear music from the surfing movie soundtracks to Blue Surf-Ari, Strictly Hot, Gone With The Wave, The Golden Breed, Follow Me, The Fantastic Plastic Machine, Getting Back to Nothing and the Waimea Bay epic Ride The Wild Surf. Plus plenty of Exotica, Surf Instrumentals, West Coast Jazz, Bossa Nova, Hawaiian and Surf vocal tunes too.

11 p.m. London

6 p.m. New York City

3 p.m. Los Angeles

Noon in Honolulu

Luxuriamusic.com

Wow! A website dedicated to bringing back dynamics into modern recordings. I applied there with Tiki Traveling. Hopefully they accept that recording. I will do my best to support the project. I recorded TTWKK in the consciousness of making an anti-loudness record. Being mainly for soundtrack use, I could more easily fight the temptation of being competitive with music recorded for radio, music-tv or a teenager’s music collection, but aimed for the late fifties/early sixties hifi stereo sound instead. Think Command LPs with Bauhaus covers (Enoch Light’s label). I mixed and mastered for a good, enduring listening experience.

These records say: Turn me up! Your stereo deserves being turned up as much as your guitar amp or vehicle. Simply sounds better. Dials are more precise up the scale, too.

I wrote about the so called loudness wars earlier on this blog.

Quote from Turn Me Up!

Turn Me Up!™ is a non-profit music industry organization
campaigning to give artists back the choice to release more dynamic records. To be clear, it’s not our goal to discourage loud records; they are, of course, a valid choice for many artists. We simply want to make the choice for a more dynamic record an option for artists. …

Turn Me Up! | Bringing Dynamics Back To Music

Here’s another link to an article on over-compression of music.

Now I know which movie this tune is referring to in the Making Out At the Movies album by The Boss Guitars.
I think it’s a Vinnie Bell composition, going back to the Whistle Stop album. There’s also a 45 with a Fink reference in the band name, that’s yet another version.
The track’s title Bazooki refers to Vincent Bell’s invention, the Danelectro Bellzouki. This was the first electric twelve string guitar. And was developed because the greek bouzouki was becoming requested after the soundtrack to Never On A Sunday became such a hit.

Rat Pfink A Boo-Boo at YouTube

Now this japanese guy is one hot Uke player, I tell you. Interesting to see Pacific Longboarder write about him:

‘08 Monday, 11 February 2008Jake Shimabukuro (she-ma-BOO-koo-row) is recognized as one of the world’s top ukulele (oo-koo-LAY-lay) musicians, and one of the most jaw-dropping performers of any instrument. Renowned for lightning-fast fingers, revolutionary playing techniques, and wildly eclectic repertoire, Jake views the ukulele as an ‘untapped source of music with unlimited potential.’ It is no coincidence that Jake is the first ukulele player ever invited to perform as a solo artist at the Sydney Opera House! Playing jazz, blues, funk, classical, bluegrass, folk, flamenco and rock, Jake plays beyond all musical boundaries.It began when his mother gave him a ukulele lesson at age four. ‘When I played my first chord I was hooked,’ says Jake. Evolving from the heavily amplified riffs that earned Jake the reputation as ‘Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele,’ now Jake masterfully extracts the pure ‘clean’ natural acoustic sound of the uke, delicately making a single note smile or cry on his most recent releases, Gently Weeps and My Life. The highlight of Gently Weeps is Jake’s cover of George Harrison’s ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps.’ The video clip of Jake playing this in Central Park appeared on YouTube, and made Jake the medium’s first global superstar with over 3.5 million hits. When Jake had the honor of meeting Harrison’s widow, Olivia, backstage at his show with the Honolulu Symphony, she described feeling George’s presence with her when Jake played his rendition of Gently Weeps. From a modest beginnings at a Honolulu café, Jake has gone on to play at venues such as the House of Blues and The Knitting Factory (Los Angeles), The Birchmere (Alexandria, VA), Tipitina’s (New Orleans), Joe’s Pub and Knitting Factory (NYC), Ottawa Blues Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, The Bumbershoot Festival, The Fuji Rock Festival (Japan) and many others. Touring with Jimmy Buffett in ’05, ’06 and ’07 gave Jake ‘a priceless experience’ of playing to crowds of over 100,000. Jake’s first national TV slot was in December ’05 on NBC’s The Late Show with Conan O’Brien.

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