Tiki Music: Lounge

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Lounge music. The term evokes a range of images, from a cheesy singer playing piano in a hotel bar, to a glitzy big band vocalist belting out standards in Vegas. In any case, the singer is the star of the show, be it a lowly lounge lizard, a sultry siren, or one of the Rat Pack crooners fronting a big band.

The lounge music I’ve enjoyed over the years parallels the rise, fall, and rebirth of Tiki. Lounge really hit its stride in the Mid-Century era of the 1950s-60s, and enjoyed a revival in the 1990s, just like Tiki. This versatile musical genre is still going strong today, though it is evocative of a time long gone.

Here, then, are the lounge albums I’ve listened to since the 1980s. My enjoyment of most of this music predates my love of Tiki, so perhaps it was a precursor for me. Or, yet again, worlds colliding.

Sinatra

Frank Sinatra: Capital Collectors Series (1989). The Voice. Arguably the greatest vocalist ever, Frank Sinatra began his singing career in the 1930s with big bands during the Swing era. I believe he peaked during his Capitol Records years, 1953-60, which coincided with his rise as a movie actor. Sinatra set the table for all Lounge singers who followed him.

connickHarry Connick, Jr.: We Are In Love (1990). One of the young bucks who followed in Sinatra’s footsteps, Harry Connick, Jr. was a child prodigy from New Orleans who began performing at the age of 5. Like Sinatra, he parlayed his early success as a Lounge/Big Band vocalist in the 1990s into an acting career, both in movies and television.

louis-primaLouis Prima: Capital Collectors Series (1991). Louis Prima was a versatile musician of great longevity. He began his career with a New Orleans Jazz band in the 1920s, led a Swing combo in the 1930s, a Big Band in the 1940s, and a Vegas Lounge act in the 1950s. Prima perfected the Jump Blues Lounge style during his Capitol Records years, 1956-62. Anybody whose original music sounds just as good as future covers by Brian Setzer and David Lee Roth was ahead of his time. Louis Prima brought high energy to Lounge!

DeanMartin

Dean Martin: Seasons Greetings (1992). Who doesn’t love Christmas music? Lounge artists have made their fair share of holiday albums, and then some. Of all of the Rat Pack’s efforts, Dean Martin’s are my favorite. His smooth, comfortable voice was the perfect vehicle for conveying the warmth of Christmas music. Dino’s version of Baby It’s Cold Outside is one of my favorite holiday tunes ever.

FBennettLadiesTony Bennett: Here’s to the Ladies (1995). Speaking of smooth, here’s another cat that’s been singing forever. Tony Bennett started singing jazz songs in the 1950s, peaked in the 1960s, faded in the 1970s and 1980s, came back strong in the 1990s and is as popular as ever today (Is this pattern getting old yet?). Although he doesn’t have the greatest voice, Bennett’s style is so natural that it seems he was born to sing Lounge music.

zootsCherry Poppin’ Daddies: Zoot Suit Riot (1997). The Swing music revival of the late 1990s didn’t last very long, but its impact on Lounge music is undeniable. Cherry Poppin’ Daddies introduced a new generation of music lovers (like me) to the Jump Blues style made famous by Louis Prima 40 years earlier. Their music was full of energy and had a sense of humor more biting than Prima’s, which seems corny by comparison.

bigbadBig Bad Voodoo Daddy: Americana Deluxe (1998). This band did Cherry Poppin’ Daddies one better with their unforgettable soundtrack to the movie Swingers. Who hasn’t danced to their hit song Go Daddy-O? I know I start dancing whenever I hear it! Big Bad Voodoo Daddy has managed to maintain their popularity while the rest of the Swing revival hasn’t, as they continue to tour to this day.

ElvisCostelloBurtBacharachElvis Costello and Burt Bacharach: Painted from Memory (1998). This was a most unlikely collaboration. Burt Bacharach was the composer of many Easy Listening hits in the 1960s. Elvis Costello led the New Wave of Rock&Roll music in the early 1980s. Together, they created a collection of heartfelt, spellbinding music, the likes of which hadn’t been heard in years. A perfect Lounge album.

the-look-of-love-52afa6f68c454Diana Krall: The Look of Love (2001). Not to be outdone by her husband Elvis Costello, Diana Krall has made a name for herself as a Lounge singer. Her sexy voice (think Kathleen Turner), stunning good looks, and piano-playing ability add up to the total Lounge package – une chanteuse par excellence. I could listen to Diana Krall, or better yet watch her perform, all day long. 😉

Lost in Paradise
Martini Kings: Lost in Paradise (2010). Like Elvis Costello, Tony Marsico cut his chops in Rock&Roll bands, playing bass with many big stars (Bob Dylan, Roger Daltrey) and as the regular bass player for Matthew Sweet for 10 years. With his current band, Martini Kings, Marsico has carved out a cool niche playing upright bass in a classic Lounge combo. They are in great demand in the Modern Jazz circles of Southern California and beyond. My favorite Martini Kings tunes include female vocalist Kate Campbell, who gives the band a smooth, sexy sound with a retro feel. I hope to see them perform in-person some day.

The music in these albums could be the soundtrack to many a painting by SHAG. It’s no wonder I fell in love with his artwork, and apropos that I stumbled upon it while searching for cover art for my first mix CD, Panda’s Swinging Cocktail Hour, which included a heavy dose of this music. I guess it really is a case of worlds colliding for me that Lounge and Tiki are so intimately connected.

Whenceforth A. Panda’s Tiki Lounge?

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Every once in a while, somebody asks me the question: “Andy, how did you get into all of this Tiki stuff?” The answer lies in my love of music and the intersection of creativity and anal retentiveness. Allow me to explain.

I really started getting into music in the mid-1970s, around the time I hit junior high. It started with The Beatles, then progressed into more current rock bands like Cheap Trick, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith. My best friend Bruce and I used to go back and forth picking up the latest record albums (remember those?). We also used to enjoy making mix tapes on cassettes (another dying medium). Over the years, my musical horizons expanded into classical, blues, jazz, big band and zydeco music. As my discography grew, so did my zeal for keeping it all catalogued and organized. I created, expanded and still maintain my own, custom database of my music collection to this day, complete with digitized cover art for over 1,000 albums.

So, what does this have to do with Tiki culture? Stay with me, grasshoppers!

Fast-forward 30 years to the mid-2000s. With the advent of digital music, CD burners and iTunes, I decided it was time to rekindle my love of making mix tapes. Only now, cassette tapes had gone the way of the dinosaurs, and it was so much easier to make playlists on my Mac and burn them onto CDs. But where to start?

I decided to make a compilation of music singing the praises of drinking. I had really been getting into lounge music, from my early love of Sinatra to the more contemporary crooning of Harry Conick, Jr. and the big band stylings of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. I blame the movies for this turn in my musical taste. Swingers was responsible for introducing the Jump Blues style (think Louis Prima) to a new generation. Four Rooms brought me one step closer to the Tiki world by turning me on to the Space-Age Bachelor Pad music of Esquivel and Combustible Edison.

Okay, we’re almost there folks, please indulge me for another paragraph or two!

Once I picked a theme for my first modern music compilation, the next step was to design a cool album cover for the CD jacket liner. You see, I’m a very aesthetic person, and being the anal-retentive sort, I was destined to spend hours agonizing over this seemingly minor detail. Thank God (or Al Gore) for the Internet!

I started searching online for some artwork to complement my finely crafted music mix. I decided to name it Panda’s Swinging Cocktail Hour (Andy Panda is my long-time nickname and another whole story!). While doing a Google search using the phrase “cocktail art,” I stumbled upon the work of an artist named SHAG. It was love at first sight! Here’s what that first album cover became:

Panda's Swinging Cocktail Hour, 2003

Panda’s Swinging Cocktail Hour, 2003

SHAG is the nom de guerre of Josh Agle, a lowbrow artist from Southern California. My obsession with SHAG could (and probably will) fill an entire blog post, so I’ll summarize. His art features well-heeled women and men drinking, smoking and enjoying life. SHAG’s characters are typically found in chic or exotic surroundings, and he often features Tikis in his art. Here’s the first limited-edition SHAG print I acquired:

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SHAG, The Big Mug, 2004

I’ve gone on to acquire 10 more SHAG prints and many other pieces of his swag since starting with The Big Mug. In the process, I’ve learned much about the Tiki culture of the 1950s-60s in America. I have a whole basement full of Tiki mugs and statues, Hawaiian shirts and leis, and lots of Polynesian music and movies I enjoy. My man cave is the physical manifestation of A. Panda’s Tiki Lounge, but it goes beyond that. Tiki seems to find me in the strangest of places!

Finally, here’s one more story to bring it home – worlds colliding!

In 2011, SHAG released a new print of one of his paintings, honoring the wonderful Kahiki supper club in Columbus, OH:

SHAG, Last Days of Kahiki, 2011

SHAG, Last Days of Kahiki, 2011

I bought this print and was immediately curious about the story of this Mid-Century Tiki temple. In doing some research on the Kahiki, I found out it had been torn down in 2000 to make way for a Walgreens pharmacy. How sad! Anyway, the very same week I got SHAG’s Last Days of Kahiki, two other seemingly unrelated things happened. First, I got an email of new releases from a music company I follow that included a new album of old recordings from 1965:

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The Beachcomber Trio, Live from Kahiki, 1965

It turns out The Beachcomber Trio was the house band at The Kahiki, and these recordings from the year of my birth (coincidence?) had just been rediscovered. Of course, I bought the album immediately! Second, and even more unlikely, was an RFP I received at work that week (I’m an energy sales rep by day). My company was asked to bid on the natural gas supply for Kahiki Foods out of Columbus, OH. Kahiki Foods? Really?!? Could there be a connection?

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Sure enough, with a little more research I discovered that Kahiki Foods was owned by the family of Michael Tsao, the owner of The Kahiki supper club. After the restaurant was torn down, the Tsao family decided to focus on selling frozen versions of the Asian food The Kahiki had been known for. Unfortunately, we did not win their gas supply business, but I did run out to the store and picked up some tasty Kahiki General Tso’s Chicken!

So there you have it. My love of Tiki culture was fueled by music, ignited by art, and has continued to burn brightly for the past 10 years. Going back even further, I was probably born to live the Tiki lifestyle. 1965 was the tail end of the first wave of backyard Polynesia in America. How fortunate that I’m now able to participate in Tiki’s resurgence in the prime of my life. Mahalo!

SHAG, In Search of Tiki, 2008

SHAG, In Search of Tiki, 2008