From: owner-exotica-digest@lists.xmission.com (exotica-digest) To: exotica-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: exotica-digest V2 #469 Reply-To: exotica-digest Sender: owner-exotica-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-exotica-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk X-No-Archive: yes exotica-digest Tuesday, August 3 1999 Volume 02 : Number 469 In This Digest: Re: (exotica) Istanbul (exotica) soft hippie rock / psychedelic pop (exotica) The Mad Daddy (exotica) RE: The Gentle People "simply faboo" (exotica) Istanbul (Not Constantinople) Re: (exotica) RE: The Gentle People "simply faboo" (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch Re: (exotica) Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (exotica) Arling & Cameron show Re: (exotica) Istanbul (Not Constantinople) Re: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch (Lyman vs Denny) RE: (exotica)Prez and Stay Awake (Was New eXotica Releases Overview Update) Re: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch (exotica) Sun Ra Space (exotica) [obit] Gilbert Barclay Mustin (exotica) More finds (exotica) Foreign finds Re: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch (Lyman vs Denny) Re: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch and Denny vs. Lyman Re: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch (Lyman vs Denny) (exotica) Bedazzled... Re: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch Re: (exotica) Bedazzled... (exotica) mandingo CD's Re: (exotica) Bedazzled... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 15:35:05 -0400 From: "The Brimstones" Subject: Re: (exotica) Istanbul - -----Original Message----- From: "Marco \"Kallie\" Kalnenek" To: recliner@maine.rr.com ; Exotica Date: Monday, August 02, 1999 1:21 PM Subject: Re: (exotica) Istanbul > >recliner wrote: > >> Please let me know >> what you can add to my list... Let's not forget The Phantom Surfers' Istanbul 7" Len The Brimstones http://www.brimstones.com # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 15:13:23 -0700 (PDT) From: chuck Subject: (exotica) soft hippie rock / psychedelic pop There was a compilation on Buddah records I beleive called "Psychedelic Pop" Part of the pop/top forty scene and bubbling underneath in 1967/68 was psychedelic pop. It still had harmonies, it was still aimed to sell on the top forty pop charts, but the arrangements got a bit more psycheldelic. There were lots of songs done by rock bands back then that were pschedelic pop songs released as singles for the pop charts/pop market (or at least they could have been). Off the top of my head I can think of "Dandiliens" and She comes in Colors" by the Rolling Stones( a band that rolled with every trend in music). "See Emily Play" by Pink Floyd, "Armenia City in the Sky" by the Who, "Little Miss Strange" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, "Itchycoo Park" by the Small Faces, "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" by Traffic and "Pictures of Matchstick Men" by the Status Quo. These songs are a little more psychedelic than the sunshine pop hits of the Association, Harpers Bizarre, or the Fifth Dimension. The whole pschedelic pop scene was enormous with local bands from around the world tying to capture the pschedelic pop sound. To confuse the situation more in 1967/68 we also saw the rise of power pop by bands like the Nazz (Open My Eyes), Spirit (Got A Line On You), and the Bubble Puppy (Hot Gas and Sassafrass). Power pop has continued on through out the years. NotLame Records out of Colorado specializes with modern and comp online salws of almost exclusicely power pop. To confuse the situation even more, along comes bubble gum music. There is one song that crosess over to psychedelic pop, bubble gum and sunshine pop,... Green Tamborine. To add to the rock side of Creme and Jimi Hendrix along comes Blue Cheer and Led Zepplilin to give us hard rock.You gotta love the 60's. But the 70's were great in their own way. The sophisticated "on the one" of the JBs and James Brown and P Funk. The beautiful fushion of Miles Davis, Weather Report and Mahavishnu. The Philly sound, early disco and finally Punk screaming out and back to the garage rock sounds of 1965/66. For me Abba, Elton John and Wings were the main proponets of the 60's pop sounds in the 1970's and they were very weak imitations. I generally ignored pop and soft rock hits of the 70's but there were some winners in there. Easy listening in the Big Easy Chuck kevin leeeeee wrote: > > so we seem to have a good handle on the soft pop sound, > but what about that upbeat happy hippie sound? the stuff that's got lyrics > about tripping out on sunshine or whatever, but features lots of peppy > vocal harmonies and pleasing arrangements which get "weird" or "rocking" > only in a very safe groovy manner. _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1999 18:33:42 -0400 From: Brian Phillips Subject: (exotica) The Mad Daddy >=95 THE MAD DADDY - WAVY GRAVY Finally! Totally legit package of insanely Now THIS is great news. I have heard some small clips of this fellow and=20 he was a true original. You can listen to him here: http://earthstation1.simplenet.com/Mad_Daddy_Meyers.html And a great article about him is here: http://www.cleveland.com/ultrafolder/music/cle/3x/ # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1999 17:03:29 -0500 From: "Mark D. Head" Subject: (exotica) RE: The Gentle People "simply faboo" wrote: >The more I hear this the more I like it. The Gentle People have made one of my >favorite albums of the year. Unbelievable mix of the Gentle People sound with >electronica that will pack the dance floors in the Shibuya distict of Tokyo. >Marketed for the Shibya-kei fan this has me hoping they put together another Gentle >People compilation like "Music To Watch Comets By" that set me off in search of more >shibuya styled pop years ago. Chuck - I agree - the more I listen the more I like it. "Shopping" and "Groovin With You" and "Mr. Whiskey" are very listenable and, of course, "Gentle People Are Love" is clearly dancefloor material. I actually just now got off the phone with Dougee Dimensional in London; they've got a big gig coming up this Friday night (did I ask where - no! - - I'm in Dallas), but he said they've got UK distribution for SIMPLY FABOO in the works, and possibly US distribution through Caroline, but nothing confirmed. GP is moogy, this release is a little more "poppish," and the cuts toward the end of the album retain the loungy ambience of their first release. BTW, Chuck - where did you find your copy? I got mine through Medium Rare in SF, but had to shell out $30 for it! BTW, I also loved the "Comets" comp and finally got my copy of Lindberg Hemmer Foundation which is a pure listening delight, to my ears.... - -- Mark D. Head The Captain mdhbene@airmail.net _______________________________________ TANSTAAFL! # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 19:15:17 -0400 From: Wayno Subject: (exotica) Istanbul (Not Constantinople) The Four Lads scored something of a hit with their 1953 version of "Istanbul." It's on their Columbia "Greatest Hits" LP. # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 20:50:54 EDT From: HOUSEOBOB@aol.com Subject: Re: (exotica) RE: The Gentle People "simply faboo" In a message dated 8/2/99 6:58:03 PM, you wrote: <> And what is that ? Another compilation? # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 18:24:45 -0700 From: "Stephen W. Worth" Subject: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch >Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 12:13:18 +0200 >From: Moritz R >Subject: Re: (exotica) Bring on the "Lounge", Don't Bother They're Here > >Perhaps I misunderstand "cheesy". I can't find it in my dictionary. I >think it means something like cheap, fake or so, no? Kitsch.... Cheezy and tacky mean about the same thing... poorly made knockoffs... not well planned... cheap imitations. When I use it to describe music, I usually use it to describe something that uses crass effect over real musicianship. Ping pong stereo, fake bird calls, sound effects, and heavy use of reverb all are elements that I consider to be cheezy. All of these techniques can be used tastefully, but only in sparing doses. Kitsch is something that pretends to be "high class" or meaningful, but is actually in poor taste or a cheap imitation... Wood grain wallpaper, marblized plastic busts of Beethoven, and salt and pepper shakers in the shape of praying hands all fall into that category. In music, pseudo-classical ornamentation and trills, overblown emotional histrionics and bad light-operatic singing all fall into the category of kitsch. Camp is a subset of kitsch... something that was intended to be serious by its creator, but is now perceived as being funny. The Shaggs are a perfect example of Camp Music. I wouldn't label all "lounge" music as camp, kitsch or cheezy. But there certainly is a lot of it that does fit in that category. When I taunted the ire of Pele by saying that I much prefer Arthur Lyman to Martin Denny, it was because of Denny's songs like "March of the Siamese Children" or "Tse Tse Fly" which use cheezy effects to extreme. I can't listen to songs like this over and over. They grate on me the more I hear them. In contrast, Arthur Lyman's version of "March of the Siamese Children" (which admittedly isn't one of his best numbers) is much more tolerable on repeat listenings because Lyman in this case didn't put effect ahead of the musicality of the arrangement. It seems that a lot of the "lounge" comps have picked the stupidest and least listenable cuts of the artists they cover. For the life of me, I can't imagine anyone listening to "Zounds What Sounds" more than once, but cuts from it are sprinkled through the Capitol collections along with many equally annoying novelty cuts. It's like the people who assemble these things don't really like the music, they are just picking the cuts that jump out at them as sounding "unique". Arthur Lyman isn't spared either... the "Sonic Sixties" CD skillfully assembles every descent into "keeping up with the kids" camp that Lyman ever put to wax, and Xavier Cugat's indescresions are doomed to haunt the stacks for a long time to come in the dreadful "Cugie A-Go Go" collection. I would like to hear the more serious Esquivel album that someone mentioned, because there are times squeezed in between the goofy boy-girl choruses and ping pong clatter that I hear something I really like in his music. There isn't a lot of that in the Esquivel compilation CDs though. There is a lot of "POW! POW! POW!" however... See ya Steve Stephen Worth bigshot@spumco.com The Web: http://www.spumco.com Usenet: alt.animation.spumco Palace: cartoonsforum.com:9994 Spumco International 415 E. Harvard St. Ste. 204 Glendale, CA 91205 # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 17:42:32 -0700 From: "Carl Russo" Subject: Re: (exotica) Istanbul (Not Constantinople) Don't forget the Residents' version--entitled "Constantinople" from the Duck Stab album (1978). C. "Ratso" Russo # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 02 Aug 1999 23:10:42 -0500 From: "Elisabeth Vincentelli" Subject: (exotica) Arling & Cameron show I saw Arling & Cameron's live show yesterday (as opposed to their DJ gig) and I highly recommend it to exoticats who have a weakness for the "club pop" strand. Oh heck, I recommend the show to everybody out there. Imagine a roomful of New Yorkers grinning like fools and *dancing*, and on a Sunday night at that, and you'll get an idea of the miracle our Dutch pals pulled off. Highlights: - - bird slides, bird calls by guest Herr Doktor Klug, ornithology course by Richard Cameron - - guest Fay Lovsky performed one of the Queen of the Night's arias from The Magic Flute (can't remember the title, it's the second one) in its entirety, note for note, *on a theramin*. It was a virtuoso performance that made the entire room realize how badly people usually play that instrument. Absolutely incredible. - - Richard and Fay limply punching their fists in the air during the "rock" moments - - the excerpts from the upcoming album, Soundtracks from Unreleased Movies. Horror, beach, 60s action caper: these guys can do it all. - - Richard, after the show was over: "This proves that it pays to rehearse!" The A&C express is making its way to the West Coast. Don't miss it. Elisabeth, still dazzled # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 23:30:33 EDT From: Rcbrooksod@aol.com Subject: Re: (exotica) Istanbul (Not Constantinople) In a message dated 8/2/99 6:40:21 PM Pacific Daylight Time, c_russo@email.msn.com writes: << Don't forget the Residents' version--entitled "Constantinople" from the Duck Stab album (1978). C. "Ratso" Russo >> and the obvious one on UL Space Capades --- sorry if this has been mentioned. tb # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 12:49:34 +0200 From: "n.e.u." Subject: Re: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch (Lyman vs Denny) Stephen W. Worth, thanks for your definitions of "cheesy", "camp" and "kitsch". I will add them to my dictionary. Still I don't understand, how you arrive to see Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman in the light of these definitions. We had this controverse discussion when I was new in the Exotica list; I recieved my first flames when I wrote, I see Lyman as nothing more than an epigone of Denny. I corrected and modified my judgement later, but I still say that the basic idea for the Exotica sound is Denny's. So, if cheesy has anything to do with imitation, as in your definition, it can't be on Denny's side. I don't say Arthur Lyman's version of Exotica is cheap, just not breathtaking original. Compare to what Julius Wechter did after he left the Denny group: Baja Marimba Band.... If we talk about the interpretations of certain "classics", and wether they are near to Kitsch or "cheese", I would say: at least never cheesy. Some tunes of Denny are extremely "sweet", as titles like "Hypnotique" or "Kiss In A Shadow" (both on Hypnotique), and I'm sure, there are a lot of people, who would consider them as Kitsch. To me they never were. I would call these songs painfully beautiful. Maybe I'm just tougher in the way I can stand these emotions than other people. To me they are almost Blues. Deeply felt music. And masterfully played. And spiced with interesting unique sounds. Too much for you perhaps, "rich" and inventive to me. There's nothing like it in Lyman's repertoire. But that's not all what Martin Denny is about: Exotica 1/ Mono, is a different cup of tea: It's the rough, wild, primitive Denny, I really wish there were more records in this style. Maybe the Exotica movement became too elaborate too soon, but Arthur Lyman doesn't have a record like that (except that he played on it) and he certainly doesn't stand for keeping Exotica wild. Riding the bird call concept to death? Arthur Lyman is as guilty of that crime as Denny. But while Martin Denny was able to go into many other directions later, Arthur more or less stuck to the original Exotica idea. His thing are these lonesome calls ... "Bwana Hey"... lonely flute (he took them from Perez Prado's Voodoo Suite though), I really like those for their melancholic loneliness, but the rest of the credits go to Martin Denny. He's the more versatile. Much more. Just think of Hypnotique, the jazzy Exotica 3, Latin Village, A Taste Of India (with this Sitar version of "Hypnotique" and "Incense and Peppermints").... Denny himself has to give credits to Cal Tjader, who invented the kind of Jazz that we hear on Martin's first recordings. Mambo By Tjader is the album. But that did have neither bird calls nor chimes nor any other exotic instruments, just the basic jazz quartet sound. But this's getting too far now... Hey, as long as we can still talk about M.D. and A.L., this list cannot go under. Thanks anyway for having a different opinion, without which this entire exchange wouldn't have become possible! Mo # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 04:47:01 PDT From: "Robert McKenna" Subject: RE: (exotica)Prez and Stay Awake (Was New eXotica Releases Overview Update) i have to say, as a kabaret lover and regular attendee, that the hal willmer weill disc is simply not very good. sting's mac the knife is not that bad, at least compared to the bowdlerised abomination that was perpetrated on the world by louis armstrong. unforgiveable. dagmar krause did some nice contenmporary brecht/ weill and brecht / eisler albums. bowie's baal (umlauft / brecht) is possibly the best 'pop star' doing kabaret i've heard. way better than the willmer one. if you're looking for a cheap introduction to the genre in english there's an absolutely cracking cd in the hmv classics series, called i think cabaret songs, it's a couple of 80s chamber albums of weill/eisler/umlauft music. only about 6 quid and more than worth it. i saw an ad in the wire for a compilation of contemporary electronic versions of brecht's songs. has anyone heard any of this? > > -----Original Message----- > > From: owner-exotica@lists.xmission.com > > [mailto:owner-exotica@lists.xmission.com]On Behalf Of Mimi Mayer > > Sent: Friday, July 30, 1999 11:49 AM > > But > > >doesn't St-ng sing "Mack the Knife" on it or something? > > > > AAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEE! I'd erased that bad memory -- completely > > obliterated it! > >Didn't mean to spoil your weekend, sorry. =) For the record, I really did >like him when he was still a snotty young punk in probably the best >power-pop trio ever. I think that oh-so-clever reference to "Lolita" did >him >in, though... > >Later, >Ben > >np: gak, "gak" > >http ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 08:56:06 EDT From: LTepedino@aol.com Subject: Re: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch In a message dated 8/2/99 8:23:07 PM EST, bigshot@spumco.com writes: << I wouldn't label all "lounge" music as camp, kitsch or cheezy. But there certainly is a lot of it that does fit in that category. When I taunted the ire of Pele by saying that I much prefer Arthur Lyman to Martin Denny, it was because of Denny's songs like "March of the Siamese Children" or "Tse Tse Fly" which use cheezy effects to extreme. I can't listen to songs like this over and over. They grate on me the more I hear them. In contrast, Arthur Lyman's version of "March of the Siamese Children" (which admittedly isn't one of his best numbers) is much more tolerable on repeat listenings because Lyman in this case didn't put effect ahead of the musicality of the arrangement. >> Sorry stephen, I gotta join Mo here. Don't just use "cheezy" to conveniently point your feeling that Lyman is superior to Denny. You even mention Lyman's awful '60s cover versions which Denny never crassly launched into to the extent that Lyman did. And when Denny did with tunes like "Incense and Peppermints" he pulled it off with far greater panache than Lyman. While you may find "Tse Tse Fly" and "March Of the Siamese Children" as grating, I must direct this dabate with Lyman's really awful Sousa style marching band numbers. While Denny had his share of these he kept them far more in check and had fewer of them. And how can we forget Lyman's extremely cheezy decison to include a cover version of "Hava Negila" (a tune which Denny also recorded but showed more tasteful resrve not to release. To use your definition of cheezy, I believe Lyman is the clear winner in this fromage department. when Denny uses effects like bird calls etc. he is fully aware he is having a little fun with the music. It is a sly wink that you can have fairly sophisticated jazz combo arrangements and have some fun with it, have a knowing, sly wink to the audience knowing full well why you are throwing these effects in. Nothing Lyman ever did in the arrangement department ever matched what Denny did with "Quiet Village" or "Jungle Madness" and I will chime in with Mo's argument that Julius Wechter was furthermore a far superior arranger and songwriter to Lyman. Ashley # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 08:34:18 -0500 From: mimim@texas.net (Mimi Mayer) Subject: (exotica) Sun Ra Space Marco, bless his heart, sent a URL for a meaty, beaty Sun Ra site with an enormous discography. Lovely photo of our high lord here. Put on your space suits and head to Saturn! http://www.dpo.uab.edu/~moudry/index.htm Sorry if I repeat old news here. Marco, sappig site! Danke, Herr Weirdomusic= ! Mimi # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 06:41:47 -0700 From: "Lou Smith" Subject: (exotica) [obit] Gilbert Barclay Mustin BRYN MAWR, Pa. (AP) -- Gilbert Barclay Mustin, the president of Fleer Corp., one of the largest baseball trading card companies in the country and creator of Dubble Bubble chewing gum, died July 28 of pneumonia. He was 78. Mustin was the grandson of Frank Fleer, who founded Fleer in Philadelphia in the 1880s. The company made confections including Chiclets gum. Fleer is believed to have invented bubble gum in 1928. Company accountant Walter Diemer is often credited with accidentally inventing the product, which Fleer sold under the name Dubble Bubble. Mustin started at Fleer in 1949 and became its president in 1959. By then, the company was in stiff competition with Topps, makers of Bazooka bubble gum. Topps dominated the baseball trading card business because the Federal Trade Commission had upheld Topps' exclusive contracts with pro baseball players for the use of their pictures on cards packaged with the gum. Fleer, which had long sold trading cards of movie stars and other personalities with its gum, began a long antitrust suit against Topps in 1975. In 1983, the companies reached an out of court settlement that allowed Fleer to sell baseball cards but not with gum. Mustin retired in 1989, the year Fleer was sold to Marvel Entertainment. Fleer was sold again this year to a group of private investors and renamed Fleer Skybox of Mount Laurel, N.J. - ----- MailStart Plus - http://www.mailstartplus.com Consolidate Your Mailboxes Into an Organized, Filtered, Spell-Checked, Anywhere, Anytime WebBox # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 14:48:34 +0100 From: "Charles Moseley" Subject: (exotica) More finds I forgot to mention that I found The Ray McVay Roadshow LP that I've been searching for for so long with that superb version of 2001 featured on the Further In Flight compilation and Bedazzled OST - another Harkit Records bootleg (although I'm not sure what else they've bootlegged, I just know I've got something else on their label). This soundtrack is not really my cup of tea. Whoever described it as now sound (Laura?) fooled me into expecting it to be something else. I am definately into the title track but there seems to be a lot of noodling throughout the LP. Still nice to have it though. Charlie # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 14:53:49 +0100 From: "Charles Moseley" Subject: (exotica) Foreign finds After a brief sojourn in Italy, I return with the following new possessions: Goblin - Suspira OST - Found at last, moog and prog rock style frenzy in a superb cover with pop-up graphics on inner sleeve and lots of goulish imagery. Roy Budd - Diamonds (Colpo di Millionari Di Dollari) Proper bass heavy jazz soundtrack mentioned here many times before. Brigitte Bardot - Disque D'Or compilation - 1981 and far from original but still an excellent collection of tunes - Harley Davidson, St Tropez, Contact, Marselleis Generique, etc etc. Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock - The original LP in perfect working order, found in a bargain bin for a couple of quid - laughing! Johnny Harris - Movements - A very nice easy listening LP with a couple of breaks and some very well done tunes. One very fast rocking tune with flute and all the right elements. Very pleasing! All in all, some good finds! Charlie # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 10:06:39 -0500 From: mimim@texas.net (Mimi Mayer) Subject: Re: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch (Lyman vs Denny) A chunk from an interview with Martin Denny seems appropriate here. It's from _Incredibly Strange Music_, RE/SEARCH PUBLICATIONS, 1993. The book is remaindered now so people in the States should be able to pick it up cheap. V: What's your musical background? MD: Well, I have a classical background. At the age of ten in New York City, I studied piano under Lester Spitz and Isadore Gorn--I was kind of a child prodigy. When I was quite young I went to South America with a six-piece band and spent over four years there. As a result you can detect a lot of Latin rhythmic signatures in my music. If you take Hawaiian music alone, it lulls you to sleep--whereas Latin music has exciting rhythms; it has a BEAT! When I started my group I didn't limit myself to Hawaiian songs; I used popular tunes as well as the ones I'd composed. My group included piano (I'm the pianist), vibes, bass,drums, and Latin percussion. Everybody doubled on their instruments; the vibes person played marimba and bells (or whatever), and I leaned heavily on this interplay of percussion. Together we achieved the "Martin Denny sound," which was a blend of all these instruments. And the HOOK was these exotic bird calls. V: Who thought of that? MD: Well, I did--I put 'em in there. But it began quite accidentally. I opened at the Shell Bar in Henry J. Kaiser's Hawaiian Village in 1956. By this time we had four people including Arthur Lyman on vibes (later replaced by Julian Wechtler, who went on to form the Baja Marimba Band) and Augie Colon (who did the bird calls) on bongos and congas. The Hawaiian Village was a beautiful open-air tropical setting. There was a pond with some very large bullfrogs right next to the bandstand. One night we were playing a certain song and I could hear the frogs going [deep voice] "Rivet! Rivet! Rivet!" When we stopped playing, the frogs stopped croaking. I thought, "Hmm--is that a coincidence?" So a little while later I said, "Let's repeat that tune," and sure enough the frogs started croaking again. And as a gag, some of the guys started spontaneously doing these bird calls. Afterwards we all had a good laugh: Hey, that was fun!" But the following day one of the guests came up and said, "Mr. Denny, you know that song you did with the birds and the frogs? Can you do that again?" I said, "What are you talking about?" -- then it dawned on me he'd thought that was part of the arrangement. At our next rehearsal I said, "OK, fellas, how about if each one of you does a different bird call? I'll do the frog..." ... We played it the next night, and all evening people kept coming up and saying, "We want to hear the one with the frogs and the birds again!" We must have played that song THIRTY times. It turned out to be "Quiet Village." As a result of playing in that tropical setting, I began to incorporate instruments from the South Pacific and the Orient into our act. We'd build a different arrangement around each instrument, experimenting to give each tune a different feel. Gradually the sound evolved. After a year I was ready to do _Exotica_.... *** Elsewhere in the article, Denny describes the Hawaiian Village as "a big laboratory where I could experiment..." He praises every musican he worked with, including Arthur Lyman, and gives Les Baxter his due as composer of "Quiet Village." The interview and his records leave me with the impression that the performing Martin Denny was an adventurous, generous, and immensely talented musician who, yes, wanted very much to delight his audiences -- but perhaps even more he wanted to stretch his chops and those of his players, and take music where it hadn't been before. No question: some of Denny's stuff falls squarely into the cheese category. Yet I think through his hybrid musicianship and deep melodic and rhythmic senses, he transcended most of the kitsch content of his tunes. Won't take on the debate, Who's better: Lyman or Denny? Let the experts duke that out. Instead I'll savor how lucky accidents can sometimes lead to original art. Mimi # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 11:32:03 EDT From: Rcbrooksod@aol.com Subject: Re: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch and Denny vs. Lyman In a message dated 08/03/99 8:58:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time, LTepedino@aol.com writes: << Nothing Lyman ever did in the arrangement department ever matched what Denny did with "Quiet Village" or "Jungle Madness" and I will chime in with Mo's argument that Julius Wechter was furthermore a far superior arranger and songwriter to Lyman. Ashley >> OK, here I go. I am on board with the above statement too. I think most that judge Denny in the proper light refer to his early years where his style was never associated with cheesy. One of the problems that many have in discussing Denny is that they refer to comps put out by Ultra Lounge or Pair or any of the other half dozen Denny comps. It is my opinion that these comps don't really reflect the true Denny style. I feel one needs to listen carefully and closely to the first 10 or so albums that Denny did to get a true representation of what Denny was about. The problem is that many of the people interested in the world of Exotica like so many types of music loosely lumped in this category. They do not have the time (or take the time) to listen all the cuts from the albums mentioned above. Admittedly this is a timely (not to mention coslty) process and some just don't have the dedication to Denny to do it. And I can understand that. Admittedly, songs like Tse Tse Fly and Hawaiian Tattoo do have a campy nature to them, but this is no different for other "serious" performers of the time having a "fun" cut on their albums. This was more common 40 years ago than it is today because today's pop performers are all to serious about their music because it usually has some agenda. And how about all those birdcalls and animal noises? Denny happened on this by accident when an audience guest asked about the "song with the frog noises". The band had fun with this and incorporated it into the music because the people liked it -- not because they wanted to be funny (or if you will, cheesy). Denny's music, in the original time setting, sold millions of records based more on his composures and unique slants on Polynesian themes with jazzy styles --- not because it was cheesy. The public would have identified this early on and Quiet Village would have been a one hit wonder. Or think about it this way: people don't buy second, third and forth follow up albums based one an original album that was cheesy. Think of Elliot's Zounds! I love it and it is a great novelty but I would not then buy a second or third follow up. The fact that Denny sold so many follow up albums is testimony to his style not being cheesy. Oh well, just a few comments from anobviously died in the wool Denny fan. Like you couldn't guess which side I would be on. Tiki Bob # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 11:51:59 EDT From: Rcbrooksod@aol.com Subject: Re: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch (Lyman vs Denny) In a message dated 08/03/99 10:58:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time, mimim@texas.net writes: << "Mr. Denny, you know that song you did with the birds and the frogs? Can you do that again?" I said, "What are you talking about?" -- then it dawned on me he'd thought that was part of the arrangement. >> Great testimony. Had the animal and bird noises not lended themselves to the composure Denny would not have included them. I also know that Mr. Denny has commented that if he thought that for one moment that people would have thought of him as being silly or campy with the addition of the noises he would have never included them. Tiki Bob # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 08:57:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Jane Fondle Subject: (exotica) Bedazzled... To: exotica@xmission.com cc: Subject: (exotica) More finds >>>Bedazzled OST - another Harkit Records bootleg (although I'm not sure what else they've bootlegged, I just know I've got something else on their label). This soundtrack is not really my cup of tea. Whoever described it as now sound (Laura?) fooled me into expecting it to be something else. I am definately into the title track but there seems to be a lot of noodling throughout the LP. Still nice to have it though. Charlie Well, Mr. Charlie, I don't know if I mislead you.. Sadly, I CAN'T because I don't have it! I vaguely remember the backings, but of course the vocal numbers are great, too. ( Astroslut has recorded a version of "Bedazzled" that's pretty dang faitful...but different,if that makes sense.) Still, I wouldn't complain about it not being "your cup of tea" to have such a rarity, unless that tea is reallllllyyyyy nasty! Green(tea) with envy, Jane Fondle === "It's just my nature to do weird stuff." - Les Baxter Astroslut website: cuming soon! _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 12:05:51 -0400 From: Nat Kone Subject: Re: (exotica) Cheeze vs Kitsch At 06:24 PM 8/2/99 -0700, Stephen W. Worth wrote: > >For the life of me, I can't imagine anyone listening to "Zounds >What Sounds" more than once, Start imagining a guy in his mid forties who lives in Toronto and has played that record more than twenty times, has put it on tapes for other people who have also played it more than once etc etc. Nat # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 17:11:08 +0100 From: "Charles Moseley" Subject: Re: (exotica) Bedazzled... The bootleg in question came from Intoxica (they're in Notting Hill and on the www). I'm not complaining. I just had expectations... Charlie # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 19:44:15 +0200 From: quiet@village.uunet.be Subject: (exotica) mandingo CD's just 1 place where you can get them for GBP 9 (and postage is low): http://www.cow.co.uk/ visit the "Shoppinquarium", the Mailorder Links page on my web site, for places where to buy eXotic Music goodies: http://bewoner.dma.be/Dada/ Johan quiet@village.uunet.be | ) / \ | ) / \ | ) / \ | ) / \ # Need help using (or leaving) this mailing list? # Send the command "info exotica" to majordomo@lists.xmission.com. # To post, email exotica@lists.xmission.com; replies go to original sender. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Aug 1999 13:32:23 -0400 From: Subject: Re: (exotica) Bedazzled... The bootleg in question came from Intoxica (they're in Notting Hill and on the www). I'm not complaining. I just had expectations... Charlie >That's sorta a drag...but for the money, do you think it is over-all worth it? Jane Fondle - ---------------------------------------------------------------- The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. 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