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Exotica is a musical genre that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon Waronker, Liberty Records co-founder and board chairman, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album Exotica. The musical colloquialism exotica means tropical ersatz good, the non-native, pseudo experience of insular Oceania, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, the Amazon basin, the Andes, the Caribbean and tribal Africa. Denny described the musical style as "a combination of the South Pacific and the Orient...what a lot of people imagined the islands to be like...it's pure fantasy though." While the South Seas forms the core region, exotica reflects the "musical impressions" of every place from standard travel destinations to the mythical "Shangri-La" dreamt of by armchair safari-ers.
In 1957, Martin Denny covered Les Baxter's "Quiet Village", with exotic bird calls and a vibraphone instead of strings, which established the sound of the Polynesian styled music. The song reached #2 on Billboard's charts in 1959 with Denny's Exotica album reaching #1. Soon the new technology of stereo further opened up the musical palettes of Denny and other prominent exotica artists such as Arthur Lyman and Juan García Esquivel.
The distinctive sound of exotica relies on a variety of instruments: conga, Bongo drum, Vibraphone, Indonesian and Burmese gongs, boo bams (bamboo sticks), log, Chinese culture bell tree, and Japanese kotos. Additionally intrinsic to the sound of exotica are bird calls, big-cat roars, and even primate shrieks, which invoke the dangers of the jungle. Though there are some standards which contain lyrics (including those by Yma Sumac), singing is rare. Abstract, siren-like ululations, chants, vocalized animal calls, and guttural growls are common.
The music of American composer Raymond Scott is sometimes recognized as a precursor to exotica, as several of his songs were written with the intent of transporting the listener to exotic locations via novelty instruments and sound effects.
As a result of the popularity of exotica during the late 1950s, a large number of records were released that featured covers of recently released exotica songs (mainly by Les Baxter) and Hawaiian and easy-listening standards. These recordings include "Exotica" by Ted Auletta, "Exotic Percussion" by Stanley Black and his Orchestra, "Orienta" by Gerald Fried, "Taboo" and "Taboo 2" by Arthur Lyman and "The Sounds of Exotic Island" by The Surfmen. Some composers pushed the bounds of the genre by producing albums of original content, often with unusual instrumentation. These recordings include Voodoo by Robert Drasnin, Africana by Chaino, Pagan Festival by Dominic Frontiere And His Orchestra, and White Goddess by Frank Hunter. By 1959, the majority of American record labels had released at least one exotica-themed album, usually utilizing composers and musicians that produced jazz, Classical music or easy listening recordings.
After several years of rising excitement leading up to Hawaii becoming a state in 1959, the Hawaiiana fad waned in the United States and so did exotica's commercial appeal. CD re-issues ignited a revival in the early 1990s.
In the 1990s exotica resurfaced more generally, along with a new category in which to place the genre: Lounge music. Dozens of long out-of-print Long Playing were reissued on CD. The revival accompanied a related swing revival and general appreciation for tiki culture. A new crop of bands, such as Pink Martini, were influenced by the classic albums, and Combustible Edison for one featured songs like "Breakfast at Denny's", a tongue-in-cheek title for a song styled on the music of Martin Denny.
The early 2000s saw additional exotica revival efforts, such as Hawaii-based Don Tiki, the comeback of 1960s composer Robert Drasnin, Waitiki 7, The Martini Kings, The Tikiyaki Orchestra, Kava Kon, and Hawaii Music Award winning Tiki Joe's Ocean, formed by multi-instrumentalist/composer Andy Nazzal. The Florida-based ensemble called Stolen Idols followed in the tradition of Robert Drasnin by playing new music composed by their leader, Drew Farmer, along with some reinterpreted classics. Their album Moonlight Offerings was a welcome contribution to the genre. They were for a few years regular performers at the Hukilau festival. After a lengthy hiatus, they have recently come back together.
Several podcasts broadcast classic and new exotica and tiki revival music. In late 2024, San Francisco online radio station SOMA FM started a tiki and exotica-focused stream called Tiki Time.
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