Martin Denny: Deep Exotica, Music From Martin Denny’s Lush Lounge, 2CD

• Four albums plus bonus tracks from the master of exotica Martin Denny.

• Mono reproductions of the key albums that launched the space age bachelor pad music trend in the late 1950s.

• Complete with bird calls, deranged percussion, super cool vibes and Denny’s distinctive piano.

• Including a host of hit records that launched a thousand copyists and ensured that the tiki trend, easy listening and the call of the islands would blossom.

• Featuring the super expensive (if you seek them out on vinyl) original mono mixes.

It was 1957, down in Hawaii; some jazz guys had come in to take up the slack at the bar, playing subtle cool sounds while people drank and talked. It was the Hawaiian Village Hotel in Wakiki. The room was filled with palm trees and bamboo curtains, it was a sanctuary in the madness of the place, a stopping off point for the weary traveller, a refuge from reality.

The band did long stints, fuelled by the free bar; the exotic setting slowly infused itself into their music, got under their skin. What started as a few bird calls amid the scraped percussion, shuffling drums, tinkling piano and offset vibes soon became the signature sound of the bar. The “sound effects”, created by the players, increased and through chance, misfortune, rum and possibly initially boredom, exotica was born.

TRACKLISTING

DISC ONE

EXOTICA
01 Quiet Village
02 Return to Paradise 03 Hong Kong Blues 04 Busy Port
05 Lotus Land
06 Similau
07 Stone God
08 Jungle Flower
09 China Nights (⽀那の夜)
10 Ah Me Furi (⾬降り)
11 Waipo
12 Love Dance
EXOTICA II
13 Shoshu Night Serenade
14 Island of Dreams
15 Japanese Farewell Song
16 Singing Bamboos
17 The Queen Chant (Li Liu E)
18 The Hawaiian Wedding Song (Ke Kali Nei Au)
19 Escales
20 When First I Love
21 August Bells
22 Bacoa
23 Ebb Tide
24 Rush Hour in Hong Kong
BONUS TRACKS
25 Llama Serenade
26 The Enchanted Sea

DISC TWO

EXOTICA III
01 Jungle River Boat 02 Harbor Lights
03 Manila
04 Mama Iti E Papa E 05 Bamboo Lullaby
06 Ringo Oiwake
07 Moon Of Manakoora 08 Limehouse Blues
09 Beautiful Kahana
10 Caravan
11 Congo Train
12 Hello, Young Lovers
QUIET VILLAGE
13 Stranger In Paradise
14 Hawaiian War Chant
15 Coronation
16 Sake Rock
17 Paradise Found
18 Firecracker
19 Martinique
20 My Little Grass Shack In Kealakekua, Hawaii Cha Cha Cha
21 Tune From Rangoon
22 Happy Talk
23 Pagan Love Song
24 Laura
25 Quiet Village