Heat Wave and more tropical music

With the second straight day of Summer here in Sydney I'm thinking about tropical songs.

I'll be posting about some authentic Hawaiian music later in the week but for now I'm thinking about the not so authentic kind. (and I don't mean Elvis in A Hawaiian shirt doing "Rock-A-Hula")

Big production numbers, where full orchestras and scores of dancers appear from behind palm trees. Songs where the heat mentioned is not the kind they have when the sun is out.

Exhibit A to clarify the genre is this clip of Marilyn Monroe doing "Heat Wave" from the movie "There's No Business Like Show Business". Complete with Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor, this clip is from the time when Marilyn's navel could not be shown on screen, but I think the message is still pretty clear. The Song starts around the 2:40 mark.







Continuing with this theme I'm reminded of some albums under the name of Don Tiki which are all coconut drinks, grass skirts and full orchestration. The first CD I purchased was "The Forbidden Sounds of Don Tiki" which was apparently "recorded in PULSATING POLYNESIAN POLYPHONICS" on the TABOO records label. I don't think I need to tell you there is little surfing or fishing going on in the tracks on this album. On the back cover a bartender is preparing some exotic drinks while no fewer than 23 pineapples can be seen stacked on the bar ready for the evening rush. Tracks such as "Barbi in Bali" and "Hot Like Lava" are just some of the delights.

  The next album is "Skinny Dip with Don Tiki". This time I've shown the back cover where the full glory of the Tiki theme can be seen. Don Tiki himself is nowhere to be seen on any of the albums and is just part of the well maintained illusion of a south pacific fantasy. Including tracks such as "The Natives Are Restless" followed by "Primitiva" and "Heat" this album contains more of the fully orchestrated music which reminds one of the islands of Hollywood movies. More of this type of music can be found by searching for "Martin Denny"







More can be found on the Don Tiki Website:-

Anyway, certainly worth a listen late one (warm) night with some frozen umbrella drinks.

And for anybody who is still wanting some Elvis...here he is:-





Album Links at Amazon.com:-