Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Exotic Sounds of Tiki Gardens

Here we are, back from vacation, ready to...go back on vacation. So let's warm up these darkest depths of winter with one of the most expensive exotica albums ever. Yep, this one goes for hundreds of dollars on ebay, and I have no idea why. For one thing, it's not a music album so much as a tourist souvenir record, complete with nerdy narration. As such, it's a fascinating time-travel back to '60s kitsch America, but the one-man organ band ain't exactly on the order of Les Baxter's complex arrangements (tho Princess Carloa's "Hawaiian Wedding Song" is beautifully sung). Tropical birds, waterfalls, ocean waves, and a volcano also make guest appearances.

Florida's Ti
ki Gardens was built in 1963. Alas, it was sold in 1990 and demolished - just before the tiki revival.

Exotic Soun
ds of Tiki Gardens
includes: "Torch Lighting Ceremony," "Selected Sounds of Tiki Gardens," "Polynesian Fantasy Theme Song ."

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have no idea why this goes for hundreds of dollars..?! This thing is AMAZING!! Thanks for the share!!!

Mr Fab said...

Ha, yeah it's cool, but there's plenty of thrift-store oddities out there that go for no more than 99 cents. ALL of 'em should be recognized for their greatness and become coveted collector's items!

Anonymous said...

Where's Squidward? That's his house on the left....

Windy

The Macs said...

I've been looking for this album online for a long time...Thanks!

Anonymous said...

What The Macs said...I am SO HAPPY you posted this!!! Thanks!!!

HollerWaller said...

So bummed when I finally found it, only to find it had been removed from Swanky's site. Thanks for putting it up.

Ysfoxy said...

What a wonderful album! And narrated by Northern Exposure's Holling Vincoeur no less! (well, that's who he sounds like anyway) :)

Swanky said...

These are the MP3s from my site. How did you get them? From me? If I gave them to you, it was with a promise to keep them private.

Mr Fab said...

Aloha, Mr Swanky, and rest assured that you didn't give the files to me, in fact I don't know where I got them. Probably from a file sharing site like soulseek or sumthin. I would never mess with a fellow music blogger and then have the gall to go around promoting the post on the TikiCentral forum, I'm not THAT big of an a-hole! (I like to think) So apologies, sir.