It was a musical cocktail born in a marketing meeting: Two parts easy listening, one part jazz, a healthy dollop of conga drums, a sprinkling of bird calls, and a pinch of textless choir. Serve garnished with an alluring female on the album jacket for best results. Exotica! The soundtrack for a mythical air conditioned Eden, packaged for mid-century, tiki torch-wielding armchair safariers. Be it mosquito-bitten torch singers, landlocked surf quartets, fad-chasing jazz combos, mad genius band leaders, D-list actors, or a middle aged loner programming bird calls into a Hammond, Exotica was always more concerned with what geography might sound like over who was conducting. Captured across three albums are 48 (54 on the CD) curious examples of the short-lived genre's reach, each summoning their own sonic visions of Shangri La, bringing their versions of the Pacific, Africa, and the Orient to the hinterlands of America. Technicolor Paradise is where one makes it, after all.
CONDITION: NEW
TRACK LISTING
- Disc 1 -
1 Blue Oasis - By Chuck "Big Guitar" Ernest with the Satellite Band
2 Marooned - By the Sound Breakers
3 Driftwood - By the Wailers
4 The Moon of Manakoora - By Lenny & the Thundertones
5 Midnight in Montevideo - By Biscaynes with Co-Encidentals
6 Chant of the Jungle - By Red Harrison & His Zodiacs
7 Jungle Guitar - By the Palatons
8 Live with the Moon - By Chayns
9 Cobra (Feat. James Mills) - By Bailey's Nervous Kats
10 Sound of Mecca - By the Blazers
11 Jaguar Hunt - By the Crew
12 Slave Girl - By the Gems
13 The Arabian Knight - By Jerry & the Catalinas
14 Night Walker - By the Jaguars
15 Voodoo Walk - By the Voodoos
16 Blue Castaway - By the Shelltones
17 Atlantis - By the Blue Bells
18 Paradise Isle - By Bill & Jean Bradway
- Disc 2 -
1 Enchantment - By the Melody Mates
2 Nature Boy (Feat. the Voice of Love) - By Don Reed
3 Tumba - By the Baton of Andre Brummer
4 Silent Island - By Darla Hood
5 Lotus Land - By Martha Raye with Phil Moore Orchestra
6 Nightengale of Paradise - By Baha'i Victory Chorus
7 Isle of Love - By Carmen
8 Forever Walks a Drifter - By the Monzas
9 Voodoo Drums - By Akim
10 Magic Voodoo Moon - By Fred Darian with Bill Loose Orchestra
11 Voodoo Kiss - By Don Sargent & His Buddies
12 Captured - By Joan Joyce Trio
13 Tobago - By Pony Sherrell
14 My Quiet Village - By Darla Hood
15 Enchantress - By Jerry Warren & the Valids
16 Polynesian Paradise - By the Centuries
17 My House of Grass - By the Potted Palm
18 Enchantment - By the Castiles
- Disc 3 -
1 Quiet Village - By Five Glow Tones
2 Silent Island - By Modesto Duran & Orchestra
3 Tam-Bu Theme - By Ross Anderson Chorus & Orchestra
4 Caravan - By Bobby Christian
5 Arabian Rhythm - By Bruce Norman Quintet
6 Hari's Harem - By the Slaves
7 Similou - By Arnie Derksen & Chisé
8 Caribbean Cruise (Feat. Nicky Roberts) - By Three Bars
9 Chant of the Moon - By Robert Drasnin
10 Moon Mist - By Blue Jeans
11 The Enchanting Melody - By Artie Barsamian
12 Jazz in Port Said - By Eddie Kochak & Hakki Obidia
13 Tanganyika - By Gene Sikora & the Irrationals
14 Dark Continent - By Bobby Paris
15 Lion Hunt - By Walter Bolen
16 Jungle Cat - By Jimmy McGriff
17 Locura (Madness) - By Chico Jose
18 Lost Island - By Clyde Derby
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