Martin Denny
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He lived in paradise playing lush music to a fresh group of eager tourists each night. He is considered the chief exponent of "exotica," his ardent pop fans remain plentiful, and at least Hypnotique is a masterpiece. But with a few missteps in his long career, Martin Denny's primacy in exotica is debatable. Much is owed to Les Baxter and Arthur Lyman, among many others. The Martin Denny group's initial recipe for success was ideal. Take Les Baxter's best compositions, replace the strings with hipper, "native" instrumentation (which conveniently fit into tiny Hawaiian nightclubs), and wrap albums in the most enticing jackets the Liberty art department could produce. This worked for a dozen or so marvelous LPs cranked out at maximum pace. Apart from its subsidiaries, Liberty owed much of its solvency --and probably a vacation-- to Martin Denny. (Liberty's ability to hire talent never did live up to the production standards, however.) Hypnotique and some moments from other albums show the Denny magic could extend beyond arranging to the more demanding task of composing. The humor revealed in Quiet Village comes as a relief (for a career attributed to drunken bird calls), but Afro-Desia's great possibilities are undercut by uninspired performance and camp. The group seems to have peaked by 1960. Subsequent experiments mostly disappoint: gratuitous California piano jazz (covers of at least three Fantasy artists' hits), covers of Hawaiian standards, exotica-with-strings, and solo piano. Neither the group's various solo and extramural projects nor new talent signed by Denny for Liberty were enough to rekindle the earlier fire. What did work, at least musically if not commercially, was returning to exotica. Revamping some of the hits on Moog and sitar brought exotica into the oddly compatible psychedelic age. Several later albums have at least one token tune in the old, bird-call exotica style; many of these rank among his best. One such album is 1982's The Enchanted Isle (four originals, one with whistling). "An Occasional Man" turns up on this LP and again on 1997's The Forbidden Sounds of Don Tiki CD. Don Tiki features Martin Denny on some tracks but really is a hip, progressive exotica act of its own. Buying: Avoid the Sunset compilations, "Taste of" series, & later LPs of strictly Hawaiian standards. Solo efforts by ex-Group members (Augie Colon, Buddy Fo, Paul Conrad) and Denny-produced LPs (Ethel Azama, Sondi Sodsai) generally are very worthwhile. Completists may want to seek out several tunes available only as 45rpm singles (non-LP cuts). |
Martin Denny LPs
| Rating | |
| 8 | Exotica; Liberty LRP-3034 (monaural, w/Arthur Lyman) |
| 7 | Exotica; Liberty LST-7034 (stereo re-recording w/out Arthur Lyman; black label is 1st press) |
| 6 | Forbidden Island; Liberty LST-7001; 1958 (reissued w/jacket change) |
| 5 | Exotica II; Liberty LST-7006; 1958 |
| 6 | Primitiva; Liberty LST-7023; 1958 |
| 8 | Hypnotique; Liberty LST-7102; 1959 |
| 4 | Afro-Desia; Liberty LST-7111; 1959 |
| 6 | Exotica III; Liberty LST-7116; 1959 |
| 8 | Quiet Village; Liberty LST-7122; 1959 |
| 6 | The Enchanted Sea; Liberty LST-7141; 1960 |
| 6 | Exotic Sounds from the Silver Screen; Liberty LST-7158; 1960 |
| 5 | Exotic Sounds Visit Broadway; Liberty LST-7163; 1960 |
| 6 | Exotic Percussion; Liberty LST-7108; 1961 |
| 5 | Romantica; Liberty LST-7207; 1961 |
| 4 | Martin Denny in Person; Liberty LST-7224; 1962 (live) |
| 6 | Exotica Suite; Liberty LSS-14020; 1962 (Les Baxter) w/Si Zentner, arr. Bob Florence) |
| 6 | Exotica Suite compact-33 promo; Liberty; 1962 (6 cuts only) |
| 3 | A Taste of Honey; Liberty LST-7237; 1963 |
| 2 | Another Taste of Honey; Liberty LST-7277; 1963 |
| 4 | The Versatile Martin Denny; Liberty LST-7307; 1963 |
| 2 | A Taste of Hits; Liberty LST-7328; 1964 |
| 6 | Latin Village; Liberty LST-7378; 1964 (arr. Bob Florence & Robert Drasnin) |
| 3 | Hawaii Tattoo; Liberty LST-7394; 1964 |
| 5 | Spanish Village; Liberty LST-7409; 1965 |
| 2 | 20 Golden Hawaiian Hits; Liberty LST-7415; 1965 |
| 2 | Martin Denny!; Liberty LST-7438; 1966 |
| 3 | Hawaii Goes A-Go Go!; Liberty LST-7445; 1967 |
| 5 | Exotica Today; Liberty LST-7465; 1967 |
| 7 | Hawaii (theme from the film); Liberty LST-7488; 1968 |
| 5 | Exotica Classica; Liberty LST-7513; 1968 |
| 7 | A Taste of India; Liberty LST-7550; 1968 |
| 5 | Exotic Love; Liberty LST-7585; 1969 |
| 8 | Martin Denny/Clark Gassman: Exotic Moog; Liberty LST-7621; 1969 |
| 2 | From Maui With Love; First American FA-7743; 1980 |
| 6 | The Enchanted Isle; Liberty LN-10195; 1982 |
| Exotica '90 --CD--; 1990 |
Partly Martin Denny LPs
| Rating | |
| 7 | Chick Floyd: Hula-La; Liberty LST-7106; 1958 (Hawaiian, exotica, Tahitian; features the Group) |
| 7 | Chick Floyd: Little Grass Shack; Liberty LST-7129 (Hawaiian) |
| 8 | Don Tiki: The Forbidden Sounds of --CD--; Taboo TAB-8888; 1997 (features Denny) |
Compilation & Reissue LPs
| Rating | |
| 5 | Various Artists: Stereo-The Visual Sound; Liberty; 1959 |
| 5 | The Best of Martin Denny; Liberty S-6602; 1961 |
| Demonstration Record; Liberty; 1961 | |
| 5 | The Maryland Club's Golden Moments with Martin Denny; Liberty; 1962 |
| 5 | Golden Greats; Liberty LST-7467; 1968 |
| 4 | Sayonara; Liberty/Sunset; 1970 |
| 6 | Paradise Moods; Liberty/Sunset; 1970 |
| 4 | Exotic Night; Liberty/Sunset; 1971 |
| 5 | The Very Best of Martin Denny; United Artists; 1975 |
Martin Denny 45s
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Martin Denny Compact 33s (Liberty)
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Martin Denny TV Appearance
| Hawaii Calls |
Hyp Records is a 3-part guide:
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Hyp Records Guide © 1996 Hip Wax