Martin Denny

He has 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 many missteps in his long career, Martin Denny is a somewhat controversial figure.

The Martin Denny group's initial recipe for success was sublime. Take Les Baxter's best compositions, replace the strings with hipper, "native" instrumentation (which also conveniently fit in 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.)

Hypnotique and moments from other albums showed the Denny magic could extend from arranging to 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 cocktail 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, would 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 compatible psychedelic age. Several later albums have at least a 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 worthwhile.

Quiet Village/Llama Serenade; 55162

The Enchanted Sea/Stranger in Paradise; 55212

Martinique/Sake Rock; 55199

My Tane/Volcano (non-LP, Les Baxter tune); 55301

A Taste of Honey/The Brighter Side (non-LP); 55470 (picture sleeve)

Cast Your Fate to the Wind (non-LP version)/The Payoff; 55514

Little Boat/More (theme from "Mondo Cane"); 55571

Once is Enough/Something Latin; 55629

Latin Village/Angelito; 55717

Hawaiian Village/Aloha Oe; 55819

Chattanooga Choo Choo/Frankie & Johnny

Sucu-Sucu/Paradise Cove

Quiet Village Bossa Nova/Strawberry Tree

Hawaii Tattoo/White Silver Sands

Everything Beautiful Happens at Night/Sugar Cane

La Paloma/Call Me

Open-Ended Interview (DJ promo)

Midnight Cowboy/Quiet Village (from Exotic Moog)

Chattanooga Choo Choo/Ruby...; 33001

The Enchanted Sea/Beyond the Reef...; 33002

Stranger in Paradise/Pagan Love Song...; 33003

Hawaiian/Ebb Tide...; 33005

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