Exotica is a musical genre that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age duringWorld War II.^[1] The term was coined bySimon "Si" Waronker,Liberty Records co-founder and board chairman, named after the 1957Martin Denny albumExotica.^[2] The musical colloquialismexotica means tropicalersatz, the non-native, pseudo experience of insularOceania,Southeast Asia,Hawaii, theAmazon basin, theAndes, theCaribbean and tribalAfrica.^[3] Denny described the musical style as "a combination of the South Pacific and theOrient...what a lot of people imagined the islands to be like...it's pure fantasy though."^[4] While theSouth Seas forms the core region, exotica reflects the "musical impressions" of every place from standard travel destinations to the mythical "shangri-las" dreamt of by armchairsafari-ers.^[3]

Les Baxter's albumRitual of the Savage (Le Sacre du Sauvage) was released in 1952 and would become a cornerstone of exotica.^[5] This album featured lush orchestral arrangements along withtribal rhythms and offered such classics as "Quiet Village", "Jungle River Boat", "Love Dance", and "Stone God."Ritual is the seminal exotica record, influencing all that came after it.^[6] As the 1950s progressed, Baxter carved out a niche in this area, producing a number of titles in this style includingTamboo! (1956),Caribbean Moonlight (1956),Ports of Pleasure (1957),The Sacred Idol (1960) andJewels of the Sea (1961).^[7] Baxter claimed Ravel and Stravinsky as influences on his work.^[8]

In 1957, Martin Denny covered Les Baxter's "Quiet Village", with exotic bird calls and a vibraphone instead of strings, which established the sound of thePolynesian styled music. The song reached #2 on Billboard's charts in 1959 with Denny'sExotica album reaching #1.^[9] Soon the new technology ofstereo further opened up the musical palettes of Denny and other prominent exotica artists such asArthur Lyman andJuan García Esquivel.

The distinctive sound of exotica relies on a variety of instruments:conga,bongos,vibes, Indonesian and Burmesegongs, boo bams (bamboo sticks),Tahitian log,Chinesebell tree, andJapanese kotos. Additionally intrinsic to the sound of exotica arebird calls, big-cat roars, and evenprimate shrieks, which invoke the dangers of thejungle. Though there are some standards which contain lyrics (including those byYma Sumac), singing is rare. Abstract, siren-like ululations, chants, vocalized animal calls, and guttural growls are common.^[3][9]

The music of American composerRaymond Scott is sometimes recognized as a precursor to exotica, as several of his songs were written with the intent of transporting the listener to exotic locations via novelty instruments and sound effects.

As a result of the popularity of exotica during the late 1950s, a large number of records were released that featured covers of recently released exotica songs (mainly by Les Baxter) and Hawaiian and easy-listening standards. These recordings include "Exotica" byTed Auletta, "Exotic Percussion" byStanley Black and his Orchestra, "Orienta" byGerald Fried, "Taboo" and "Taboo 2" byArthur Lyman and "The Sounds of Exotic Island" byThe Surfmen. Some composers pushed the bounds of the genre by producing albums of original content, often with unusual instrumentation. These recordings includeVoodoo byRobert Drasnin,Africana byChaino,Pagan Festival byDominic Frontiere And His Orchestra, andWhite Goddess byFrank Hunter. By 1959, the majority of American record labels had released at least one exotica-themed album, usually utilizing composers and musicians that producedjazz,classical oreasy listening recordings.

After several years of rising excitement leading up to Hawaii becoming a state in 1959, theHawaiiana fad waned in the United States and so did exotica's commercial appeal. CD re-issues ignited a revival in the early 1990s.

In 1971Roger Roger and Nino Nardini released the albumJungle Obsession on the French Neuilly record label.^[10][11] Intended as a sound library recording, it soon took on a life of its own. Although clearly influenced by the exotica arrangements of Baxter, Martin Denny, Frank Hunter andDick Hyman, it went beyond the simpler themes used by those composers to employ "a series of motifs, leitmotifs, and modes that were out of the musical sphere at the time: they took rock and classical and bossa and jazz and easy listening, wove them together with polyrhythmic invention and a boatload of sound effects".^[12]

In the 1990s exotica resurfaced more generally, along with a new category in which to place the genre:lounge. Dozens of long out-of-printLPs were reissued on CD. The revival accompanied a relatedswing revival and general appreciation fortiki culture. A new crop of bands, such asPink Martini, were influenced by the classic albums, andCombustible Edison for one featured songs like "Breakfast at Denny's", a tongue-in-cheek title for a song styled on the music of Martin Denny.

The early 2000s saw additional exotica revival efforts, such as Hawaii-basedDon Tiki, the comeback of 1960s composerRobert Drasnin,Waitiki, The Martini Kings,The Tikiyaki Orchestra, Kava Kon, and Hawaii Music Award winning Tiki Joe's Ocean, formed by multi-instrumentalist/composer Andy Nazzal. The Florida-based ensemble calledStolen Idols followed in the tradition of Robert Drasnin by playing new music composed by their leader, Drew Farmer, along with some reinterpreted classics. Their album "Moonlight Offerings" was a welcome contribution to the genre. They were for a few years regular performers at the Hukilau festival. After a lengthy hiatus, they have recently come back together.

Several podcasts broadcast classic and new exotica and tiki revival music.^{[citation needed]} In late 2024, San Francisco online radio station SOMA FM started a tiki and exotica-focused stream called Tiki Time.

• World music
• Worldbeat

• Exotica
• Tiki culture
• World music genres
• Music of North America

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