Martin Denny
Encyclopedia
Martin Denny was an American piano-player and composer best known as the "father of exotica
." In a long career that saw him performing well into his 80s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music
which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and original songs that celebrated Tiki culture
.
His combo spawned two successful offshoots: Julius Wechter
(of Baja Marimba Band
fame) and exotica vibist Arthur Lyman
.
, and raised in Los Angeles, California
. He studied classical piano and at a young age toured South America
for four-and-a-half years in the 1930s with the Don Dean Orchestra. This tour began Denny's fascination with Latin rhythms. Denny collected a large number of ethnic instruments from all over the world, which he used to spice up his stage performances.
After serving in the United States Army Air Forces
in World War II
, Denny returned to Los Angeles in 1945 where he studied piano and composition under Dr. Wesley La Violette and orchestration under Arthur Lange at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. He also studied at the University of Southern California
.
In January 1954, Don the Beachcomber
brought Denny to Honolulu, Hawaii
for a two-week engagement. He stayed to form his own combo in 1955, performing under contract at the Shell Bar in the Hawaiian Village
on Oahu and soon signing to Liberty Records
. The original combo consisted of Augie Colon on percussion and birdcalls, Arthur Lyman
on vibes, John Kramer on string bass, and Denny on piano. Lyman soon left to form his own group and future Herb Alpert
sideman and Baja Marimba Band
founder Julius Wechter
replaced him. Harvey Ragsdale later replaced Kramer.
"We traveled a lot on the Mainland, but we came back every 12 weeks because the guys had their families here [to Hawaii]," recalled Denny. In 1955, the musician met his future wife, June, and married her the following year. His daughter, Christina was born a few years later. "I loved the lifestyle and my career was built here," said Denny.
Denny described the music his combo plays as "window dressing, a background". It is the perfect complement to the exotic setting of Hawaii. "A lot of what I'm doing", he stated in Incredibly Strange Music Volume 1, "is just window dressing familiar tunes. I can take a tune like "Flamingo" and give it a tropical feel, in my style. In my arrangement of a Japanese farewell song, "Sayonara", I include a Japanese three-stringed instrument, the shamisen. We distinguished each song by a different ethnic instrument, usually on top of a semi-jazz or Latin beat."
Denny built a collection of strange and exotic instruments with the help of several airline friends. They would bring Denny back these instruments and he would build arrangements around them. His music was a combination of ethnic styles: South Pacific, the Orient and Latin rhythms.
During an engagement at the Shell Bar, Denny discovered what would become his trademark and the birth of "exotica." The bar had a very exotic setting: a little pool of water right outside the bandstand, rocks and palm trees growing around, very quiet and relaxed. As the group played at night, Denny became aware of bullfrogs croaking. The croaking blended with the music and when the band stopped, so did the frogs. Denny thought this to be a coincidence, but when he tried the tune again later, the same thing happened. This time, his bandmates began doing all sorts of tropical bird calls as a gag. The band thought it nothing more than a joke. The next day, though, someone approached Denny and asked if he would do the arrangement with the birds and frogs. The more Denny thought about it, the more it made sense. At rehearsal, he had the band do "Quiet Village
" with each doing a bird call spaced apart. Denny did the frog part on a grooved cylinder and the whole thing became incorporated into the arrangement of "Quiet Village". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
.
The album jacket was an influential factor guiding the fantasy of Denny's music. Denny's first dozen albums featured model Sandy Warner
on the cover.
The Exotica album was recorded in December 1956 and released in 1957. In 1958, Dick Clark
hosted Denny on American Bandstand
. "Quiet Village" reached #2 on Billboard's charts in 1959 with the Exotica album" reaching #1. He rode the charts of Cashbox and Variety
also. Denny had as many as three or four albums on the charts simultaneously during his career. He also had national hits with "A Taste of Honey
," "The Enchanted Sea," and "Ebb Tide."
Denny died in Honolulu on March 2, 2005 at age 93, and his ashes scattered at sea.
to establish Yellow Magic Orchestra
. According to Hosono, one day in 1978, after a recording, he invited Ryuichi Sakamoto
and Yukihiro Takahashi
to his house and showed a memo which said "Cover and arrange Martin Denny's Firecracker into a chunky-electric disco, featuring synthesizers, to sell out four million copies around the world".
In 1983, the cassette-based 'audio magazine' 23 Drifts To Guestling was released by David Tibet
. Collated from the archives of Throbbing Gristle
, track 20 'E plays his favourite track (mamba by m denny)' features an introduction from Genesis P-Orridge
, where he explains the influence it had on him and his subsequently work in TG. It seems this theme continued through the early incarnation of PTV.
In 1988, 808 State
,a pioneering Acid House electronic group from Manchester, England cited Denny as an influence on their hit song "Pacific State". In November 2008, Graham Massey from 808 State held a tribute night to Martin Denny amongst other acts in London under the banner of 'Manchester Mondo'.
Many of Denny's recordings were reissued on the Ultra-Lounge series of CDs.
Exotica
Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s, typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism, exotica, means tropical ersatz: the non-native, pseudo experience of Oceania...
." In a long career that saw him performing well into his 80s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and original songs that celebrated Tiki culture
Tiki culture
Tiki kitsch culture is a 20th-century theme used in Polynesian-style restaurants and clubs originally in the United States and then, to a lesser degree, around the world...
.
His combo spawned two successful offshoots: Julius Wechter
Julius Wechter
Julius Wechter was an American musician and composer who played the marimba and vibraphone. He also played various percussion instruments. He composed the song "Spanish Flea" for Herb Alpert and was leader of the The Baja Marimba Band.Born in Chicago, Wechter played vibes and percussion for the...
(of Baja Marimba Band
Baja Marimba Band
The Baja Marimba Band was a popular musical group led by marimba player Julius Wechter, initially intended by producer Herb Alpert to cash in on the "south of the border" craze started by his own Tijuana Brass...
fame) and exotica vibist Arthur Lyman
Arthur Lyman
Arthur Lyman was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica...
.
Biography
Denny was born in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and raised in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. He studied classical piano and at a young age toured South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
for four-and-a-half years in the 1930s with the Don Dean Orchestra. This tour began Denny's fascination with Latin rhythms. Denny collected a large number of ethnic instruments from all over the world, which he used to spice up his stage performances.
After serving in the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Denny returned to Los Angeles in 1945 where he studied piano and composition under Dr. Wesley La Violette and orchestration under Arthur Lange at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. He also studied at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
.
In January 1954, Don the Beachcomber
Don the Beachcomber
Donn Beach , born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, is the founding father of tiki restaurants, bars and nightclubs. The many so-called "Polynesian" restaurants and pubs that enjoyed great popularity are directly descended from what he created...
brought Denny to Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
for a two-week engagement. He stayed to form his own combo in 1955, performing under contract at the Shell Bar in the Hawaiian Village
Hilton Hawaiian Village
The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort and Spa, formerly the Kaiser Hawaiian Village Hotel, has been a popular hotel in the Waikiki area of the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States since 1957. It is the largest hotel of the Hilton chain, with 3,386 rooms and with 7 towers...
on Oahu and soon signing to Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
. The original combo consisted of Augie Colon on percussion and birdcalls, Arthur Lyman
Arthur Lyman
Arthur Lyman was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica...
on vibes, John Kramer on string bass, and Denny on piano. Lyman soon left to form his own group and future Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert
Herbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...
sideman and Baja Marimba Band
Baja Marimba Band
The Baja Marimba Band was a popular musical group led by marimba player Julius Wechter, initially intended by producer Herb Alpert to cash in on the "south of the border" craze started by his own Tijuana Brass...
founder Julius Wechter
Julius Wechter
Julius Wechter was an American musician and composer who played the marimba and vibraphone. He also played various percussion instruments. He composed the song "Spanish Flea" for Herb Alpert and was leader of the The Baja Marimba Band.Born in Chicago, Wechter played vibes and percussion for the...
replaced him. Harvey Ragsdale later replaced Kramer.
"We traveled a lot on the Mainland, but we came back every 12 weeks because the guys had their families here [to Hawaii]," recalled Denny. In 1955, the musician met his future wife, June, and married her the following year. His daughter, Christina was born a few years later. "I loved the lifestyle and my career was built here," said Denny.
Denny described the music his combo plays as "window dressing, a background". It is the perfect complement to the exotic setting of Hawaii. "A lot of what I'm doing", he stated in Incredibly Strange Music Volume 1, "is just window dressing familiar tunes. I can take a tune like "Flamingo" and give it a tropical feel, in my style. In my arrangement of a Japanese farewell song, "Sayonara", I include a Japanese three-stringed instrument, the shamisen. We distinguished each song by a different ethnic instrument, usually on top of a semi-jazz or Latin beat."
Denny built a collection of strange and exotic instruments with the help of several airline friends. They would bring Denny back these instruments and he would build arrangements around them. His music was a combination of ethnic styles: South Pacific, the Orient and Latin rhythms.
During an engagement at the Shell Bar, Denny discovered what would become his trademark and the birth of "exotica." The bar had a very exotic setting: a little pool of water right outside the bandstand, rocks and palm trees growing around, very quiet and relaxed. As the group played at night, Denny became aware of bullfrogs croaking. The croaking blended with the music and when the band stopped, so did the frogs. Denny thought this to be a coincidence, but when he tried the tune again later, the same thing happened. This time, his bandmates began doing all sorts of tropical bird calls as a gag. The band thought it nothing more than a joke. The next day, though, someone approached Denny and asked if he would do the arrangement with the birds and frogs. The more Denny thought about it, the more it made sense. At rehearsal, he had the band do "Quiet Village
Quiet Village
"Quiet Village" is an exotica instrumental that was originally written and performed by Les Baxter in 1952. In the liner notes to his album, Ritual of the Savage , Baxter described the themes he was conveying in the work: Seven years later, in 1959, Martin Denny added exotic sounds to the song,...
" with each doing a bird call spaced apart. Denny did the frog part on a grooved cylinder and the whole thing became incorporated into the arrangement of "Quiet Village". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
.
The album jacket was an influential factor guiding the fantasy of Denny's music. Denny's first dozen albums featured model Sandy Warner
Sandy Warner
Sandy Warner was the face of Exotica. As "The Exotica Girl", she appeared on the first 12 Martin Denny album covers, and 16 in total, beginning with Exotica in 1957, which reached no.1 in the Billboard charts.Martin Denny recalls, "She was a stunning model, extremely photogenic...
on the cover.
The Exotica album was recorded in December 1956 and released in 1957. In 1958, Dick Clark
Dick Clark (entertainer)
Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark is an American businessman; game-show host; and radio and television personality. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of Dick Clark Productions, which he has sold part of in recent years...
hosted Denny on American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
. "Quiet Village" reached #2 on Billboard's charts in 1959 with the Exotica album" reaching #1. He rode the charts of Cashbox and Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
also. Denny had as many as three or four albums on the charts simultaneously during his career. He also had national hits with "A Taste of Honey
A Taste of Honey (song)
"A Taste of Honey" is a pop standard written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow. It was originally an instrumental track written for the 1960 Broadway version of the 1958 British play A Taste of Honey . Both the original and a cover by Herb Alpert in 1965 earned the song Grammy Awards...
," "The Enchanted Sea," and "Ebb Tide."
Denny died in Honolulu on March 2, 2005 at age 93, and his ashes scattered at sea.
Impact
Denny's Firecracker is well known in Japan as the number which inspired Haruomi HosonoHaruomi Hosono
, also known as Harry Hosono, is a Japanese popular musician, best known internationally as a key member of the rock band Happy End and the pioneering electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra.-Biography:...
to establish Yellow Magic Orchestra
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Sakamoto first worked with Hosono as a member of his live band in 1976, while Takahashi recruited Sakamoto to produce his debut solo recording in 1977 following the split of the Sadistic Mika Band...
. According to Hosono, one day in 1978, after a recording, he invited Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto
After working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as...
and Yukihiro Takahashi
Yukihiro Takahashi
Yukihiro Takahashi is a Japanese musician, who is best known as the drummer and lead vocalist of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, and as the former drummer of the Sadistic Mika Band.-Biography:...
to his house and showed a memo which said "Cover and arrange Martin Denny's Firecracker into a chunky-electric disco, featuring synthesizers, to sell out four million copies around the world".
In 1983, the cassette-based 'audio magazine' 23 Drifts To Guestling was released by David Tibet
David Tibet
David Tibet is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member. He had earlier collaborated with Psychic TV and 23 Skidoo...
. Collated from the archives of Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle were an English industrial, avant-garde music and visual arts group that evolved from the performance art group COUM Transmissions...
, track 20 'E plays his favourite track (mamba by m denny)' features an introduction from Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is an English singer-songwriter, musician, writer and artist. P-Orridge's early confrontational performance work in COUM Transmissions in the late 1960s and early 1970s along with the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, which dealt with subjects such as prostitution,...
, where he explains the influence it had on him and his subsequently work in TG. It seems this theme continued through the early incarnation of PTV.
In 1988, 808 State
808 State
808 State are a British electronic music outfit, formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and their common state of mind...
,a pioneering Acid House electronic group from Manchester, England cited Denny as an influence on their hit song "Pacific State". In November 2008, Graham Massey from 808 State held a tribute night to Martin Denny amongst other acts in London under the banner of 'Manchester Mondo'.
Many of Denny's recordings were reissued on the Ultra-Lounge series of CDs.
Studio albums
- Exotica, Liberty LRP-3034 (mono) (1957)
- Exotica, Liberty LST-7034 (stereo) (1958) - re-recorded for stereo with Julius WechterJulius WechterJulius Wechter was an American musician and composer who played the marimba and vibraphone. He also played various percussion instruments. He composed the song "Spanish Flea" for Herb Alpert and was leader of the The Baja Marimba Band.Born in Chicago, Wechter played vibes and percussion for the...
replacing Arthur LymanArthur LymanArthur Lyman was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica... - Exotica Vol.2Exotica Volume IIExotica Volume II was the second album by Martin Denny, released in 1958.-Track listing:# "Soshu Night Serenade" – 2:08# "Island of Dreams" – 2:53# "Japanese Farewell Song " – 2:21...
, Liberty LRP-3077/LST-7006 (1958) - Forbidden Island, Liberty LRP-3081/LST-7001 (1958)
- Primitiva, Liberty LRP-3087/LST-7023 (1958)
- Hypnotique, Liberty LRP-3102/LST-7102 (1959)
- Afro-Desia, Liberty LRP-3111/LST-7111 (1959)
- Exotica Volume III, Liberty LRP-3116/LST-7116 (1959)
- Quiet Village, Liberty LRP-3122/LST-7122 (1959)
- The Enchanted Sea, Liberty LRP-3141/LST-7141 (1960)
- Exotic Sounds from the Silver Screen, Liberty LRP-3158/LST-7158 (1960)
- Exotic Sounds Visit Broadway, Liberty LRP-3163/LST-7163 (1960)
- Exotic Percussion, Liberty LRP-3168/LST-7168 (1961)
- Romantica, Liberty LRP-3207/LST-7207 (1961)
- Martin Denny in Person, Liberty LRP-3224/LST-7224 (1962)
- A Taste of Honey, Liberty LRP-3237/LST-7237 (1962)
- Another Taste of Honey, Liberty LRP-3277/LST-7277 (1963)
- The Versatile Martin Denny, Liberty LRP-3307/LST-7307 (1963)
- A Taste of Hits, Liberty LRP-3328/LST-7328 (1964)
- Latin Village, Liberty LRP-3378/LST-7378 (1964)
- Hawaii Tattoo, Liberty LRP-3394/LST-7394 (1964)
- Spanish Village, Liberty LRP-3409/LST-7409 (1965)
- 20 Golden Hawaiian Hits, Liberty LRP-3415/LST-7415 (1965)
- Martin Denny!, Liberty LRP-3438/LST-7438 (1966)
- Hawaiian A Go-Go, Liberty LRP-3445/LST-7445 (1966)
- Exotica Today, Liberty LRP-3465/LST-7465 (1966)
- Golden Greats, Liberty LRP-3467/LST-7467 (1966)
- Hawaii, Liberty LRP-3488/LST-7488 (1966)
- Exotica Classica, Liberty LRP-3513/LST-7513 (1967)
- A Taste of India, Liberty LRP-3550/LST-7550 (1968)
- Exotic Love, Liberty LRP-3585/LST-7585 (1968)
- Exotic Moog, Liberty LRP-3621/LST-7621 (1969)
- Paradise Moods, Liberty/Sunset SUM-5102/SUS-5102 (1970)
- Sayonara, Liberty/Sunset SUM-5169/SUS-5169 (1970)
- Exotic Night, Liberty/Sunset SUM-5199/SUS-5199 (1970)
- From Maui with Love, First American FA-7743 (1980)
- The Enchanted Isle, Liberty LN-10195 (1982)
- Exotica ’90, Toshiba EMI/Insideout TOCP-6160 (1990)
Compilation albums
- The Best of Martin Denny, Liberty LX-5502 (1974) (compilation)
- The Very Best of Martin Denny, United Artists UA-LA383-E (1975) (compilation)
- The Exotic Sounds: The Very Best of Martin Denny, EMI Manhattan (Japan) CP32-5657 (1989) (compilation)
- Paradise, Pair PCD-2-1267 (1990) (compilation)
- Exotica!: The Best of Martin Denny, Rhino R2-70774 (1990) (compilation)
- The Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny, Capitol (1990) (compilation)
- Enchanted Islands, CEMA Special Products S21-56638 (1993) (compilation)
- Quiet Village: The Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny, Curb D2-77685 (1994) (compilation)
- Exotic Moog (Martin Denny) / Moog Rock (Les Baxter), Electronic Vanguard EV-906-2 (1995) (bootleg reissue)
- Afro-Desia, Scamp 9702 (1995) (reissue)
- Bachelor in Paradise: The Best of Martin Denny, Pair (1996) (compilation)
- Exotica/Exotica Vol. II, Scamp 9712 (1996) (reissue)
- Forbidden Island/Primitiva, Scamp 9713 (1996) (reissue)
- Hypnotique/Exotica III, Scamp 9714 (1997) (reissue)
- Quiet Village/Enchanted Sea, Scamp 9715 (1997) (reissue)
- Baked Alaska, Collector's Choice Music CCM-393-2 (2003) (live in 1964)
- The Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny, Rev-Ola (2004) (compilation)
- Exotica, Rev-Ola (2005) (reissue)
- Exotica Vol. 2, Rev-Ola (2005) (reissue)
- Hypnotique, Rev-Ola (2005) (reissue)
- Primitiva, Rev-Ola (2005) (reissue)
- Forbidden Island, Rev-Ola (2006) (reissue)
- Quiet Village, Rev-Ola (2006) (reissue)
- Exotica III, Rev-Ola (2006) (reissue)
- Afro-Desia, Rev-Ola (2006) (reissue)
- Latin Village, Toshiba EMI (Japan) (2006) (reissue)
- The Best of Martin Denny's Exotica, Capitol (2006) (compilation)
- Hypnotique, Vivid Sound (Japan) (2007) (reissue)