There is a genre of music some refer to as "Lounge Music." Some call it "Space Age Bachelor Pad." Call it what you like, but it's cool, fun, and exotic. It's perfect for your summertime tiki lounge soiree.
Also, a lot of it is mondo cheeseball, and that's half the fun!
So allow me to put on my fez and matching smoking jacket (yes, I own both), dim the lights, and introduce you to some far-out songs you may remember your grandparents playing on their hi-fi.
FACT-O-RAMA! This genre encompasses many types of tunes; exotica, crooners, spy music, surf, outer space, cocktail music, and probably a few others I'm missing. Much of it arose in the late 1950s Space Age. The cover art was just as importnant as the music. You probably tossed a lot of these albums out years after your granparents passed, which is sad because many of them bring in mad stacks on eBay today.
Space Age Pop
The year 1958 was a time when space travel was a dream, little green men were real, and the U.S. fired its first satellite, Explorer 1, into orbit, shortly after the Russkies launched Sputnik 1. The Space Age was on, and the music followed.
Space Age Pop can be defined as classical music with an outer space twist. Much of the music ended up in the sci-fi flicks our parents watched at the drive-in.
Russ Garcia was instrumental in popularizing these otherworldly sounds when he released "Fantastica, Music from Outer Space" in 1958.
You've probably heard a lot of these songs in those aforementioned sci-fi "B" movies involving space monsters chasing teenagers around small, midwestern towns.
Though I could play Space Age Pop all night — I have hundreds of LPs — I've chosen Bob Thompson's "There's a Small Hotel." It is a great, boppy tune, and the album cover is dynamite.
I've included the full album, but the first song is the one I want you to hear:
We can't leave out Esquivel's daring version of "Sentimental Journey." Again, tremendous cover art:
Exotica
Martin Denny is the undeniable king of Exotica music, and he too was known for his saucy album covers, using the same model on most of them.
Much of his music is laid back, as though you're enjoying a mai tai at night in a quiet village. He also brought in people to make jungle bird sounds on his records, which is hilarious.
Though he is known for mellow Hawaiian music, I think you should hear "Swamp Fire":
Frank Hunter's album "White Goddess" is my top Exotica LP ever. The whole album is sexy, haunting, and wonderfully cheesilicious all at the same time.
This song is called "Strange Echoes," and it blends into "Poinciana." And yet another cheesecake LP cover:
Robert Drasnin's "Chant of the Moon" is similar and can't be ignored. Nor can the crazy cover.
Crooners
No Space Age Batchelor Pad collection would be complete without some singers, and I'm going with the chicks. My fave female singer is undoubtedly the smoky, smooth-singing Julie London, who scored big with "Cry Me a River," but you've probably heard it.
I'm willing to bet most of you haven't heard April Stevens' naughty "Teach Me, Tiger." You'll see the saucy album cover in the video;
Cocktail Music
This odd, all-encompassing genre we are discussing delves a bit into jazz, and it just so happens my favorite cocktail music song was pressed onto an album with, again, hot broads.
This is Jonah Jones, "I Dig Chicks":
Spy Music
Back in the 1960s, Crime Scene music, or crime jazz became popular largely with the help of the James Bond Theme. Peter Gunn was also a hit.
Spy movies and TV crime shows were all the rage, and so were their theme songs.
Below is my favorite. Pour two manhattans, turn down the lights, grab your moll, and plan your next caper while listening to Vicki Carr singing her decadent movie theme song, "The Silencers":
I'm not sure how to categorize this next song. It's from an Italian "romance" film of the adult type, produced in the 1960s or 1970s.
I think this song is called "Roberto Pregadio: Iena Sequence" (with Edda Dell'Orso). It's the first tune you'll hear, and man, am I killing it with these covers or what?!?
Dance Craze Albums
"The Twist" may have been one of the first dance-craze tunes, but it sparked many more.
One of my all-time favorite LPs is Ray Anthony's "Swim, Swim, C'Mon Let's Swim," and this is the title track. PS: the album cover is also sultry; check it out here:
It's late. The scorpion bowls are empty, and the tiki party is wrapping up. Time for one more song.
I could go full organ and suggest "Moon Gas" by Dick Hyman and Mary Mayo. I want to play Our Space Ship by Cara Stewart, but I closed out my surf music article with that unknown classic.
Related: Summer Music List: Surf's Up! Hang Ten With KDJ's Greatest Songs for Your Summer Surf Alohapalooza
I also want to close out the show with a salacious album cover.
Let's go with Teodoro Morales and his Latin Rythmeers sending your guests home with a song simply called "Mambo." I'll admit that I bought this album for the cover, but the music is fantastic.
Every song you've heard is in my vinyl collection. Teodoro's above album hangs in a frame on my wall with several others
At every tiki party, there is always someone who wants one Jungle Hunt cocktail for the road, and I have just enough ice and falernum to shake it.
I've also got one more song from what might be the most lickerish LP cover I own.
The person who posted this song was clever enough to hide the cover for a moment. Click on the song, and let me know in the comments if you recognize the buxom bombshell on what is arguably one of the most near-the-knuckle cheesecake LP covers from an era that may be long gone, but comes alive every day at cocktail hour in KDJ's Atomic Bunker Lounge.
