Advertisement

DJ Sessions: Dug Up From The '50s, Exotica Continues Today

09:53
Download Audio
Resume
Marty Lush and the Alika Lyman Group during Tiki Caliente 2014 in Palm Springs, Calif. (Sam Howzit/Flickr)
Marty Lush and the Alika Lyman Group during Tiki Caliente 2014 in Palm Springs, Calif. (Sam Howzit/Flickr)

Exotica music is a style of the past — but a handful of artists are keeping the genre alive.

Darrell Brogdon (@kprbrogdon), who hosts the "Retro Cocktail Hour" at Kansas Public Radio, tells Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson that exotica is influenced by Polynesian culture. In the 1950s the music was a "siren song," according to Brogdon, "for a whole generation of people, particularly ex-servicemen, who were stationed in the South Pacific and became introduced to Polynesian culture, and hence the boom in this music in the post-war years."

Note: We have a Spotify playlist and an Apple Music playlist for our weekly DJ Sessions.

Music From The Segment

Alika Lyman Group, "Swingtime in Honolulu"

Ìxtahuele, "Curitiba Train"

Jazztronik, "Adventures in Paradise"

Christopher de Groot, "Holiday Road Carnage"

This segment aired on April 5, 2017.

Related:

Advertisement

More from Here & Now

Listen Live
Close