Another Tiki Oasis has come and gone.

Having been to all 11 Tiki Oasis weekenders, I can without a doubt say that this year’s event was in many ways better than the previous 10, and that my friends is not an easy accomplishment. For instance, Tiki Oasis’ musical line-ups have always been magical but this one was that much more over-the-top. Some of the musical highlights from Tiki Oasis 11 include the legendary “Mr. Bongo,” Jack Costanzo‘s superb Latin Jazz ensemble who just freakin’ NAILED it, tight and tough instrumental insanity from Los Straightjackets who were joined by our pal Big Sandy for a round of rock ‘n’ roll songs en Espanol, an excellent set of Herb Albert tunes from the tribute group Herb, exotic and percussive Latin Jazz sounds from Orchestra Superstring featuring some truly amaazing play between the percussionists as well as DJ Bonebrake’s brilliant performance on the vibes, and the spooky exotic meets surf sounds of our own Creepxotica who played poolside, at the art show and wandered around the event dressed as Dia De Los Muertos mariachis with portable pig-nose amplifiers strapped to their outfits. To cap it all off, for the first time, Tiki Oasis extended through Sunday Night with a most entertaining show including two perfectly paced sets from exotica legends Don Tiki who filled the stage with exceptional musicians on their very first performance in California.  As stated, these were highlights for me – the rest of the music? Two thumbs up!

I’d have to write over a thousand words to truly cover the event from start to finish, so instead of going into detail about how great the symposiums, art,  debaucherous room crawls,  LuxuriaMusic.com and poolside DJs, the fabulous King Kukulele and Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid, marketplace, Otto’s muschache and Baby Doe’s circle skirt were, I’ll just load up this post with Tiki Oasis videos from our friends at Lost in Paradise and other various sources on YouTube so you can see for yourself the color and fun that this event represents and gives to its attendees. Don’t miss Tiki Oasis 12… Stay tuned for the scoop!

I shot a video of Creepxotica playing outside the elevators as the room crawl action was going full steam with my iPod Touch – will post as soon as I upload and edit as I’m still catching up on work here. As more Tiki Oasis 11 videos pop up on YouTube I’ll put those up as well.

Lee
(Photo: Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid –  by Scott Evanskey)

Tiki Oasis Flicker Photo Group

Tiki Oasis Facebook Group

Lost in Paradise videos

Jack Costanzo

Tiki Oasis 11 Car Show with Crazy Al Evans, Perk, SHAG, and the Hula Girls

Burlesque

These new Dionysus releases will be available in advance of street date at Surf Guitar 101, Tiki Oasis 11 and the Dionysus Records cart

Creepxotica four-song 7″
Creepxotica: {Kreep-za-ti-ka}, noun or adjective; having or causing a creeping sensation of the skin, as from horror or fear combined with the relaxing exotic sounds of the South-Pacific. Creepxotica takes you on an exotic ride through time to the sun bleached sands of the Mexican Riviera, and to the cool ocean waters of the Polynesian Islands. The soothing sounds of the vibes will calm your savage soul, while the reverberating guitar will hearken a time of lazy Saturday afternoons. The percussive musings will melt your inhibitions, as low, melodious, bass driven tones will cool your head. So sit back and relax as you embark on a Tiki paradise with the new lounge sensation from Dionysus Records, Creepxotica!

(Shhh – don’t tell anyone that Creepxotica is actually garage punk surf pranksters – The Creepy Creeps. This limited edition four-song red vinyl 7″ comes with a digital download code – it’s got a big hole too! Click to purchase

The Exotic Sounds of Jerry Sun LP
Numbered edition of 500, red vinyl LP with digital download code
We’ve exotica expert Jeff Chenault to thank for this one!  Avid listeners of Exotica music will undoubtedly be familiar with the primitive sounds of Les Baxter, Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman and Robert Drasnin but very few people today have ever heard of Jerry Sun, a professional vibe player whose versatility and unique blending of jazz and tropical melodies would often compare him to Arthur Lyman. Jerry was a big fan of Denny, and Lyman and would often visit them while in Hawaii or when they would tour stateside.  While Exotica was his forte, his biggest influence would come from the Latin-Jazz sound of Cal Tjader. Click to purchase

This album was recorded in 1962 at Audio Recording studios by famous Northwest recording engineer Kearney Barton who recorded The Sonics, The Wailers and The Kingsmen (the hit version of “Louie Louie”.)  Somehow five reels of Jerry’s music ended up in the hands of record store in Tacoma. This album is one of those tapes, unreleased until now! These recordings have been transferred and edited entirely in the ANALOG realm – no digital processing was used in the preparation or cutting of this record.

Tiki Oasis 11 presents four days of legendary and contemporary Latin and Exotica Sounds including Dionysus Records related artists Big Sandy, Orchestra Superstring and Mark and The Escorts

Tiki Oasis 11
August 18-21, 2010
San Diego, CA

August 18: Tiki Oasis Meet and Mingle:
Bali Hai Restaurant
2230 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106
619-222-1181
www.balihairestaurant.com

August 19 – 21: All event activity:
Crowne Plaza Hotel
2270 Hotel Circle North
San Diego, CA 92108

Event website:
www.tikioasis.com

This year’s Tiki Oasis theme: “South of the Border”
Exotica music – the cornerstone of Tiki – owes a lot to our brethren to the south – Mexico and Latin America. In fact Latin music has always been a rich part of American popular music from Cha Cha and Merengue to Mambo kings, Latin Jazz and Samba to Rock En Espanol. We feel North America’s embracing of Latin music piqued in the mid-1960s when the debonair, Latin-styled trumpet player Herb Alpert and his Tijuana Brass band challenged The Beatles on the Billboard charts*. It is Herb’s romanticized Mexico that we seek to celebrate this year at Tiki Oasis!

Tiki Oasis 11 features the legendary Jack “Mr. Bongo” Costanzo & His Latin All-Stars, East LA luminaries Mark and The Escorts, Orchestra Superstring featuring DJ Bonebrake from X, Frankie’s Baja Marimba Marimba Mania, Big Sandy with Los Straightjackets, Herb – a Tribute to Herb Alpert, Surfer Joe and his Boss Combo, Marty Lush and His Latin Livers, The Hula Girls and Creepxotica The event is MC’d by ukulele playing stand-up comedian King Kukulele. click here for complete entertainer list

Jack Costanzo is a composer, conductor and drummer, but is best known as a bongo player, hence the nicknamed “Mr. Bongo”. Throughout the 1940s, Costanzo worked with several Latin bands, including a revived version of the Lecuona Cuban Boys, Desi Arnaz, and Rene Touzet. He toured with Stan Kenton from 1947–48 and in the 1950s, and played with Nat King Cole from 1949 to 1953. He also played with the Billy May Orchestra, Peggy Lee, Danny Kaye, Perez Prado, Pete Rugolo, Judy Garland, Ray Anthony, Xavier Cugat, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Curtis. Costanzo visited Havana three times in the 1940s and learned to play Afro-Cuban rhythms on the bongos and congas. Many Hollywood stars studied bongos with him, including: Marlon Brando, Rita Moreno, Tony Curtis, Betty Grable, and Gary Cooper. He has appeared in film and television such as Elvis Presley’s “Harum Scarum” and the “Johnny Staccato” TV series

He retired until 1998 when he made a comeback and in 2001 recorded Back From Havana under the Ubiquity Records umbrella. This album featured the likes of Blue Note’s Guilbert Castellanos, Steve Firerobing and the Panamanian singer Marilu. In 2002 he released another album with the same cast called Scorching the skins, & also mention his two most recent CDs on Ubiquity/Cubop Records “Back From Havana” & “Scorching The Skins“. Jack is currently an active musician and a living legend of Latin/Afro-Cuban jazz.  www.spaceagepop.com/costanzo.htm, www.herencialatina.com/Costanzo/Costanzo/Jack_Costanzo.htm

Mark & the Escorts formed in 1963 as a surf band. By 1964, the group had expanded their musical palette to include rock & roll, r&b and British invasion music. They became a significant part of the now legendary “Eastside Sound” boom which occurred in East Los Angeles in that period, sharing the bill with other local bands including Cannibal & the Headhunters, The Premiers, The Blendells, and Thee Midniters, who all had national hit records at the time.  In 1965, Mark & the Escorts recorded two singles on the GNP Crescendo label, Get Your Baby, the “A” side of their first recording, has been included on four different compilation CDs in recent years.  The band has also been featured or mentioned in many books on the music of the 60s.  In 1966, Mark & the Escorts ended when they changed their name to The Men From S.O.U.N.D.  The three core members of Mark & the Escorts, Mark Guerrero, Rick Rosas, and Ernie Hernandez, stayed together though out the 1960s, eventually recording an album of Mark Guerrero songs for A&M Records in the early 70s as members of a rock band called Tango.  Rick Rosas, went on to play with Joe Walsh for many years before becoming Neil Young’s bassist.  Mark Guerrero, went on to record as a solo artist for Capitol Records and for legendary record producer Lou Adler on Ode Records.  Mark’s songs have been recorded by artists such as Herb Alpert, Trini Lopez, Chan Romero, and his legendary late father Lalo Guerrero.  He continues to perform concerts with the Mark Guerrero Band and the reunited Mark & the Escorts.  Mark also hosts the popular Chicano music website www.markguerrero.com. 

Don Tiki is set to provide the soundtrack for steamy romance and jungle love with a show that closes Tiki Oasis 2011 on Sunday, August 21. Don Tiki has performed at the fabled Kahiki in Colombus, OH, headlined a music festival in Berlin, played numerous shows in Las Vegas and of course, rule their very own Pagan kingdom of Honolulu. Their Tiki Oasis show marks Don Tiki’s first ever performance in California! Experience forbidden love as Don Tiki, fresh off their Hawaii Music Awards win for Album of the Year/Adult Contemporary, unleashes a passion party that will stimulate your senses and primal urges. Drawing inspiration from original exotica masters Marty, Arty and Les (Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman, Les Baxter,) Don Tiki boldly moves this evocative genre of music into the 21st century. www.dontiki.com

Orchestra Superstring plays instrumental music inspired by Afro-Cuban, Latin jazz, and the likes of Sun Ra and Cal Tjader. Composed of an eclectic nine-piece band of well known Los Angeles musicians led by DJ Bonebrake of X on vibes,  Orchestra Superstring blends infectious beats and fresh dance rhythms in original tunes written by its members and creates new interpretations of jazz standards. Their second album “Easy” was recently released by Dionysus Records. www.orchestrasuperstring.com

By way of Tijuana, we proudly present the groovy and spicy tribute to the powerhouse sound of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass. Herb delivers the full glory of the Brass’ sophisticated style with an updated edge that is poised to capture a new generation while re-igniting the passion and utter hipness of a bygone era. Herb exudes the suave, groomed sound that catapulted the Tijuana Brass to the forefront of 60s pop culture. TJB charged the soul of America and the world with their crafty blend of fiery Latino rhythms, zany pop, and South-Of-The-Border temperament. Herb consists of an all-star 7-8 piece band with members from such luminous bands as Clubfoot Orchestra, grammy-winning Brave Combo, The Billy Nayer Show, Les Claypool, Casino Royale, Cirque du Soleil, Idiot Flesh, and so on and so forth. Since its inception in July ’96, Herb has performed with/for James Brown, Nancy Sinatra, Sergio Mendes, SF Symphony’s Black & White Ball, Francis Ford Coppola, SF Giants @ Candlestick (Monster) Park, Super Diamond, and many more! www.casinoroyalemusic.com/herb.html

Frankie’s Baja Marimba Mania is the current solo project of Frank Marsico, former vibraphonist with The Martini Kings. This year’s performance will be a tribute to 60’s chartbusters: The Baja Marimba Band. This brand new unit, created specifically for Tiki Oasis 11, features Warren Giancaterino, former bassist for Sergio Mendes and Liv, percussionist for The Cold War Kids just back from their recent performance at Coachella. Frankie, as usual will be chopping wood on marimba and bending steel on the vibes along with a few other surprises.

No Habla Ingles? No problem! Lucha Libre clad guitar instrumental practitioners Los Straightjackets team up with rockabilly/roots belter Big Sandy to deliver vintage rock ‘n’ roll En Espanol, inspired by Mexico City’s great sixties garage and rockabilly madmen such as Los Teen Tops, Los Rockin’ Devils, Los Apson and many others, who took American hits and re-wrote the lyrics in Spanish and in the process completely changing the song — turning things like “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” into “El Microscopico Bikini!” Their Tiki Oasis set will also make a nod toward East LA and the great border rock of Freddy Fender. http://www.bigsandy.net  www.straitjackets.com

June 18: The Creepy Creeps play The Purple Orchid bar – it’s the bar’s 10 year anniversary! 221 Richmond St, El Segundo, 221  (310) 322-5829 – 9pm or so

Mark Smith, singer of The Creatures of The Golden Dawn has left us. Mark and I had recently reconnected on Facebook and we were in the middle of putting together a vinyl-only “best of” compilation with tracks from their albums and singles (including tracks from their early ’90s Dionysus releases) when Mark passed – we got as far as the test pressing stage. The future of the release is currently up in the air but I have been in touch with Creatures guitarist Steven Schlack and hope to speak someone from Mark’s family so we can get this release out – it is a brilliant set of 14 of their best tracks.

A good friend of Mark’s, Nicole McMurtrie wrote some words about Mark and also posted an obituary via Facebook which are both in this post.

Have a peaceful journey Mark…
Lee

Obituary from The Morning Call
Mark Smith of Bethlehem passed away on June 1st due to complications related to Huntington’s Disease. Mark attended school in the East Penn School District and graduated from Emmaus High School in 1976. After graduating from Kutztown University, where he studied Business, he moved to New York City where he worked for the B. Altman Department Store for several years. Returning to the Allentown area Mark worked for many years as a credit analyst for Dun and Bradstreet. Mark’s parents were the late Pearl Brotzman from Easton, and Cody H. Smith from Durham, NC.

Over the years Mark had an abiding interest in music which led him in 1985 to begin performing. In part he was inspired by such local mid-1960s Allentown groups as The Shillings and Kings Ransom whose music he had heard in his youth. With the talent of brilliant collaborators who Mark was honored to work with, he was able to form a musical group which came to be called “The Creatures of The Golden Dawn.” Beloved by many, The Creatures performed often in the Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, New York. and as far away as Montreal and Moscow. In contact with music lovers all the world, on the last day of his life he was preparing a package of CDs to send to a fan in Spain.

He is survived by his brother Gregg, sister-in-law Irene, and nephew Ian, of Wescosville. Also cousins Linda Brotzman of Schnecksville, and Tom Brotzman of McAllisterville, PA.

Mark was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease in 2007. It is a debilitating genetic disorder. Contributions in Mark’s name can be sent to the: Huntington’s Disease Society of America, Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter, 502 West Germantown Pike, Suite 405, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 or online at : www.hdsa.org/epch/epadon.html

All friends, family, fans, co-workers, and classmates of Mark are invited to attend and reminisce and remember Mark at a memorial service to be held June 21st at 6pm at the First Presbyterian Church of Allentown, Cedar Crest Boulevard & Tilghman Streets, Allentown, PA.

Also a musical memorial party celebrating the life of Mark Smith, leader of The Creatures of The Golden Dawn will be held July 2, starting 9pm at the Funhouse in South Side Bethlehem.

One thing Mark was always good for: Bearing gifts.

He would never leave his apartment without goods to promote the Creatures and garage music…things such as homemade flyers, business cards, buttons, bootleg screen printed t-shirts…

Upon meeting someone, he would shake their hand and make their acquaintance by giving them a hip little token. He constantly was on the path of promotion and trying to enlighten people to a different sphere of music, one you didn’t hear on the radio: Garage.

He would always keep copies of Creatures CD’s stuffed somewhere in his pockets. I know he did, because they would magically appear out of nowhere. And, he would pull these CD’s out and proffer them to unsuspecting folks in the name of garage. He was always trying to get people to see music through a different lens and to open their minds. He would often be hypercritical (“These people can’t look beyond radio and Z-95.”)

Mark vehemently despised bands like Steely Dan, Yes, Meatloaf, Styx, etc. His physical discomfort and joylessness would go from zero to 6o quickly in a public place. I distinctly remember a quip from Stahley’s. Mark and I were sitting at the bar barely tolerating the music.

He looked up and saw a man in dungaree’s walking over to the jukebox. Mark scowled, “I’ll bet he’s going over there to play Steely Dan.”

Upon hearing bad music, Mark would almost start twitching and looking from left to right to see if someone will put an end to this torture blaring through the speakers. As if to say, “Stop! Your attitudes, beliefs and your soul are all in the toilet along with your taste in music!”

He would outwardly question the sanity and I.Q. the general public. Are they retarded? What is wrong with society? Why aren’t there laws to fine such people who listen to Steely Dan? How come we’re breathing the same room air as these people?

Even if mankind is going down the toilet, we still need men and women to hold the kind of passion and drive Mark held. We are a boring, colorless, ignorant lot without people like Mark and all his little gifts. Mark gave a spark of meaning a glimmer of awe to those whom he could reach.

Lucky for me, I was one of them. He was a nugget who dug it.
Nicole McMurtie

Images:

Mark from his Facebook page

Mark posted on Facebook by Dave from What Wave Magazine

The “1000 Shadows” (Dionysus Records) line-up: Steven Schlack, Chris Kender, Mark Heber Smith, Tom Bazylak, Mike Smitreski

For a recap of The Creepy Creeps two-day stint opening for and hanging out with Robert Plant and The Band of Joy, click this link to read the blog post on  “Urban Taxidermy,” the tattoo and art blog of Creepy Creeps’ guitarist, Dave Warshaw

Redondo Beat is touring in SPAIN, FRANCE and ITALY supporting their most recent album “Meet Redondo Beat” on Dionysus Records as well as their other amazing records (Check the Dionysus Records cart!) The band will be selling merch on the tour – if you live in or near one of these clubs – go see them!

Spain
June 04 Saturday- LOGROÑO (Fast Fun Bizarre Festival)
June 05 Sunday- LEÓN (GRAN CAFÉ)
June 07 Tuesday- BARCELONA (SALA MONASTERIO)
June 08 Wednesday- ORIHUELA (LA GRAMOLA)
June 10 Friday-  MONTBLANC (Tgn) (Què a Què)

FRANCE
June 11 Saturday- SÈTE (LA PRAIA)
June 12 Sunday- MONTPELLIER (LE MOJOMATIC)

ITALY
June 14 Tuesday- BRESCIA (Lio Bar)
June 15 Wednesday- PIACENZA (Spazio 4)
June 16 Thursday- ZANÈ (VI) (Cascina Irma)
June 17 Friday- CASTELDARIO (MN) (Rocca’n’roll festival)
June 18 Saturday- LA SPEZIA (Shake Club)
June 19 Sunday- VILLADOSSOLA (Titty Twister)

From The Dollyrots website:

Hello Earthlings!

We’re out on the road with our pals Bowling for Soup and Patent Pending and it’s been amazing! Thanks to all of you who have come out to see us in the Midwest and on the East Coast! And double thanks to those of you who have been to more than one show! We’re headed on to Ohio now and still have a handful of shows in the next week as we head West so check out the list below.

And what is that?? YES in just a couple weeks we’re back on the East Coast with The Go-Go’s! More dates coming but we wanted to make sure you know about these so you can snag your tickets before they’re gone!

Tue 5/31 Northampton, MA Calvin Theatre & Arts Center w/Go-Go’s Buy Tickets
Fri 6/3 New York, NY Irving Plaza w/Go-Go’s Buy Tickets
Sat 6/4 Atlantic City, NJ House of Blues Atlantic City w/Go-Go’s Buy Tickets
Tue 6/7 Westbury, NY Theatre at Westbury w/Go-Go’s Buy Tickets
Fri 6/10 Vienna, VA The Wolf Trap w/Go-Go’s Buy Tickets

We’ve been having a bit too much fun and figured it was a good day for a tour video update. Check it out!

Snoochie boochies!
xoxox
The Dollyrots – Kelly, Luis & Chris

Dollyrots Official Website & Store

Robert Plant saw The Creepy Creeps perform and loved ’em. OK so we know a lot of garage and punk fans don’t like Zep but no matter what you think of his old band, he does have pretty good taste in music – – thus he asked the legendary Creepy Creeps to open two Southern California shows for him – and here they are:

June 8: ROBERT PLANT and the BAND OF JOY with THE CREEPY CREEPS – at Copley Symphony Hall, San Diego

June 9: ROBERT PLANT and the BAND OF JOY with THE CREEPY CREEPS – at the San Manuel Casino

The Creepy Creeps are currently working on a new 45 which should be out in time for Tiki Oasis 11!