We are pleased to announce the track “La Mer Azure” from the Robert Drasnin album Voodoo III on Dionysus Records appears in the new Tom Hanks film, A Man Called Otto! Check it out in theaters through early 2023. The movie will be added to Netflix later in the year. Congratulations to the Drasnin family and Skip Heller who was responsible for putting together and polishing up Voodoo III after Robert passed, and many thanks to Ocean Park Music!
Towards the end of Robert Drasnin‘s life – he set out to work on the third, and final, volume of Voodoo which he left unfinished. Drasnin had requested Skip Heller to complete his works and turn them into a releasable album. Skip finished Robert Drasnin Voodoo III which was rushed out as a super limited release, sold only at Tiki Oasis 15 with a few leftovers sold through Dionysus Records Mail Order.
After numerous delays, including an entire pressing of records recalled to due to a manufacturing defect, the official release including remastered audio, extremely detailed liner notes by Skip, cover art by Claudette Barjoud, and package design by Bob Deck, is now officially released on LP, CD, and digital (available through iTunes, Amazon, and just about all streaming services). The first pressing of 500 LPs is on transparent blue vinyl.
You can order the LP and CD straight from Dionysus at these links. Search your digital provider for downloads and streams.
Robert Drasnin Voodoo III LP
Robert Drasnin Voodoo III CD
These works encompass all the elements that made Voodoo I and Voodoo II legendary entries in the world of exotica music.
Towards the end of Robert Drasnin‘s life – he set out to work on the third, and final, volume of Voodoo which he left unfinished. Drasnin had requeseted Skip Heller to complete his works and turn them into a releasable album. 11 songs, plus one bonus were completed by Heller and Voodoo III was finished and rushed out just in time for Tiki Oasis 15 featuring cover art by Claudette Barjoud, designed by Thomas Kimball. The works encompasses all the elements that made Voodoo I and Voodoo II legendary entries in the world of exotica music. We have less than 40 copies of this Drasnin family produced disc currently. Please limit yourself to one copy unless purchasing for family or friends.
We with great sadness announce that the great Robert Drasnin passed away in the afternoon of 5/13/15, after about a year of failing health. He was 87 years old.
Bob is now mostly known for his two masterpiece exotica albums, Voodoo and Voodoo 2, but those are only two highlights in a long and multifaceted career as a player, composer, executive, and teacher.
He joined the Musicians Union at the age of 14 upon being hired to play in the Canteen Kids big band on Hoagy Carmichael’s radio show. He first made his way as a player through the forties, playing alto saxophone and clarinet with a great many big bands, including Les Brown, Freddie Slack, Tommy Dorsey, and others. He studied composition and conducting at UCLA, joined a bebop era Red Norvo Quintet (with whom he recorded), and evolved into a film/tv composer and also a very well regarded sideman (on clarinet and alto saxophone).
As a television composer, he was prolific. Twilight Zone, Wild Wild West, Mission: Impossible, Man From U.N.C.L.E. all boasted great Drasnin scores, and such giants as Johnny Mandel and Jerry Goldsmith considered him an equal. Rightfully.
He eventually became the head of music for CBS television, until his position was eliminated (mostly because the vast majority of shows were made by outside production companies, not the network).
He took to teaching film/tv music, first at the Dick Grove School, then at the UCLA Extension, and he was an excellent teacher, beloved by his classes. I sat in on many of them, and he was inspired, inspiring, insightful, and generous with to everyone to whom he taught.
In the mid nineties, the resurgence of interest in exotica brought him back to public musicmaking. Unlike any of the other first generation exotics, Bob’s powers as a composer and conductor were undiminished. The 1996 reissue of his Tops Records 1959 gem Voodoo returned him to composing and playing. He played on a great many records of mine and toured in my jazz quartet (teaching me more about music than I can ever estimate in the process). He played on my music for Dexter’s Laboratory, Flintsones On The Rocks, Tilt: The Battle To Save Pinball, and the Bernie Mac Show. And he was playing at least as well as he had in the fifties.
In 2007, he returned to the studio as composer and conductor with Voodoo 2, a record that did more that just pick up where the first one left off, but rather showed a greater, deepened command of composing and orchestration. It was cut almost entirely live in two days in an auditorium at Pierce College in the Valley. The cast of musicians was stellar, and his brilliance in those sessions was truly awesome to all who witnessed it. In 2008, he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, an honor that meant the world to him.
There were a few exotica performances after that, but the last years of his life were devoted mostly to teaching. In many ways, his energy flagged as he went into his eighties, but not when it came to teaching. I saw him conduct pieces composed by his last group of students, and his energy as a conductor, his incredibly facile judgement as a music editor, and his unbelievable insight as a teacher served everyone in that room as a lesson on how a classy elder statesman gets the job done.
The last year or so of his life was a lot of health problems. He lived a healthy life — rarely drank, always ate smart, played tennis innto his late seventies — but he became increasingly frail in his last months.
Work was started on a Voodoo 3 (as many of you know). It is not as now releasable, and the family is going to need some time to deal with the immediate facts of his passing, so it would not be in good taste to start asking questions about when and if V3 will be released.
Bob is survived by his devoted wife Marlene and their three children, who loved him dearly. To say he was well-loved by his friends is an understatement. He was generous, insightful, funny, and ridiculously smart, and passionately concerned about the world around him. He’d also take your hand off at the wrist before he’d let you pick up at the check.
His legacy as a great Hollywood composer is huge. Less known but no less enduring is his incredible body of work as a teacher, which is ongoing in the work and methods of the composers he taught so well.
Skip Heller, 5/14/2015
This year’s Tiki Oasis VIP Gift Bag (handed out upon check-in at The Crowne Plaza Hotel and limited to 500) will contain this postcard which has a unique download code for the free 14 song TOP SECRET DIONYSUS RECORDS SAMPLER, featuring tracks from Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited, The Martini Kings, Orchestra Superstring, Kava Kon, Robert Drasnin, Creepxotica, Skip Heller, Jerry Sun, The Creepy Creeps, The Satelliters, The Creatures of the Golden Dawn, Redondo Beat, and Ruby Dee and The Snakehandlers. About a week after the event ends, we will be sticking these in all Dionysus Mail-Order packages until we run out.
Hi Friends, I’m going to be joining the crew at LuxuriaMusic.com for my very own two-hour, bi-monthly Internet radio show called Over Under Sideways Down, which debuts on Wednesday June 6 from 3pm – 5pm Pacific.
I named the show after the beloved Yardbirds song, and the name describes perfectly where I’ll be taking the listener: All over the musical map.
Each show will have a different but focused theme. One of the two monthly shows will feature a guest musical or local art luminary who will discuss their past and/or present and share their own and their favorite music. The other show I will do solo, armed with two hours of music and minimal patter.
Here is the show line-up for June and July:
Wed June 6: Tucson, Arizona ’60s Sound Survey with special guest Manny Freiser.
The debut show will feature two hours of music and talk about the local Tucson, AZ. music scene in the 1960s. Former member of The Grodes / The Tongues of Truth / Spring Fever and writer of Nuggets classic “Let’s Talk About Girls” will join me in-studio to discuss his experiences in the “Old Pueblo,” adventures in Phoenix and Los Angeles clubs and studios and his surprise discovery that one of his long forgotten compositions’ had become a garage-rock classic.
Wed June 20: First Day of Summer and Surf Spectacular
An entire show celebrating the season and featuring a slew of summer, sun, surf and beach songs!
Wed July 4: Voodoo!
Guest Bob Drasnin joins me in-studio to discuss the making of his exotica classic, Voodoo, his exotica comeback album Voodoo II, his big band days, recordings with Red Norvo and his time working in television as composer of music for shows like The Twilight Zone, Mission: Impossible, Wild, Wild West, Hawaii Five-0, Time Tunnel, Lost In Space, Mannix, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea. We will play some of his recordings, incidentals and his jazz favorites.
Wed July 18: Psych 102
Two hours of psychedelic sounds; honing in on tracks you probably, or should know.
Other show plans include:
A Gold Star Studio special featuring previously unheard interviews with studio owners and engineers Dave Gold, Stan Ross and Larry Levine with music and jingles recorded at the studio over their three plus decade existence.
East Side Sounds – Featuring a slew of East LA tracks from the early ‘60s through the early ‘70s with guest, East LA luminary Mark Gurerro.
Passion for Power – Featuring ‘60s power-pop and ‘70s – ‘80s Mod/power-pop revival tracks.
Bubble Glam – A mix of bubblegum and early glam.
Monstereo – A mono/stereo listening session featuring tracks mostly spanning 1966-1969 though I may throw in some exotica records too. I will play select mono/stereo mixes back to back and ask the listeners to comment (via chat room or email) on which ones they like best. Comment highlights will be featured on the Dionysus Records blog.
Do the Funky Ripple, Fletcher! – Two solid hours of soul and funk.
Why Don’t We Do It On The Road? – A mixture of live and fake live recordings.
Out of Vogue – Songs from the 1940s Vogue 78 RPM Picture Disc catalog as well as other 78 RPM treasures.
I’m also planning shows focusing on ‘50s R&B/doo-wop, rockabilly, exotica and more, and will be inviting special guests to share their stories and songs.
Please tune in, and if you can’t listen live, the shows are podcasted right after broadcast and archived on the LuxuriaMusic site.
Cheers – See ya in the LuxuriaMusic.com chat room!
Lee
Over Under Sideways Down graphic by Ellie – Art Stuff Graphic Design
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.
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