Post #397037 by Quiet Village Idiot on Mon, Jul 28, 2008 2:22 AM

I'm 39. I've always been into everything retro and cool, which eventually led me in the direction of exotica and Martin Denny when I was about 25 or so. As I was explaining to my sister a while back, I think there comes a point in life when you don't necessarily feel like always listening to the wildest possible rock & roll (though I still do that plenty, when the mood takes me). When I was younger, relaxing on a Friday evening automatically meant cold beer and loud rock & roll --- but as I get older, with more responsibilities and stress, sometimes you just gotta listen to something a bit more relaxing. Exotica represents escapism to me, and God knows I need it sometimes...

I started carving small tikis in the spring, which has really stimulated my four-year old son's interest and imagination. He goes on about tikis all the time now, so I guess there's still hope for the future...

However, on a broader scale, I'm not certain that tiki will ever be anything other than a fringe interest. Yes, people still crave escapism and the exotic, but it seems to me that most people also want that escapism to be 'authentic' in some way -- and tiki is anything but that. My experience is that people who want to experience distant shores from the comfort of their own armchairs are more likely to listen to world music than Martin Denny.