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The Polynesian Floor Show - (Vintage!) thread |
Club Nouméa
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 03, 2010
Posts: 450
From: Wanganui
|  Posted: 2011-09-13 7:02 pm Permalink
And, on a related note, let's not forget the Maori show bands who, from the 1950s onwards, played all over the world, including cities like Sydney, Tokyo, L.A. and Las Vegas, and in exotic locales like Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam (during the war). Some of them, like the Maori Volcanics, are still going today.
Prince Tui Teka & The Maori Volcanics
Here is a book worth tracking down:
http://www.chrisbourke.co.nz/main.php?id=showband
And here is a concise history of Maori show bands by David Waretini-Karena:
http://www.slideshare.net/taima/maori-show-bands-by-david-waretinikarena
CN
_________________
The earliest known tiki mug: "Ruru and Weku", designed by Harry Hargreaves of Crown Lynn, New Zealand, 1949.
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11585
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-09-13 10:39 pm Permalink
Of all the posts here that "aren't quite what I had in mind", this is one of the cooler ones, since it points towards a really obscure facet of Polynesian pop I had no knowledge of previously. That book does seem like a real gem.
Well, and it reminded me of my all time favorite music video, which equally does not really fit in here, but provides a hell of a good time!  :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1l62j_epi-shalfoon-his-melody-boys-1930_music
(Sorry for the commercial)
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tikiyaki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 2721
From: The Exotic Port of REDONDO BEACH, CA
| Posted: 2011-09-13 10:56 pm Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: tikiyaki 2011-09-14 08:01 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11585
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-09-13 11:43 pm Permalink
No it's NOT, Jim:
Vintage vintage vintage VIIIIIIIIIIINTAGE floorshow pictures ONLY in this thread- WHY is that so hard to fathom?
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Jeff Central
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 23, 2002
Posts: 1677
From: Columbus, Ohio
| Posted: 2011-09-14 03:57 am Permalink
Hawaii Calls show at the Fireside Restuarant with singer Blue Pau.
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Jeff Central
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 23, 2002
Posts: 1677
From: Columbus, Ohio
| Posted: 2011-09-14 04:09 am Permalink
Francis Llacuna as part of the International Four at the Tradewinds Restaurant. One of the dancers was a very young Bobbie Gentry! Wish I had a better picture.
I got a newspaper article about the show as well that I will post. Enjoy! 
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Club Nouméa
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 03, 2010
Posts: 450
From: Wanganui
| Posted: 2011-09-14 04:37 am Permalink
[quote]
On 2011-09-13 22:39, bigbrotiki wrote:
Well, and it reminded me of my all time favorite music video, which equally does not really fit in here, but provides a hell of a good time! :
[/
Thanks for that video! Wonderful stuff. Just to end my minor derailment of this great thread, here are a couple more pics of Maori show bands:
The Maori Hi-Five, playing in the Embassy Club, London, 1961.
And the Quin-Tikis, who formed in Rotorua in 1961 and began their overseas touring in 1964.
But to put things back on track, the question now is: can we find any evidence of these Maori show bands having performed at tiki joints in the US in the 60s or 70s? I wouldn't be surprised if they performed shows in such locales.
CN
_________________
The earliest known tiki mug: "Ruru and Weku", designed by Harry Hargreaves of Crown Lynn, New Zealand, 1949.
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JOHN-O
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2720
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2011-09-14 07:37 am Permalink
Was this the greatest Polynesian revue ever ?? And by greatest I don't mean the most authentic, I mean the most over-the-top "Hollywood spectacular". No great revelation with this familiar photo...
But I did stumble across this short exchange of internet reminiscing between ex-performers.
So we now know there were gorillas, a mermaid, a belly dancer with snakes, and a virgin sacrifice.
I have to believe there's a home movie of this somewhere that will someday show up on YouTube.
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tikigreg
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 24, 2002
Posts: 1230
From: ClubTiki
| Posted: 2011-09-14 07:40 am Permalink
A number of years ago, I sold some mugs to a fellow in Florida. After he received them, he sent along the following photo, brochure, and letter. I invited him to join us on TC, but he never responded. The photo isn't that vintage, but the brochure is older, and the letter gives some nice history.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 5031
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2011-09-14 07:50 am Permalink
Wanted to add Doug Alii and the Hinano's.
And a photo from an incredible story of the performers at the Hawaiian Room in the Emerson hotel.
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=40757&forum=2&hilite=doug alii
DC
DC
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11585
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-09-14 07:59 am Permalink
Wow, how cool, the Quin-Tikis with a Hei Tiki logo! Where did the "Quin" come from?
Love the internet, there's lots of stuff on them out there:
"Quin Tikis were a popular act at Les Masliah's Tiki Village in Kings Cross, Sydney."
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~mstowers/id69.htm
Here's a Richard Lester/Monkees-style clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnBVBTaXJ98
I doubt they performed in any Tiki temples in the US. They were a "young generation" beat act, and Tiki restaurants were for the "establishment". Even Exotica artists were not that common in these places: It's surprising in how few Polynesian venues Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman played considering how perfect an act they were for these environments.
American Polynesian palaces were mostly entertained by "Hawaiian music" bands and floorshows. So let's continue with that subject now, please.
Hey, it appears we already had a thread on this subject on TC!:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=21983&forum=11
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2011-09-14 09:29 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11585
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-09-14 08:11 am Permalink
Greg, that letter really shows how much these performers got around! They probably saw more Tiki places in their careers than anybody else! Of course they did not pay much attention to the decor at the time, but to hear their trajectory is like a who's who of the American Tiki bar landscape.
And John-O, great digging-up of that Facebook conversation!:
"They were a really sweet couple to work for, barry. I also worked for kapu bray. Nice lady. There was no other place like it. It was only open three days on the weekends, but it would be packed with huge parties from the airlines, companies, etc. As well as couples and small parties. Five dance bands, bananas to pick from the trees, train, lagoon with boat. I remember a belly dancer with two snakes; usually about fifteen to twenty polynesian dancers, two guys in gorilla suits, and kimo mansfield was one of the principle dancers. He was nephew to my kumu, telu mansfield. Several knife dancers, great musicians. Loads of fun! Rip, danny. You gave the public a true experience when they visited the tikis. T.Maglares"
"The Tikis.... Soooo many memories. My Mom danced there (the position of the one in white) in her 40lbs headpiece!?! Always fun to watch her being "sacrificed" to Pele. Or her being a "mermaid" having to be carried in and out from here "perch." I danced there for the Saturday kids show. Nakaikaina do you remember going into the "haunted house" and walking around all the props with the fake blood and everything? LOL Running through the caves. Does anyone remember back in the 80's when Danny was doing a "relaunch" of the Tikis? I danced at that too but I don't think it held a candle to the original. Good times. Great memories."
I'll post some more The Tikis stuff here...
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 5031
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2011-09-14 11:30 am Permalink
Here are a few more postcards and matchbooks I have showing the entertainment at The Tikis in Monterey Park.
DC
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11585
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-09-14 11:39 am Permalink
Very cool, thank you, that last matchbook zoom-in is fine! What a bevy of beauties, no wonder Danny got seduced...
Here are some more from this Olympus of story book Polynesia!:
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11585
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-09-14 11:54 am Permalink
And here photos of the "re-launch" mentioned in the Flickr (not FaceBook!) conversation:
The park that never opened and became the famed archeological site:
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