The third Scamp reissue of Martin Denny's Liberty output was this, a two-fer of his third and fourth 1958 releases, "Forbidden Island" and "Primitiva". Everything you might love about a Martin Denny record is present. Julius Wechter plays the vibes, Sandy Warner is on both covers, and the air is heavy with the "exotic".
Fun trivia for ya: "Primitiva" the song appears on "Forbidden Island", NOT "Primitiva" the album. What do I know about sequencing?
We're going to skip Scamp 9711 for now, choosing instead to focus on the next number in the catalog and the record I acquired minty and new when it came out in 1996. Martin Denny's first two LPs on Liberty, "Exotica" and "Exotica Volume II", came out in 1957, and it seems like every house with a hi-fi had a copy. There's a good reason for that: these are outstanding examples of mood music, foundational exotica records. I'd argue that, in spite of their nebulous origins, these are as crucial to a record collection as James Brown's "Live At The Apollo", Nina Simone's "Pastel Blues", and Fugazi's "In On The Kill Taker". When I listen to these, I get transported through both space and time to an idealised 1960 where I'm a few inches taller, a hundred pounds lighter, with a Lucky in one hand and a Zombie in the other. Martin Denny remains incredibly cool, nearly 70 years on. There aren't a ton of records that can claim that.
Scamp's second release (catalog number, that is) in the fall of 1995 was a reissue of Martin Denny's 1959 exotica classic "Afro-Desia". It was his sixth record for Liberty Records, and his third of four releases in 1959. It was also the first time Denny had moved away from Polynesian/tiki sounds and into something more...primal?
Is this authentic African music? Hell no. Can you reconcile that this, in spite of a cultural insensitivity that really slaps you in the face in 2026, is an incredible record? Gee, I hope so. If you're unable to find a vinyl copy in your local thrift store, I recommend snagging a copy from Portland's Jackpot Records. They reissued this a few years back, and it comes on a lovely shade of orange wax.
It took from May to August 2000 to go from 100 to 200 posts. Then I hit 300 posts two days before Christmas 2000. And now I'm here, anot...
