In the '50s, pianist Martin Denny was playing a residency at an open-air nightclub in Hawaii when he and his band (including Arthur Lyman on vibraphone, Augie Colón on percussion, and John Kramer on bass) began incorporating the sounds of nature into their songs (Colón had a knack for emulating bird calls), as well as embracing melodies and arrangements influenced by the sounds of the Pacific and the Far East. Denny and his combo landed a record deal for their unique music, and the song "Quiet Village" became a major pop hit in 1958, kicking off a new style of music that was dubbed "exotica" for its use of unconventional sounds and moods. Denny was a common presence on the sales charts for the next several years, and this box set features eight albums by Denny on four CDs (two albums on each disc) chronicling his most popular and productive period. Eight Classic Albums includes the albums Exotica (1958), Exotica 2 (1958), Forbidden Island (1958), Primitiva (1958), Exotica 3 (1959), The Enchanted Sea (1960), Exotic Percussion (1960), and Romantica (1961).

Two CD set. Four albums plus bonus tracks from the master of exotica Martin Denny. Mono reproductions of the key albums that launched the space age bachelor pad music trend in the late 1950s. Complete with bird calls, deranged percussion, super cool vibes and Denny's distinctive piano. Including a host of hit records that launched a thousand copyists and ensured that the tiki trend, easy listening and the call of the islands would blossom. Featuring the super expensive (if you seek them out on vinyl) original mono mixes. It was 1957, down in Hawaii; some jazz guys had come in to take up the slack at the bar, playing subtle cool sounds while people drank and talked. It was the Hawaiian Village Hotel in Wakiki. The room was filled with palm trees and bamboo curtains, it was a sanctuary in the madness of the place, a stopping off point for the weary traveller, a refuge from reality. The band did long stints, fuelled by the free bar; the exotic setting slowly infused itself into their music, got under their skin. What started as a few bird calls amid the scraped percussion, shuffling drums, tinkling piano and offset vibes soon became the signature sound of the bar. The "sound effects", created by the players, increased and through chance, misfortune, rum and possibly initially boredom, exotica was born.

Taj is an album by American blues artist Taj Mahal. From the Universal vibe of “Everybody is Somebody” to the political and environmental message of “Light of the Pacific” and the charm of “Soothin” Taj takes you on a musical adventure as you travel from track to track. Henry Saint Clair Fredericks, who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American blues musician, a singer-songwriter and film composer who plays the guitar, piano, banjo, harmonica, and many other instruments. He often incorporates elements of world music into his works and has done much to reshape the definition and scope of blues music over the course of his more than 50-year career by fusing it with nontraditional forms, including sounds from the Caribbean, Africa, and the South Pacific.

It was a musical cocktail born in a marketing meeting: Two parts easy listening, one part jazz, a healthy dollop of conga drums, a sprinkling of bird calls, and a pinch of textless choir. Serve garnished with an alluring woman on the album jacket for best results. Liberty Records co-founder Si Waronker called it Exotica; the soundtrack for a mythical air conditioned Eden, packaged for mid-century, tiki torch-wielding armchair safariers. In the five years after Exotica—Martin Denny’s 1957 landmark Liberty debut—arrived, hundreds of other ethnographic forgeries washed up in record racks all over the U.S., bearing titles like Sophisticated Savage, Sacred Idol, Chant of the Jungle, Polynesian Paradise, Exotic Paradise, Taboo, Primitiva, Forbidden Island, Afrodesia, Hypnotique, Percussion Exotique, and a barrel’s worth of other portmanteaus. “All of those ica and itiva endings I came up with because I thought I was being cute,” Waronker said. “And I don’t know why, but nobody got wise.”

Bar Lea is an album released by Tahitian nightclub band Les Barefoot Boys, presented by Eddie Lund. It has no date but it is said to be from sometime in the early to mid 1960's. This was released by Tahiti Records and is a vinyl rip.

Hawaii Calls: The All-Time Favorites From The Famous Radio Program is a 1986 compilation of songs originally released on Capitol Records from the radio shows of the same name. Originally released on vinyl and cassette on Suffolk Marketing, Inc. (SMI) as a two-part vinyl and cassette set, this was reissued on CD in 1991 by The Beautiful Music Company/CEMA Special Markets, the latter being a Capitol Records subsidiary. While this CD claims this is "Album No. 1", the cover was just copied from the original record cover, there is no CD representing a "no. 2". The compact disc is a 2-volumes-on-1 collection.