12/13/2022
The story of the Meldoy Mates is just as lost at sea as the track itself. They were a local swing band, playing the clubs in Cleveland, and considered a “twist band” in the papers—which was a sweeping generalization for anyone who played anything outside the classical genre during the 1950’s and 60’s. What is recognized is the tone of the party they were putting on. Low lights, seductive soundscapes, tiki exotica backtracked by evocative scales of siren sounding females. It was the exploitive fad of the times…to travel to a far away paradise where bodies were bare, tan, sun kissed, sandy, and exuding s*x. Oceans were clear and vibrant with sea life and floral lushness oozed perfumes in the hot breeze at sunset. Exotica. The movement that gave middle class Americans a chance to—often offensively, romanticize the island life that soldiers had recently traveled back from. It was the fascination with a looming opportunity to capture the ecstasy that these far away places were wet with.
E is for Enchantment.
A siren’s song that lures you to the rocky shoals. A pungent intoxication that drowns your mind and lulls you to sleep while lost at sea. A watery dream that ebbs you towards the doldrums. “There is a place where dreams are born, it’s across the sea and through the storm. Now listen, come with me…to this magic hour in ecstasy.”
Ho Wood, Tonka Bean, Sandalwood, Coconut, Lavender, Neroli, Fig, Jasmine, Tuberose.
Non-Binary.
