In the late '70s, a lot of young hipsters started getting into what's now generally referred to as "Lounge" or "Exotica" music, usually discovered via LPs from the 50s and 60s that were, at the time, considered slightly silly novelties from a more-square era. They were super-cheap. You could pick 'em up for 25 cents at a garage sale or three dollars at a used record shop. Then in the 80s, the Lounge/Exotica/Tiki thing became a lot more popular as people started to recognize that these musics and oddball records were not only fun, but that a lot of talent went into them as well. Martin Denny, Esquivel and Yma Sumac remain the big name stars of that general phenomenon. I
just read that Ms. Sumac has passed on.
Long before anyone had heard the avant garde vocal gymnastics of Diamanda Galas, Sumac was known for her remarkable four-octave vocal range. Before "world music" was popularized in the west by George Harrison learning sitar or Dead Can Dance and Peter Gabriel exhibiting global influences, the (admittedly pseudo) internationalist framework of Sumac's records also served to generate interest in musics from cultures beyond western popular boundries. The lady is due more credit than being a mere novelty. There's no question she was, even in her heyday, but in retrospect the Exotica phenomenon was clearly a milestone on the way to the "smaller" cultural world we share today.
R.I.P. o mythic Princess. Thank you for the fun times.
