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The Violet Jive: The Story Behind The Name...
In the mid 1950’s when the Americanisation of Polynesian culture known
as Tiki culture was in full swing, countless bars, nightclubs and
restaurants offering a taste of the exotic abounded and flourished. Beautiful alluring waitresses and dancers served and swayed amongst
tropical surroundings while strange melodies, rhythms and scents filled the air.
It was in one such bar that Bertie Hucks a visiting Englishman, and the late grandfather of Stephen Spall, witnessed a dance then named by the regulars as ‘the Wayward Wahine’. A delightful, curious dance performed to a combination of island drums, swinging late night jazz and other worldly rhythms, which started seductively and ended in a wild hypnotic frenzy.
After being mesmerized and put under the spell of this intoxicating performance helped no doubt by the ‘Zombie’ cocktail concoction he was drinking, Bertie was surprised to see the dancing girl calling him over with her longing almond eyes. Once close she placed a purple lei (the floral garlands traditionally made from orchids, plumeria and other flowers native to the Hawaiian islands) around his neck, pulled his ear to her mouth and whispered softly “would you like to do The Violet Jive with me”?
From this point on the story gets blurry, and still to this day we don’t know if what she referred to was another exotic dance, a ceremonial drink perhaps?, or something a lot more sultry, the mystery remains. And that ladies and gentlemen is where the name The Violet Jive originates. The very same violet lei can now be seen today hanging from the microphone stand at all of The Violet Jive’s live performances.
     
Copyright Pitch-Ray Records. 2009. |
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