A couple of weeks ago, we visited Broken Compass, a tiki bar in Burbank that we’d never been to. Verdict: pretty good! Neither too small nor large, good separation of the waiting area and the reveal of the interior, a food menu that had a lot of variety, tiki drinks that were even better than the food, and overall a strong vehicle for everything you want from a tiki bar. I spent too much money on a pair of earrings shaped like Moai heads.
What makes this relevant to Tuesday Tune Two-Fer, though, is that in addition to the exotica you expect to hear inside a tiki bar, they were also occasionally playing Bond music. I heard one track that was extremely familiar, but I couldn’t place it exactly: was it from Thunderball? You Only Live Twice? Shazam wasn’t able to pick it up, so I had to wait until I got home and listen to every John Barry Bond score on YouTube until I reached it: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. One of the only Bond movies that I’ve never seen, something I should correct soon if only for Diana Rigg.
It seems kind of obvious in retrospect, but Bond music works very well in a tiki bar environment. Maybe because they all suggest the 1960s, adventure, and the tropics. (Even when they’re mostly about skiing, I think?)
Speaking of Diana Rigg: Laurie Johnson’s music from The Avengers would also be an excellent addition to your tiki bar soundtrack. Yes, I know that it mostly conjures up images of extremely un-tropical England. But it’s so cool. (Incidentally, I don’t like the version of the theme included below, but it’s the only one available on Apple Music. Find the version actually included in the show, or in other compilations of Johnson’s music and/or 60s TV themes).