Voodoo!

In 1959, while finishing an M.A. in music at UCLA and working at Tops Records, arranger Robert Drasnin got a brief from label head David Pell: write an exotica LP to ride the Denny/Lyman boom. He delivered twelve originals, released as Voodoo: Exotic Music From Polynesia and the Far East on Tops/Mayfair in mono and stereo.

The sessions included a young pianist named John Williams, later known for film scores. Tops also issued a “Chant of the Moon” / “Voodoo” single and later retitled the album Percussion Exotique with different art. The original cover — leopard-print bikini, bongos, red jungle light — is the one collectors talk about; Dionysus CD reissues in the 1990s often wore SHAG artwork instead.

Drasnin went on to score television, including work connected to The Twilight Zone and Mission: Impossible. Decades later he returned for Voodoo II and III on Dionysus. The 1959 disc remains a small-label mood piece of flute, harp, and percussion — less cheerful beach, more low lamps.