Yma Sumac pulled Alice around the side of her table at the Hukilau and told her she had a beautiful voice. The photographers noticed the moment, flashing bulbs commenced, and Formikahini’s status as a famous exotica singer was confirmed.
Her exotica career happened by chance. Alice went to hear Clouseaux, a fourteen-piece exotica band complete with a firebreather in her hometown of Houston. After the concert, she casually mentioned that if they ever needed another singer, she’d love to be considered. Just so happened that there was an opening. That next Wednesday, Alice was performing exotica.
Read the rest of the story in Polynesiacs: Tiki at Home, page 188.
Almost Always Lounge, Houston, Texas
