John T
John T. – Thrifting for Tunes – Sundays 6-7 PM PT/9-10 PM ET
Montreal-based writer John Trivisonno's LuxuriaMusic gig is the result of a happy accident stemming from a life-long fascination with mid-20th century Polynesian Pop/Tiki culture (a recently unearthed Super 8mm film showing him goofin' around at a luau at the Miami Beach Hawaiian Isle Hotel in the mid-60s proves it!).
In 1998, John finally expressed his interest in Polynesian Pop by founding The Montreal Tiki Appreciation Society and its official newsletter, Mai Tai, which he published and distributed in Tiki hot spots worldwide from 1998 to 2005 (Mai Tai continues to exist in cyberspace at www.maitaionline.com). Since no one else was really covering the subject in Canada at the time, The Montreal Tiki Appreciation Society became the authority on Tiki in the Great White North, contributing information about Montreal-area Tiki culture (as well as its extensive research on such lesser-known subjects as New Jersey’s mid-century Tiki heritage) to publications including Tiki News and James Teitelbaum’s essential guidebook Tiki Road Trip.
These activities eventually led John to a few guest appearances spinning vintage exotica on a radio show carried by LuxuriaMusic. John was first offered a weekly 15-minute “filler” show on LuxuriaMusic in early 2006, and eventually expanded to a one-hour program showcasing an eclectic selection of theme-based sets of music: exotica, 50s-60s-70s instrumental and vocal pop, euro-westerns and other real & imagined soundtracks, novelty tunes, art brut... and the occasional cocktail recipe.
John’s other radio work includes scripts, features, and segments for CBC Radio and Sound Source Networks.
John has written and published a number of chapbooks that got some notice both locally and abroad. These include Dollar Days (a somewhat surreal account of John’s days as a retail ad copywriter), Mental Notes (a sometimes poignant, sometimes funny collection of anecdotes and memories), and the Montreal underground classic The Official St. Leonard Dictionary (a satirical dictionary and phrasebook of Italian-Canadian slang spoken in the Montreal borough of St. Leonard). First published in 1994, the Dictionary continues to be a cult item and was nominated for an Expozine (small press) Award in 2005.
John has also created CD artwork and shot photos for Stan Ridgway’s live recordings The Ancient Town of Frankfurt and Call of the Northwest, in addition to compiling and producing the DVD Ridgway's Raw Feed - Live!
Thrifting for Tunes
Sundays, 6 p.m. pacific / 9 p.m. eastern
Playlists, cocktail recipes, and links can be found on-line at:
www.maunaloalounge.blogspot.com
Contact info:
www.maitaionline.com
www.signbasedeating.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/johntrivisonno
- Philosophy of my radio show: Fuelled by the sounds of the Mauna Loa Islanders and a thirst for exotic cocktails, Thrifting for Tunes — recorded behind the bar in the Mauna Loa Lounge — was born out of sheer necessity…
- Five genres LuxuriaMusic listeners will hear on my show: Exotica greats (Denny, Baxter, Drasnin) and not-so-greats (The Waikikis, Woot Steenhuis), Italian-American goombahs (Lou Monte, Duke Mitchell), Euro soundtracks (Morricone and others who followed in his footsteps), and other obsessions (Lee Hazlewood and too many others to name)
- To derive maximum pleasure from my radio show: Mix up a couple of Mai Tais, sit yourself down, and bask in the warm glow of a blowfish lamp.
- When I’m not DJing I can be found: Mopping up spilled orgeat syrup behind the bar…
- Secret superpowers I possess: The ability to survive winters in Montreal.
