The Tikis

Len Wade & The Tikis were a psychedelic garage rock band formed in Birmingham, Alabama by frontman Len Wade, whose musical background primarily comprised singing blue-eyed soul. Billy Self (born 1943 in Jacksonville, Alabama) played percussion and was also backing singer-songwriter inspired by surf rock and the precursor to garage rock, proto-punk, psychedelic and acid rock.

History

The band grew out of the Bobby Mizzell Soultet performing soul music. Members Billy Self, Clyde Masters, Hayes Hopper and Len Wade played along the Florida panhandle before forming The Tikis in 1962.

The group became the house band at Club Lido in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, combining tight dance routines and horn lines. Drummer Billy Self founded the group as a beach-band image act. They were discovered by Finley Duncan, who ran Minaret Records and Playground Records.

Minaret years

Their first release was catalog number Minaret 111 in June 1963: "I Was Doin' Alright" and "My Bonnie" credited to Len Wade & The Tikis.

The label log shows 111 as "The Tikis - I Was Doin' Alright / My Bonnie - 1963". The next single was Minaret 118: "Travelling Shoes b/w Valley Of Tears in 1964".

Dial Records

By 1966 the group was on Dial Records, owned by Buddy Killen. Dial's history notes other artists who had singles during the Atlantic distribution period include Len Wade, the Tikis.

The group is noted as a psychedelic garage rock ensemble that had recorded as "Len Wade & The Tikis" and as "Billy Self and the Tikis." Len Wade is credited as Primary Artist on The Dial Records Southern Soul Story. After Dial, Wade recorded for United Artists and Ascot, then moved to Louisville, Kentucky to study music at Bellarmine College. In 2009 the band was inducted into the Birmingham Record Collectors Hall of Fame.

Billy Self in 1970 relocated to Nashville and founded a talent agency. Billy Self wrote the song Somebody's Son and credited himself as "Self," promulgating uncircumstantiated claims that he is a relative or the brother of Ronnie Self; there is no relation, as Ronnie's sole brother was named Sammy Ray.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Len Wade & The Tikis". Birmingham Record Collectors Hall of Fame.
  2. 1 2 "Len Wade". ROVR.
  3. ↑ Young, Jon (August 13, 2013). "Fast Tracks: "I Have No One" from "The South Side of Soul Street: The Minaret Soul Singles 1967-1976"". Mother Jones.
  4. ↑ Morris, Chris (September 5, 2013). "Roving a Soul Label's Forgotten History". Oxford American. Oxford American: Southern Magazine of Good Writing. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Wade, Len (SFS Artist Discography)". rcs-discography.com.
  6. ↑ "Minaret Discography". Soul Source.
  7. ↑ "Minaret Discography". 118 - The Tikis - Travelling Shoes / Valley Of Tears - 1964
  8. ↑ Patrice Eyries; Mike Callahan; David Edwards; Randy Watts. "Dial Album Discography". Both Sides Now Publications.
  9. ↑ "Dial Album Discography". Other artists who had singles on Dial during the Atlantic days include:... Len Wade, the Tikis
  10. ↑ "Len Wade". AllMusic.
  11. ↑ "Self Forms Talent Agency" (PDF). Billboard. Billboard: 52. May 2, 1970. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2026.