MOMENTS IN POT CULTURE: THE PALM

Words by Jessica Peace

You might know it from the mouth of Barry Manilow, ‘Goodfellas’ or ‘Raging Bull’, but you can’t think of the 1940’s New York drinking hole Copacabana without imagining strutting through that faux Palm Tree interior.

‘If she could dance / naked / under palm trees /… she would know./… But there are no palm trees /… and dish water gives back / no images.’ In William Waring Cuney’s poem, ‘No Images’ (1973) his female character could do with a Palm Tree or two to ‘know her beauty’.

Shirley, Dee, Andrew and George; donkey rides, cocktails, trumpets and swimming trunks - oh and George Michael in his ponytail days. Wham!’s ‘Club Tropicana’ (1983) has a record cover and a video to fulfill all your Palm Tree (and eighties) fantasies.