The Maori Show Bands Part 1: Music Was A Hunger

Transcript

E nga iwi o te motu tēnā koutou me o tātou aitua. Nau mai ki tēnei pānui mö ngā pēne whakangahau Māori, Nau mai ki te whakarongo ki ēnei tohunga o te mahi whakangahau i roto i ngā tau, ki ēnei kāhui whakangahau i te tini tangata, i Aotearoa me nga whenua o tāwāhi. He manu röreka, he manu ingoa-nui. Tēnā rawa atu koutou e hoa mā!

Solomon Pohatu of Ngati Porou is from Muriwai on the East Coast. Back in the fifties, when he was twelve he used to sneak into his uncle's room after school. On the bed would be a music case,and lying snug within, a gleaming saxophone. At age twelve he's just learning the sax; by the time he'll be twenty-two, he'll be able to able to play ten or more different instruments. And he'll play them around the world. It all came from the music he heard, and played at home.

I'm Piripi Walker welcoming you to these stories and songs from some of the Māori show bands. They formed in New Zealand and Australia from the nineteen fifties. As musicians they used a wide variety of musical genres, dance styles, and cabaret skills. They could dance in perfect unison , spin deft music hall routines, and comedy drawn straight from Māori culture and the marae. Some of the Maori show bands would kick off their night in traditional Maori costume, and later on change into sharp suits and shimmering sequinned gowns.

The late and much lamented Billy T James spent many years overseas in showbands, beginning in the Maori Volcanics. He was recorded back in New Zealand at Pip's Nightclub in Whangarei. The humour is straightforward, down home Maori.

In late 2004 some of the band members gathered in Wellington at Te Papa Tongarewa to launch an exhibition website. It's their memories, shared with me in December 2004 and songs and comedy from the era, that we'll hear in the first two of these programmes. In the third programme, we'll hear the concert and an entertaining, to put it mildly, panel discussion from that exhibition launch.

It 's the research and writing by the team at Te Papa Tongarewa that form much of the basis of this series of programmes, Radio New Zealand wishes to thank all involved.

To kick off here's the Maori Hi Fives, with a 1960 recording, Perfidia. Its a well known standard of the era, from an early album recorded in Australia in nineteen-sixty. Consider that none of the band members here is older than 23, some of them are just 19 years old.

In the early fifties Rim D Paul from Te Arawa was a teenager, growing up at Whakarewarewa in Rotorua. He used to help his father, a professional musician, with his work. Taiatini Paul was blinded in the First World War. Rim, a helpful son and apprentice would note down his fathers songs in braille. Rim told me about learning with his father and how he joined up with the family band.

Here's a very young Rim D Paul, with the Quin Tikis song Runaway. It comes from the John O'Shea New Zealand film with the same name.

Hiria Moffat of Ngai Tahu was originally from Temuka. She had the performing impulse early as a child. In the era of Shirley Temple, she was the star of household performances at her childhood home in Timaru. Before becoming a member of the show bands she became a solo performer in New Zealand. Hiria talked to me about family gatherings, where she was often asked to sing. Later Hiria was allowed to play professionally, but her parents were worried about the move.

Another woman of the showbands is Mahora Paters of the Maori Volcanics, the longest lasting band. It's still performing in Australia and New Zealand today, 30 years later. Mahora is from Nga Puhi and grew up in the Far North. She remembers making her way up thru the talent quests in Northland, satisfying her longing to sing, finding other musicians in the family to get together with and perfect the craft. Mahora Peters credits the depths of Maori culture for giving the Maori showbands and musicians a special quality that audiences could feel.

Her husband Billy Peters also grew up in the Far North, the brother of another Peters, Winston. Billy tells about the Peters farm near the beautiful beaches of the Far north.

And of course these Maori musicians were waiting - like everyone else - for new good stuff coming off the boat, in the form of music from overseas, by the great singers of the century, many of them whom they'd one day meet and join, on stage.

Just like those greats, showbands members would scan their cabaret audiences for the warm and cold sections of the crowd. The button they looked for was the funny bone. Solomon Pohatu explains. Billy Peters talks about how his friends in the bands harnessed the Maori sense of humour.

The Maori Hi Fives were formed in Wellington. Solomon Pohatu remembers those Wellington days. An ex Royal Marine named Charlie Mather was their band manager. Jim Andersen, a restaurant manager became their businesss manager. Together they searched for talent among young Maori musicians in Wellington looking for work. Later other Maori guides such as Ike Metekingi would join them in nurturing new bands for export to Australia and the world.

Here's some of those Hi Fives with a rendition of Old Black Magic.

And that brings to the end of the first in this series on stories and memories from members of the Maori showbands. In the second programme, 'Millions of Hours of Happiness' we'll stories from the journeys overseas of showbands like the Māori Volcanics, the Quin Tiki's, and the Hi Fives.

Im Piripi Walker, leaving you with some memories from Mahora Peters. She tells how she enjoyed the entertainers lifestyle, - the music, the fun they had, the people they met, and the glamorous outfits.

Music Details

'Frenesi' (Alberto Dominguez) Maori Hi Fives, Instrumental International, Rex RA 2003,

'Perfidia' (Dominguez-Leeds) The Maori Hi Five Instrumental International, Rex RA 2003

'Runaway' (Maconie) Rim D Paul with the Quin Tikis Tangata Tang CD 507

'Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better' (Berlin) The Maori Quin Tikis The Fantastic Maori Quintikis Showband BMG 31703

'Maku e mihi' (Robbie Ratana) The Maori Volcanics, Kia Ora, CD MANU 1537

'Kids' (Billy T James) Billy T Live at ‘Pips’ Pagan 498 501

'I Don’t Know Enough About You’ (Joker Tonverlag) Peggy Lee, The Entertainers CD 0239

'Teach Me Tonight' (DePaul/Cahn) Count Basie with Sarah Vaughan and Joe Williams, Jazz Masters EMI 855144,

'Before the Next Teardrop Falls' (Keith/Peters) Prince Tui Teka, The Greatest BMG 74321 94246

'That Old Black Magic' (Mercer/ Arlen) The Maori Hi Five Features Tangata Tang CD 507

When a Child is Born' (JAY/ZACAR ) Billy T James, Billy T Live at ‘Pips’ Pagan 498 501

Xang Xe (Trad), Nguyen Vinh Bao Ensemble, World Vietnam CD OCORA C 560 160