Aotearoa - Tihei Mauriora & He Waiata Mo Te Iwi albums Photo: supplied
This Wellington band made just two albums: Tehei Mauriora and He Waiata Mo Te Iwi, released in 1985 and 1987, and which have since been combined on a single CD. Nick Bollinger talks to Aotearoa's founder Ngahiwi Apanui and explores the background to these essential New Zealand albums.
Though Aotearoa's recording career only lasted long enough to produce two albums, many of those who contributed to the group have gone on to stellar careers, both inside and outside of music.
Moana Maniopoto sang with Aotearoa before going on to lead her own bands Moana and the Moahunters and Moana and the Tribe - not to mention becoming one of this country's top television journalists.
Drummer Maaka McGregor - just 15 when he joined Aotearoa - went on to find international acclaim with a pioneering fusion of electronica and waiata in his group Wai.
Joe Williams, who composed and sang 'Maranga Ake Ai', the band's best-known song, went on to become a chief judge of the Māori Land Court, chairman of the Waitangi Tribunal, and is now Supreme Court judge Sir Joseph Williams.
But the story of the band Aotearoa really begins and ends with Ngahiwi Apanui (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Hine, Rongomaiwāhine).
Ngahiwi grew up on the East Coast of the North Island, and having done well at school, came to Wellington for his tertiary education. His arrival at Victoria University coincided with the opening in 1980 of the campus marae, Te Herenga Waka.
Created as a haven for Māori students and staff, many of whom had come to the capital from other parts of the country, it played a crucial part in the formation and realisation of Ngahiwi's musical vision.
That's where he met Joe Williams, just in his early 20s and already an impressive orator as well a songwriter. His song 'Maranga Ake Ai' would be the group's first recording. Needing a drummer, the group was recommended Tim Robinson, a Pākeha percussionist who had previously been a member of the Hulamen and the Neighbours.
There was a school of thought, shared at the time by Ngahiwi, that to make a strong Māori statement they had to be an all-Māori band. But when a funding shortfall put the recording project in jeopardy, Robinson was the first person to offer to put his own money in, securing his respect and place in the band.
Though Aotearoa quickly got the reputation as a political reggae band, the songs on their first album showed a wider range than that: from messages of cultural pride delivered in a reggae style, to love songs that harked back to the Māori showband era - with even a touch of Elvis.
Though they address real issues and real questions, the mood of Aotearoa's two albums is overwhelmingly positive, warm, inclusive and uplifting - which didn't stop them from being criticised by some reviewers for the perceived stridency of their message.
After the members Aotearoa went their different ways, Ngahiwi made a groundbreaking solo album where he incorporated taonga puoro and synthesisers with his introspective bilingual songs. Though he still sings and plays, his main gig these days he is chief executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori, the Maori Language Commission.
Looking back on his days with Aotearoa, he says he was too focused on just getting the music and the message right to think at the time about how they might be paving the way for others to follow, but hearing the rich array of popular Māori music that exists today - so much of it in te reo - it is clear that, in more ways than one, this was a band of leaders.
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