Maori Showband greats gather for awards

Waiata Maori Awards
Press Release, September 1, 2010

Maori Showband greats gather for awards

Entertainers who made their mark on the music world during the Maori showband era will be reunited and recognised for the contribution to the music industry at next week’s National Waiata Maori Awards in Hawke’s Bay.

It will include Hastings man Monty Cowan, who performed with the Maori Trubadours and the Kawana Showbandand, as well as Maketu’s Rim D Paul from the Quin Tikis. They will come together to perform an eight-minute segment as part of Showband Aotearoa at the Maori Music Awards.

One of the founders of the Maori Volcanics showband, Nuki Waaka, will travel from Sydney to receive the Music Industry Award, at the awards night on Friday, September 10.

Monty Cowan’s Kawana Showband comprised members of his whanau and the group was based in Guam during the 1970s. They also toured Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur during the off-season and went on to work the Sydney club circuit during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Mr Cowan said one of the highlights of his time in Guam was meeting and performing for American boxer Muhammad Ali in Kuala Lumpur.

Rim D Paul, a former Te Aute College pupil, performed for such groups as the Maori Hi Quins and the Quin Tikis before he embarked on a solo career.

He performed in two films by New Zealand director John O’Shea. He sang the title song for the film Runaway in 1964 and he featured with the Quin Tikis and Sir Howard Morrison in Don’t Let It Get You.

Mr Paul was one of two recipients of the Music Industry Award, at the inaugural Waiata Maori Awards in 2008. He shared the honour with Moana Maniapoto.

Nuki Waaka grew up in Whakatane. He and his wife Marge formed the Maori Volcanics in 1964, which took them on a journey touring American, Canada and the Caribbean until 1974.

Nuki also formed the Maori Skyliners which worked in Surfers Paradise in Australia until 1984. He still continues to entertain audiences with the rock and roll showband music which shot him to fame.

Mr Cowan said he’s looking forward to reconnecting with some of the showband performers to once again bring their unique brand of music to the audience.

He will play bass for Showband Aotearoa, which is preparing an eight-minute segment for the awards.

“It’s just a good chance to get together and to play music for fun, it’s not a job for me anymore, it’s more fun now than what it was 40 years ago. I think the challenge now is, can we do it just as good as we did back in the day?

“I’m happy the awards is recognising the showbands because when it first came out three years ago, I thought it was going to be all focused on kapa haka and modern music.

“I thought there needs to be something there for the golden-oldies because no one knows about them,” Mr Cowan said.

Some of the Maori Showbands featured in the Te Papa online exhibition:

MAORI HI FIVE: Considered to be the first Maori showband, pioneered the unique mix of cabaret style of music, comedy, skits and Maori culture with choreographed dance. The Maori Hi Hive was the first to appear on New Zealand television and the only New Zealand band to have supported The Beattles.

MAORI HI QUINS: Was modeled on the Maori Hi Five and became ambassadors of Maori music around the world. They travelled under strict conditions which included fine for not smiling on stage and being seen too often with the same woman.

QUIN TIKIS: Became the best-known showband of the 1960s, popular in New Zealand, Australia and Asia. Performed in to movies.

MAORI PREMIERS: Enjoyed success in the Sydney club circuit where they were based (never toured) and performed for several years. The group was formed by Australian hotel owner Des Cussins.

MAORI VOLCANICS: Formed in Sydney in 1964 and became the most successful and enduring of the Maori showbands. The lineup has changed over the years but the Maori Volcanics are still performing today in Australia and New Zealand. They played in Gisborne in May this year. The group launched careers of Billy T. James and Prince Tui Teka.

Information from Te Papa Museum’s online exhibition of Maori Showbands: www.tepapa.govt.nz/WhatsOn/exhibitions/MaoriShowbands_defunct

For photos on Maori Showbands to use for editorial purposes: http://gallery.me.com/lawrence_gullery#100637
Waiata Maori Awards 2010

• The awards will include the Maori Music Expo, September 9 and 10, where modern and traditional musicians and composers will offer their advice and experience in a series of workshops and forums.

• A fashion show will be held on the evening of September 9, mixing live music with work from prominent Hawke’s Bay designers.

• The awards ceremony will be held on the evening of September 10, broadcast by Radio Kahungunu through the iwi station network and by Maori Television.

• A hip-hop dance crew competition will be held on September 12.

TICKETS: www.ticketdirect.co.nz

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