HE TOA TAKATINI

Te Ao Hou, July 1973, Page 60

HE TOA TAKATINI He Toa Takitini Art and Craft, Welfare, Goodwill Association Ode Stereo SODE 007 12in LP 33⅓ rpm These are the first Maori records from a new label on the local record scene. ODE records are produced by the Ode Record Company of Wellington. This company is run by Mr Terence P. O'Neill-Joyce as, according to him, ‘a one-man band’. Mr Joyce is undoubtedly an enthusiast and when one talks to him one cannot help but be impressed at his desire for technical excellence in the records he produces and his interest in producing even better Maori records in the future. Mr O'Neill-Joyce does not feel that the market for Maori records is saturated. ‘There will always be room for good records’, he says. Sound-wise both these records are very good indeed—clear as a bell and with excellent stereo effect which enables the listener to really feel in the same room with the groups concerned. The record covers are somewhat scanty in detail about the items but they are most artistic and striking. The photographs are also Mr O'Neill-Joyce's work. ‘Toia’ features the Patea Methodist Club under the Rev. Napi Waaka, one of the young giants of the Maori cultural scene. The record has its faults. The first is a slightly obtrusive guitar accompaniment for many of the items. The second is a woeful over-reliance on European pop tunes. I know those who read my record reviews regularly must think that I have something of a ‘thing’ about this business of using Pakeha tunes for Maori songs and perhaps I have. The use of Pakeha tunes is a long established convention and it has its place. However, I deplore their use on records because a record buyer, particularly if he is an overseas visitor, who buys a record under the impression it features Maori music, feels really cheated when he finishes up with a collection from Tin Pan Alley to unfamiliar words. My second objection is because it is largely unnecessary. There is an increasing body of original music by Maori composers which should be used by groups who want to find tunes for their words. Doubtless in a live performance a current pop favourite to Maori words is appreciated and even welcomed by audiences and performers alike but even at public concerts it should not be overdone and it is certainly overdone on this record. On the other hand perhaps one should not ‘fight the problem’ too much but instead sit back and get as much enjoyment from listening as the Patea Methodist Club obviously gets from performing. There is no doubt that much of the record is really foot-tapping stuff. However I cannot help but wag a finger at Patea because they can obviously do so much better. The highlight of Side Two—indeed of the whole record—is Kingi Tahiwi's little chant ‘E Te Iwi E’. There is no guitar,

the harmony is lovely and the singing crisp and disciplined. A second record please from the Patea Methodist Club but scrap the Pakeha tunes and tone down the guitar! He Toa Takatini should not be confused with a Kiwi record of the same name, and presumably by the same Waikato group, as both are led by the Rev. Canon W. T. T. Huata. This is a pleasant enough record even if it is largely a case of a rather average group being enhanced by the excellent quality of the recorded sound. However this high quality also tends to point up that there is the odd passenger in the group who pauses for a rest along the way. In particular the beginnings of some of the items are faltering and the group seems to need a couple of bars to get up steam. The whole effect is rather mundane and even the hakas sound a little bit dispirited. Side Two is better than Side One. It features some Paraire Tomoana classics such as ‘Te Ope Tuatahi’ and ‘I Runga Nga Puke’ and the cover pays a graceful tribute to this ‘gifted Maori composer’. There are several lovely solos but the chorus work in contrast is harsh. There is plenty of variety in the numbers which the group has chosen but unfortunately there is a certain sameness about the presentation.