Records reviewed by Alan Armstrong

The Great Songs of Ana Hato and Deane Waretini Parlophone PMCM 6021 12in. 33 1/3 LP. Prized amongst my collection of Maori records are several scratched and battered 78 r.p.m. shellac discs. They feature songs of Deane Waretini and the late Ana Hato and are probably the first recordings released for commercial distribution of Maoris singing Maori music. They were recorded in 1926 and appeared on the market shortly after. (Do readers know of any commercial Maori records which pre-date them?) Now Parlophone has taken a selection of some of the best-known items of these two artists and issued them as a dignified LP under the title ‘The Great Songs of Ana Hato and Deane Waretini’. Ana Hato and Deane Waretini were first cousins and belonged to the Arawa Confederation of tribes of the Rotorua district. Both were brought up in an atmosphere of tourism where public performances of singing and dancing (and even penny diving, as the record cover notes!) were commonplace. Ana made her debut in concert parties in her early teens and soon gained a wide reputation as a singer. Deane Waretini's rise to prominence was by comparison much slower. The Hato-Waretini association began in 1926. In that year, the Duke of York (later to become King George VI) was visiting New Zealand. Maoris from all over the country gathered at Rotorua to welcome the Royal visitors. During the celebrations, advantage was taken of the opportunity to gather together a group of Maori singers including Ana Hato and Deane Waretini, for recording purposes. Of his first recording venture with Ana, Waretini said: ‘ … in a small and totally inadequate room our first records were made. These were later followed by other records made in Australia.’ From then on, the partnership went from strength to strength and the popularity of the two cousins spread far and wide. Many readers will particularly remember their fund-raising concerts during the Second World War. Unfortunately Ana Hato was never robust and during the last eight years of her life, she spent much of her time in hospital. She died in December 1953 at the age of 47. Deane Waretini still lives in Rotorua. In a poignant note on the record he says: ‘Today I am an ageing old man. Ana has been dead many years. It is my sincere prayer that the ability to introduce into their singing variations of tone which makes Maori singing unique, is never lost to our race. The introduction of the European element into Maori singing is, I think, something to be deplored.’ Parlophone are to be congratulated on releasing this record which has considerable historic value. Having heard Hato and Waretini previously on scratched 78s, it is now a pleasure to listen to them on microgroove for the reproduction is remarkably good and on the average radiogram no surface noise is discernible. The selection of songs is varied although it is a pity that five of them are wholly or partly in English. I was also disappointed that only four of the twelve tracks were of the Ana Hato in her heyday. Very many people will welcome this re-issue of some of the most famous of the songs and duets of Ana Hato and Deane Waretini.