(Edited from New Zealand history online) Maori songs have rarely hit the charts in New Zealand. That all changed in 1984 when the hit ‘Poi E’ blitzed the charts for 22 weeks, including four weeks at number one. Written by linguist Ngoi with music by Dalvanius Prime, the song was a way to teach young Maori to be proud of being Maori – in a format that young people were comfortable with. Pewhairangi and Prime got together in 1982 and wrote ‘Poi E’, as well as two other numbers, in a single day.

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