Three of songwriters and performers behind Blue Smoke - the first ever song to be written, recorded and manufactured here and released on a New Zealand label - will be inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.
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| Guitarist Jim Carter. |
Pixie Williams and Ruru Karaitiana will be honoured posthumously at the 2019 APRA Silver Scroll Awards, to be held in October. Jim Carter will receive the distinction in the year of his 100th birthday.
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| Ruru Karaitiana with the first pressing of Blue Smoke. |
Karaitiana wrote Blue Smoke on board Aquitania, a WWII troop ship, in 1940, as he sailed towards the Indian Ocean on his way to fight with the Maori Battalion.
When he returned home in 1943 he recorded the song with Williams on vocals and Carter on guitar, and it became the first record to be pressed by TANZA (To Assist NZ Artists), the first Kiwi record label.
A number of awards will also be handed out at the ceremony on October 2, including the illustrious Silver Scroll Award, which was won last year by Marlon Williams.
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| Vocalist Pixie Williams. |
2018's Hall of Fame laureate was Break in the Weather singer Jenny Morris. Other musicians to receive the honour include The Topp Twins, Hello Sailor, Herbs and Big Runga.
Karaitiana's son Ruma and Williams' daughter Amelia Costello will accept on behalf of their parents.
Read more about Blue Smoke at Audio Culture: https://www.audioculture.co.nz/scenes/blue-smoke
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| The original 1949 78 of Blue Smoke. It would remain in the Tanza catalogue throughout the 1950s. |
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| An advertisement in the 8 October 1948 Listener announces that Radio Corp’s Columbus Recording Studios was open for business in Wellington |
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