Showband sound still going strong

Half a century after Rim D Paul crooned his way across the world, the maestro from Maketu is set to show how his sparkle is far from faded.
Paul, who has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Ray Charles, Lou Rawls and Rosemary Clooney, will pay tribute to the Maori Showband era that made him famous at the National Waiata Maori Awards in Hastings this Friday.
Backing the 69-year-old will be Showband Aotearoa, the group he has been performing with monthly since February.
Sitting in the lounge of his Little Waihi bach, Paul this week told the Bay of Plenty Times how after 50 years, he had no doubt the magic was still there.
"I might look a bit different now but I can still play bass, piano, guitar ... ," he said, his fist thumping his armchair to dismiss any question of it. "And I can still sing."
Born Rimini Dennis Paul, he formed his first band - The Teenage Rebels - at Te Aute College in Central Hawke's Bay.
When he left school he joined his father's dance band, Tai Paul and his Pohutu Boys, who were performing to packed halls in Rotorua.
"My father was blinded in World War II, but when he came back he brought with him all the tunes he'd heard over there, like Glenn Miller and all of those groups.
"Back then, Rotorua was certainly the main centre for all that sparkle."
Paul's big break came when he was spotted at a talent quest in Wellington and was recruited into the second Maori Hi Five Company showband - the Maori Hi Quins - as bass guitarist.
The group left for Australia and Paul became their lead singer in 1962.
A year later he left and joined the Quin Tikis, a showband he performed with for three years before he embarked on a solo career.
It included supporting American recording star of the time Rosemary Clooney at Chequers nightclub in Sydney, as well as also working alongside other notables including Buddy Greco, The Blossoms and Righteous Brother Bill Medley.
Rim's voice also accompanied the silver screen twice, 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.
This Friday, Showband Aotearoa will perform an eight-minute segment representing the Maori showband brand of music.
The second episode of the 13-part series Unsung Heroes of Maori Music, featuring Rim D Paul and his father Tai, screens at 8pm this Friday on Maori Television. Mr Paul's performance at the National Waiata Maori Awards this week will also be broadcast on the channel later this month.