Thirty years after its initial release, the ‘forgotten’ album from Fuemana - madeup of siblings Phil, Christina, Tony and Pauly - is gaining traction after it was re-released on vinyl by Melbourne record label Gazebo, according to ABC News.
“It’s pretty surreal really because that is something that 30 years ago, we wouldn’t have thought we’d still be talking about,” Tony Fuemana told the publication.
Nick Saw, who owns the record label, remembers “belting out” How Bizarre in the car with his mum and knew he had to help bring New Urban Polynesian to a new generation of listeners.
“At first [I was] shocked that I had not heard the album, then even more shocked to find out that many others had not either,” he said.
While the album didn’t quite match the mainstream success of How Bizarre at the time, Christina Fuemana said it “opened doors” for countless Pacific Island artists, adding, “I think Phil [would be] just having a bit of a giggle because he’s probably like ‘good things come to those who wait’.”
Phil, who then went on to form OMC with producer Alan Jansson, died of a heart attack in 2005 and Pauly died in 2010.
Tony added that he was excited for his “family’s voice to be heard again [by] another generation of folk”.
Released in 1995, How Bizarre hit number one in countless countries at the time, and has been compared to Lorde’s smash hit Royals in commercial terms. Since then, it’s continued to reach new audiences and has surpassed 180 million streams on Spotify.
In 2020, the song went viral on TikTok, with the NZ Herald reporting at the time that videos featuring the song were racking up a whopping two billion views.
Pauly’s widow Kirstine told the NZ Herald at the time that her son Santos, born shortly after his father’s death, was a huge fan of TikTok and it was a “bit weird” that he was now seeing the song trending.
Pauly Fuemana shot to fame with the release of How Bizarre. Photo / NZ Herald
The song’s renewed success came in the same week as its 25-year anniversary and Fuemana said her late husband would be “rapt” to see a new generation of fans embrace his music.
Its endlessly catchy guitar melody was taken from a Polynesian technique Pauly learned from his Niuean dad, growing up in Ōtara in South Auckland.
Phil, the oldest sibling, is largely credited for helping Pauly find success with OMC.
“When you look at that song [How Bizarre] and Ōtara Millionaires Club, it kind of always comes back to Phil, because it was his dream for music to be the thing for our family,” Tony said.
“I think if Phil and Paul knew this was happening again … they’d be really proud.
“We want people to enjoy it forever and as long as people are talking about the music, Phil and Paul are still here.”
