The Patea Māori Club performs Poi E. Photo / Nikki Williams
The Patea Māori Club performs Poi E. Photo / Nikki Williams
To celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, we'll have a new story each day celebrating te reo in music, including exclusive special performances. Check back in each day at midday for more.
1981: DEANE WARETINI - THE BRIDGE
This classic was the first song in te reo to top the New Zealand singles chart when it released in 1981.
It was written by Waretini's cousin, Te Arawa elder George Tait, and was based on Italian Nini Rosso's 1965 hit Il Silenzi.
Two years after The Bridge, the legendary Prince Tui Teka scored the number one spot on the charts with E Ipo.
It was written by Teka and Ngoi Pēwhairangi and was - somewhat unexpectedly - based on a traditional Indonesian folk song.
1984: THE PATEA MĀORI CLUB - POI E
The following year, perhaps the biggest te reo Māori song ever hit the charts: The legendary Poi E by the Patea Māori Club.
Led by Dalvanius Prime, the club somehow managed to mix traditional Māori elements with break dancing and actually made it work.
Not only did it hit number one, but it stayed there for an impressive four weeks and became the year's biggest single. It also re entered the charts in 2010 when the movie Boy came out.
Matai Rangi Smith got Stan Walker on board who wrote the song with Vince Harder, Troy Kingi and Ria Hall and they launched it for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori 2014.
It didn't quite make it to number one, but it did hit number two and has become something of a modern classic.
2016: MAIMOATIA - PŪKANA & WHĀNAU
Maimoatia is a gospel-like song which aims to promote te reo. It was released during last year's Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, and went straight to number one in the New Zealand iTunes charts.
That's an even bigger deal when you consider that it bumped pop super star Justin Timberlake from the top spot.
Te reo expert Te Haumihiata Mason - who translated Dave Dobbyn's te reo version of Welcome Home which released last week - helped create the song, which singer Nathaniel Howe says is about encouraging young people to take up the language.
