Tumanako "Tui" Teka (8 March 193723 January 1985), better known by his stage names Tui Latui or Prince Tui Teka was a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

singer and actor. Teka was a member of the

Maori Volcanics Showband The Maori Volcanics Showband are a New Zealand show group that formed in 1967. The Volcanics toured widely on the cabaret circuit. The Rajon Music Group released a compilation of the band's recordings in 2002. Albums *''Maori Volcanics Show ...

before having a successful solo career.

Career

Teka was born in Ruatahuna, New Zealand near

Te Urewera Te Urewera is an area of mostly forested, sparsely populated rugged hill country in the North Island of New Zealand, a large part of which is within a protected area designated in 2014, that was formerly Te Urewera National Park. Te Urewera is t ...

. His parents were both musicians, and he learnt to play the guitar and saxophone at a young age. He moved to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in the early 1950s. In 1959, Teka, Jonny Nicol, and Mat Tenana joined the Royal Samoans and Maoris. The band was later renamed Prince Tui Latui &

The Maori Troubadours The Maori Troubadours were a Māori-based showband which performed in Australia and Southeast Asia, beginning in 1958 and continuing well into the 1960s. The three original members were Prince Tui Latui (aka Tui Teka), Matt Tenana and Johnny Kea ...

. In 1968 he joined

, touring the Pacific for six years. In 1972 he began his solo career, and returned home releasing two albums: ''Real Love'' and ''Oh Mum'', as well as the Māori love song "

E Ipo "E Ipo" (English: "By Love") is a 1982 song written by Prince Tui Teka and Ngoi Pēwhairangi in tribute to Teka's wife Missy, sung bilingually in Māori and English. The song was a number-one single in New Zealand for two weeks. The melody was ...

". In 1974 he met with Noel Tio; both Tui and Noel had known each other since 1958, so Noel Tio Enterprises Pty Ltd. became his Australian (only) manager for 11 years. Before his death in 1985, he was in the West German TV series ''

Jack Holborn Jack Holborn was a 1982 ZDF Adventure TV mini-series. The story is based on the 1964 book by Leon Garfield. It was shown in the United Kingdom by ITV. Plot Jack Holborn is a 13-year-old boy living in an orphanage in late 18th-century Bristol. Jac ...

'' and starred in New Zealand films '' Came a Hot Friday'' and '' Savage Islands''. Teka died in early 1985 of a heart attack in his room while waiting to perform at the Ruawai Tavern in Northland, and was survived by his wife Missy and daughters Davinia and Missy Jr. Missy died in 2008 as a result of a motor vehicle accident.

References

External links

Prince Tui Teka
at AudioCulture
Prince Tui Teka
at NZ On Screen *
Prince Tui Teka's band arrangements
at the

Alexander Turnbull Library The National Library of New Zealand ( mi, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) is New Zealand's legal deposit library charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (''Nat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teka, Prince Tui 1937 births 1985 deaths APRA Award winners New Zealand male film actors New Zealand Māori musicians New Zealand male Māori actors Ngāi Tūhoe people New Zealand Māori male singers People from Ruatahuna 20th-century New Zealand male actors 20th-century New Zealand male singers Māori-language singers