Pikiteora Maude Emily Gertrude Edith "Pixie" Williams (married name Costello; 12 July 1928 – 2 August 2013) was a New Zealand singer best known for the song " Blue Smoke", recorded in 1949. In 2019, she was inducted into the

New Zealand Music Hall of Fame The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame , Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to noteworthy New Zealand musicians. The hall was created in 2007 by Recorded Music NZ (then known as the Recording Industry Associati ...

Early life and family

Williams was born in 1928 at

Mohaka Mohaka is a small settlement in the northern Hawke's Bay region of the eastern North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the coast of Hawke Bay, 20 kilometres southwest of Wairoa. The Mohaka River reaches the coast close to Mohaka. Marae ...

in the

Hawke's Bay region Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

. Of

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 Co ...

descent, she was affiliated to the

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi (tribe) located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

. She was raised by her grandparents until she was 12 years old, when her grandmother died. She then lived with her uncle, and then, from the age of 14, her mother. When she was 17, Williams moved to

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, finding work in a factory and living at the YWCA hostel on Oriental Parade.

"Blue Smoke"

"Blue Smoke" was the first single to be locally recorded and manufactured in New Zealand, backed by the song "Señorita", and was also the first release on the local

TANZA Tanza, officially the Municipality of Tanza (), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 312,116 people. It has a land ar ...

label. The

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

was written by

Ruru Karaitiana Rangi Ruru Wananga Karaitiana (4 March 1909 – 15 December 1970) was a New Zealand musician and songwriter. Karaitiana was born in Dannevirke, New Zealand, on 4 March 1909. He was Māori, and was a member of the Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangit ...

whilst he was on board a

troop ship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...

during World War II, and was recorded in September and October 1948 for release in February the following year by the Ruru Karaitiana Quintette (sic) with Williams on vocals. It was number one on the New Zealand charts for six weeks and sold around 50,000 copies. A self-taught singer, Williams was recommended to Karaitiana by his fiancée Joan, who had sung with her whilst staying at YWCA hostel in Wellington. She was to go on to sing on several more recordings during 1949 and 1950: "Bellbird Serenade" (backed by Jimmy Carter's Hawaiians), "Maori Rhythm" (backed by Alan Shand's Orchestra), and "Saddle Hill", as part of Ruru Karaitiana's Quavertones. The Quavertones were credited with "Let's Talk it Over" and "Windy City".

Later life

In 1951, Williams went to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, where she met and married Irish-born John Edward "Paddy" Costello. The couple went on to have four children. Paddy Costello died in 2006, and Williams returned to live in Wellington. In 2011, the

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...

recognised Williams with a triple platinum award for "Blue Smoke" and single platinum award for the song "Let's Talk it Over". The same year, a digitally remastered compilation of Williams' songs, ''For the Record: The Pixie Williams Collection'', was released. Williams died at a rest home and hospital in

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt () is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. History Upper Hutt is in an area originally known as Orongo ...

on 2 August 2013. She had been suffering from

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

and

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. After a funeral in Upper Hutt, Williams was buried with her husband at Green Park Cemetery in Waldronville, Dunedin.

Awards

On 2 October 2019, Williams, along with Ruru Karaitiana and Jim Carter, was inducted into the

, to mark the 70th anniversary of the release of "Blue Smoke".

Aotearoa Music Awards

The

Aotearoa Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...

(previously known as ''New Zealand Music Awards'' (NZMA)) are an annual awards night celebrating excellence in

New Zealand music The music of New Zealand has been influenced by a number of traditions, including Māori music, the music introduced by European settlers during the nineteenth century, and a variety of styles imported during the twentieth century, including ...

and have been presented annually since 1965. ! , - , 2019 , , Pixie Williams , ,

, , , , , -

References

External links

Pixie Williams profile at Blue Smoke Records website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Pixie 1928 births 2013 deaths APRA Award winners Ngāti Kahungunu people 20th-century New Zealand women singers New Zealand Māori women singers Burials at Green Park Cemetery People from Hawke's Bay