"The Bridge" was a #1 chart hit in 1981 for New Zealand singer

Deane Waretini Deane Waretini (born c. 1946) is a musician from New Zealand. He had a #1 chart hit in 1981 with the song "The Bridge", a Māori language song set to Nini Rosso's tune " Il Silenzio". He is also the son of a historically significant Maori barit ...

and his backing group The Rising Stars. It was the first Māori language song to reach the number one spot in New Zealand. It was self-released and promoted before being picked up by

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Background

"The Bridge" was sung in

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

, and set to

Nini Rosso Raffaele Celeste "Nini" Rosso (19 September 1926 – 5 October 1994) was an Italian jazz trumpeter and composer. Biography Rosso was born in San Michele Mondovì, Italy. His parents attempted to send him to university, but at 19 he chose the tru ...

's tune " Il Silenzio".''

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'' March 30, 200
You must remember this - By Alan Perrott
/ref> The words were written by Waretini's cousin, George Tait, a Te Arawa elder. It pushed

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

off the charts when it climbed to the top. "The Bridge" was originally independently and self-released, and was not picked up by

until later. After that it became the first number 1 song to be sung in the Māori language. It stayed at the top of the charts for two weeks. The song centres around the construction of the Mangere Bridge. Its lyrics refer to the linking of two cultures in New Zealand, Māori and Pakeha.

Making the record

Recording

The song was recorded in the Auckland suburb of Henderson. The session took place in a garage studio that belonged to a country singer. The backing ensemble included musicians from the Blind Institute. The backing group, The Rising Suns, was formerly called The Radars. The trumpet player was Kevin Furey, formerly of Quincy Conserve. Waretini paid the musicians in

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. "We recorded it just as we played it in the hotels, with heart and soul and feel," he said.

Production and promotion

Waretini used a tactic first employed by Gary Havoc & The Hurricanes of self-financing a record. He had a pile of the singles produced, which cost him $96. Some were sent to Radio 1ZB. He then bombarded them with play requests. He also managed to get it played at intermission time at Auckland's Civic Theatre. Another tactic was recruiting a newspaper boy to sell copies to passing people for 50 cents apiece. (His backing band, The Rising Stars,45ca
Artist: Deane Waretini With The Rising Stars, Catalogue: INN 009
/ref> two years later in 1983 would use the same approach in promoting a single.) "The Bridge" was produced by Allan Witana, and originally released on the Innovations label. A short time later, people were going into record shops looking for "The Bridge". Not long afterwards, CBS sought the single. On 3 April 1981, the song went to no 1, pushing

's "

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" from the top spot. It also reached no 7 in Australia. Waretini received $27,000 from CBS and gave up his rights to the song.

Other versions

Alternative version

An unreleased alternative version by Waretini appears on the '' Waiata Maori Showbands, Balladeers & Pop Stars'' compilation that was released by

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and

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in 2011.Discog
Various – Waiata - Maori Showbands, Balladeers & Pop Stars
/ref>

Parody version

In 1981, the song was parodied by Kevin Blackatini and the Frigids, and a record was released on the RTC label. Kevin Blackatini was actually

Radio Hauraki Radio Hauraki is a New Zealand rock music station that started in 1966. It was the first private commercial radio station of the modern broadcasting era in New Zealand and operated illegally until 1970 to break the monopoly held by the state- ...

DJ Kevin Black.

Chart progress

Hits of All Decade
NEW ZEALAND (R.I.A.N.Z.) WEEKLY SINGLE CHARTS FROM 1981
/ref>

Releases

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge 1981 singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Deane Waretini songs Songs in Māori 1981 songs