Make Friends with the Quin Tikis

Has anyone heard of the Quin Tikis? I found the cover of these LPs when searching the interweb for info on the Surf Punk band the Tikis:

A late 60s New Zealand Maori Showband? How cool is that? I can't seem to find anything else except the covers on RateYourMusic.com, a note that they existed on AllMusicGuide.com, a note that they appeared in the New Zealand film Don't Let It Get You, and a couple short blurbs on bands.co.nz. And then I found the fan sites:

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~mstowers/id69.htm
http://www.sergent.com.au/quintikis.html

Damn! Now I'm hooked and have to start scouring record stores & eBay for Maori Showbands.

WOW!! New Zealand Showbands. That would be an incredible find. Good luck with the search.

I will keep me eyes open too!!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Maori and Pacific Islander showbands were pretty big here and in Australia back in the day. The one I've heard the most about was called the "Maori Volcanics", I think they did a reform/tour a couple of years ago. I think you may be disappointed by the style of music they play though....

On 2006-12-02 22:54, Paipo wrote:
Maori and Pacific Islander showbands were pretty big here and in Australia back in the day. The one I've heard the most about was called the "Maori Volcanics", I think they did a reform/tour a couple of years ago. I think you may be disappointed by the style of music they play though....

I'm guessing slightly R&B tinted Easy Listening Pop with some Maori/Polynesian touches?

There was supposed to be a Maori Showband exhibit at the Tepapa Museum and a special website for it? I've found a few images on the Tepapa Museum site but no articles or exhibit notes.

Yeah, unfortunately it's long gone - they haven't even bothered to archive it on their site. It looks like some of the showbands did do some Polynesian and Hawaiian influenced stuff. Most of what I've heard is really cheesy Vegas style cover songs, but there were a lot of these bands around in their heyday, so some may have had more of an Island groove than others.