Upoko Blues from Tu Tangata by Piripi Whaanga Whanau

It was around 1992 when I had the idea to run a course in Maori language radio programme making.
The song was shorthand for the frustration of needing to have 12.5 students to be able to secure Te Puni Kokiri government funding.
There had been a boycott of the course (called Te Whakapakari, meaning the nurturing). The jealousy was over funding going to training of Iwi Radio staff instead of being given to individual stations. Over half of the funding was for accommodation and training allowances for radio staff. I knew that radio stations didn’t have the funding to train and pay staff, especially if they were to be away for five months.

The reference to socks is that I’d taken to wearing mismatching fluorescent coloured socks as my way to lighten the seriousness of the kaupapa, that certain Maori way of doing things. By now I’d figured that freezing tradition is what some people did when they felt insecure with themselves and their choices. I chose to change socks instead.

Upoko refers to the head. In this case it was the name of the first Maori language station at the head of the fish of Maui (The North Island looks like a fish, with Wellington at the head. The South Island is said to be the waka or canoe that Maui fished from). The song, Upoko blues, is how I felt about my head being done in with the politicking over funding decisions and policy making.
While in my time as magazine editor at the Department of Maori Affairs, I’d returned part-time to radio, helping with pilot broadcasts using Maori language. This base became the first urban Maori language radio station, Te Upoko o Te Ika. It was successful partly because media activists like me understood the importance of radio and because the language revival had sparked a taniwha, an unexpected public appearance. The native language speakers had a place to speak from and people listened.

Tracklist

14.	Upoko Blues	4:06

Lyrics

Upoko Blues

I've got the 'Worried course numbers
12.5 students blues.'
Got the right socks matching in my Whakapakari shoes.
(Chorus)
Upoko Blues
only in my head.
KIa kaha kia maia kia manawanui,
Kia better not said.

Rosalyn, your policy drives me wild.
Roslyn, your policy drives me wild,
You've been hanging around the Backbencher,
lots of cheap talk and wine.
All your pens are known to me,
your plans are so unkind.
You're a Commerce child.

“Seen the cut of your suited one, here he come, David. Talk of Tuwharetoa, here he come, David. How come nobody talks to me, nobody takes my time. Nobody wants my number, my fax is unverified. Is my policy, jaded?”

Rosalyn, your frequency drives me wild.
Rosalyn, your frequency drives me 42 dbw wild,
I asked you for your footprint,
you never asked for mine.
I must have 10 thousand listeners,
or we all must be,
broadcasting blind.

(Chorus)

Kia better off dead.

Credits

from Tu Tangata, released August 19, 2014

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