In Memory of Hone Tuwhare

Lyrics are quite different from poetry, you only have to read most lyric sheets to figure that out - they often make lousy poems. But sometimes poems are set to music - with interesting results. In memory of Hone Tuwhare this episode of Counting the Beat focusses on musical interpretations of NZ poetry.

The poems of Hone Tuwhare were interpreted musically by 12 NZ musical artists on the 2005 album Tuwhare. The podcast features O Africa performed by Golden Horse.The Tuwhare album was produced by Charlotte Yates who also produced the 2000 album Baxter where the poems of James K. Baxter were put to music by artists such as Dave Dobbyn (featured in the podcast) Martin Phillips and Emma Paki.

David Eggleton is a poet and writer who has put his own words to music on the albums Poetry Demon and Versifier. These are both out of print but you can download the tracks from Poetry Demon at the NZ Electronic Poetry Centre site.

Gaylene, a poet infamous in her home town of Dunedin for her vitriol and green tights, produced a single in 1995 titled She Could Cause Death. Originally limited to 50 copies it is now available for download on the Gaylene and the Undertakers myspace page.

The final poet featured in the podcast is Sam Hunt. He first made music in the 70s with Mammal (the album now goes for around $500, if anyone has a recording please contact me), then later a couple of tracks with the Warratahs. In 2001 he released Your Body Has No Flaw, recorded and released by Trevor Reekie of Pagan Records. Incidentally Radio Live have a podcast available of Sam Hunt talking about Hone Tuwhare.

Download the Counting The Beat - Hone Tuwhare podcast