"E Ipo" (English: "By Love") is a 1982 song written by Prince Tui Teka and Ngoi Pēwhairangi[1] in tribute to Teka's wife Missy, sung bilingually in Māori and English. The song was a number-one single in New Zealand for two weeks.[2]

"E Ipo"
Single by Prince Tui Teka
from the album The Man, The Music, The Legend
Released1982 (1982)
GenreContemporary Māori
Length3:45
LabelTui Records, RCA Victor
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Prince Tui Teka singles chronology
"E Hine Hoki Mai"
(1974)
"E Ipo"
(1982)
"I Need Your Love"
(1983)

The melody was based on the popular Indonesian love song "Mimpi Sedih" by Aloysius Riyanto that Teka had heard from New Zealand soldiers stationed in Singapore[3] while he was performing overseas from 1980-1982.[4][5]

The video for the song was taken from a TV special filmed at the Mandalay nightclub in Newmarket, Auckland. The song later made the Nature's Best 3 compilation, a collection of the top 100 New Zealand songs as voted by members of APRA.[6]

"E Ipo", alongside "Poi E" (1984) by the Pātea Māori Club (also written by Pēwhairangi) were the first widely successful songs sung in Te Reo Māori in mainstream music, and had a great impact on the promotion of Te Reo and Māori culture in New Zealand.[7]

References

edit
  1. ^ "New Zealand Folk Songs".
  2. ^ "Prince Tui Teka - E Ipo (song)". charts.nz. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  3. ^ "New Zealand military base in Singapore". New Zealand History.
  4. ^ NZ On Screen - E Ipo
  5. ^ NZ Folk Song - E Ipo
  6. ^ Sergent, Bruce. "APRA Top 100". Article. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  7. ^ Sheehan, Maree (2 February 2016). "Mana Wahine: Māori Women in Music". Te Kaharoa. 9 (1). doi:10.24135/tekaharoa.v9i1.12. ISSN 1178-6035. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
edit