Morgan Clarke


In a publicity photograph from the mid-1950s, Morgan Clarke looks like a matinee idol in a Hollywood movie about the South Seas.

His dark hair is slicked back, he has a thin moustache and a sly grin; well-built, he is dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and has a lei around his neck. Ladies in the front row, be charmed.

Morgan Clarke, whose ‘Hawaiian Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and ‘Haka Boogie’ discs are pivotal in the development of a New Zealand-flavoured rock and roll.
Photo credit: Bill Sevesi collection/Wired for Sound
Hawaiian Rock'n Roll, the first Zodiac 7" 45, from 1957
Photo credit: Simon Grigg Collection
Morgan Clarke's Haka Boogie from late 1957, featuring steel guitar from Ben Tawhiti (the Ben in Benny's Five). It was written by Lee Westbrook.
Trivia:

Before the Hulawai’ns collaboration with Morgan Clarke, both acts had recorded the Gene O’Leary song ‘Dreamer’s Island’, Clarke for Tanza, the Hulawai’ns for Regal Zonophone.

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Zodiac


Tanza

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