Through the 1960s, protest songs continued to enter New Zealand’s popular mainstream. The title song of the EP, It’s Up To The People, was an adaption of a song by calypso singer Sir Lancelot, originally called ‘Atomic Energy’. Teremoana Rapley (centre) with Moana And The Moa Hunters - Mina Ripia and Moana Maniapoto Photo: Audio Culture The mayor of Auckland, Dove-Myer Robinson, reluctantly gave his permission - but only on the condition that they begin the performance with ‘God Save the Queen’. In 1962 the Unity Singers released a four-song EP comprised of songs they had performed at a rally in Myers Park to mark Hiroshima Day. Read more about New Zealand's fold history on Audioculture:
On a unique disc from 1960 held in the Turnbull Library collection, Unity Singers member Rudy Sunde can be heard performing ‘Talking Radiation’, a talking blues adapted from Pete Seeger in which he asks ‘How would you like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island’? Christmas Island was the location, near Kiribati, where the British had tested hydrogen bombs in 1957 and 58. The Unity Singers were part of an international network of peace activists. In New Zealand, protest songs were particularly pertinent to the burgeoning anti-nuclear movement. was energised by his adaptation of the spiritual ‘We Shall Overcome’. Seeger saw protest singing as a powerful tool to unify people.
Protest singing grew throughout the world in the 40s and 50s, inspired by internationally known performers like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie from the United States, and Ewan McColl in Britain. Early adopters were left-wing student groups in universities, who could be found in the late 30s picking up topical songs about the Spanish Civil War, songs adapted from the British poet William Blake, and songs by the martyred American labour activist Joe Hill. Protest songs had been sung in New Zealand at least as early as the 1930s. Rudy Sunde of the Unity Singers Photo: Supplied
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