Biography
Rangi Ruru Wananga Karaitiana (4 March 1909 – 15 December 1970) was a New Zealand musician and songwriter.
He is best known for his 1949 song "Blue Smoke". Karaitiana wrote the song in 1940 while serving in World War Two as part of the 28th Māori Battalion. After the war Karaitiana assembled a quintet, and in October 1948 recorded a version of "Blue Smoke" with singer Pixie Williams to a Hawaiian-style backing played by Jimmy Carter's Hawaiians.
"Blue Smoke" was the first record wholly produced in New Zealand from composition to pressing. It topped the New Zealand charts for six weeks and sold around 50,000 copies.
On 2 October 2019, Karaitiana, along with Pixie Williams, was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, to mark the 70th anniversary of the release of "Blue Smoke".
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