Mahinārangi Tocker MNZM (1955[1] – 15 April 2008) was a singer-songwriter from New Zealand. Tocker wrote more than 600 songs in a 25-year career[2] in the jazz fusion folk-pop genre.[3] Her vocal style has been compared to that of Joan Armatrading and Tracy Chapman.[4] She also gave lectures around New Zealand about the use of music and creativity to boost learning and self-esteem, and was an adult literacy tutor, writer and poet.
Mahinārangi Tocker | |
|---|---|
 Tocker at the 2007 Auckland Folk Festival | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 1955 |
| Died | 15 April 2008 (aged 52–53) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1985–2008 |
Biography
editTocker was born in Taumarunui to Rihitapuwai Rauhihi and Norman Tocker and was of Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Jewish and Celtic ancestry.[5][2] Tocker spent much of her life at Glendene in West Auckland.[6]
In the 2008 New Year Honours, Tocker was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to music.[7]
Tocker died on 15 April 2008 in Auckland's North Shore hospital following a severe asthma attack. She was 52.[8] Her final performance had been at the Titirangi Festival of Music in March 2008.[6] A memorial tree was planted for her at Falls Park in Henderson.[6]
Personal life
editTocker had a daughter in 1982.[5] Tocker came out openly as a lesbian.[8] She openly talked about her diagnosis with bipolar disorder.[6]
Discography
editAlbums [9]
- 1985 Clothesline Conversation
- 1987 I'm Going Home
- 1996 Mahinarangi
- 1997 Te Ripo
- 2002 Hei Ha!
- 2002 Touring (With Charlotte Yates)
- 2005 The Mongrel in Me
References
edit- ^ "Mahinarangi Tocker: Singer from the heartland". Dominion Post. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
- ^ a b Kiran Dass (October 2005). "The Mongrel in Mahinarangi". NZ Musician Magazine. Archived from the original on 18 October 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
- ^ Sheehan, Maree (30 December 2021), "Māori women at the forefront of Aotearoa/New Zealand music in the mid 1980s and early 1990s", The Routledge Handbook of Women’s Work in Music (1 ed.), London: Routledge, pp. 289–297, doi:10.4324/9780429201080-29, ISBN 978-0-429-20108-0, retrieved 28 March 2024
- ^ "Musician Mahinarangi Tocker dies age 52". New Zealand Herald. 15 April 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
- ^ a b Yates, Charlotte (7 March 2019). "Mahinaarangi Tocker aka Mahinarangi Tocker, Mahina-a-rangi Tocker". Audioculture Iwi Waiata. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d Jahn-Werner, Tara (2009). "The Children of Hauauru". In Macdonald, Finlay; Kerr, Ruth (eds.). West: The History of Waitakere. Random House. p. 356. ISBN 9781869790080.
- ^ "New Year honours list 2008". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
- ^ a b GayNZ.com (April 2008). "Singer/songwriter Mahinarangi Tocker dies". GayNZ.com. Retrieved 19 April 2008.
- ^ muzic.net.nz
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