Bill Sevesi and His Islanders at The Orange Ballroom

The Orange Coronation Ballroom on Newton Road in Auckland, also known as The Orange Ballroom or The Orange, was Pacific music central in Auckland from 1954 to the mid-1970s. Bill Sevesi and his Islanders played night after night to audiences who thronged the dance floor. In this image, bandleader Bill stands with his slide steel guitar in front of him with a line-up of notable musicians and vocalists who frequently played with Bill but also many other bands, sometimes on the same night at different venues.

On Bill’s left is the legendary Samoan entertainer Freddie Keil whose family music dynasty created some of the foremost rock and roll bands around Auckland at the time. Their Herne Bay home produced The Kavaliers, the Zodiacs, Keil’s Isles, and extended family members Freddie, Olaf, Herma, Eliza, Klaus, Alphonso and Rudolph can be found in many other recordings and bands. Venues like the Montmarte on Lorne Street, the Crystal Palace in Mount Eden, the Bali Hai on Chancery Street and the Oriental Ballroom regularly hosted the various Keil bands. Adele Paris (née Yandall) recalls hanging out as a young teen at the Orange Ballroom and when that closed for the evening, heading to the Oriental on upper Symonds Street where Freddie and his band would appear on stage and continue to rock and roll. Bill Belton who played bass with the Kavaliers, remembers performing every Thursday night at The Orange with Freddie Keil in the 1960s. The Orange featured floor shows where another entertainer would do 20-minute gigs:

They ran it old school with a break at about 9.30pm for a cup of tea or orange juice downstairs. It was a very well controlled and very pleasant environment for people that either liked our music or came to dance. We wore matching shirts and trousers made by cousins and sisters of Freddie Keil. They were of a smart western style because the Keil’s were from American Samoa and had access to American goods that you couldn’t get in New Zealand because of import restrictions[1]

In the centre of the line-up, holding his beloved Gibson guitar, is Buddy Wilson (Te Arawa, Ngāti Rangitihi) who played with Bill’s band and many others including Terry Dean and the Nitebeats, the Joe Rickets Band, Peter Posa and the legendary Ben Tawhiti (Ngāi Te Rangi). As a young student at teacher’s training college at Ardmore, Buddy performed in singing groups such as the Sasmos and the Starlighters along with other trainee teachers. Lou Clauson of Lou and Simon fame would get them gigs around Auckland. Originally from Tāneatua, Buddy had spent six years in Whakatāne Hospital with tuberculosis of the spine. While there, he learned to play the guitar with another young TB patient and musician-to-be Gerry Merito, who would go on to play with the famed Howard Morrison Quartet. During the year Buddy played with Bill Sevesi at The Orange Ballroom, he recalled that the sharp suits the band wore were sponsored by Cambridge Clothing of New Lynn[2].

Other longtime bandmates of Bill’s appear in this image. Bobby Wynyard on lead guitar had performed with Bill and his Islanders from the 1950s and was a regular in other Auckland bands including Sonny Day and the Sundowners, the Soundells and Bob Wynyard and the Music Method. Malu Natapu played bass with Bill for years and in the documentary Song of the South Seas – the Life and Music of Bill Sevesi (1992)[3] Bill tells the story of first employing Malu as a tea chest player. Malu played so energetically during their first gig together at Waihi Beach, that blood from his fingers splattered over the tea chest. Johnny Moore on drums has been described by Bill as having a terrific foot pedal “like a metronome” and all three musicians were part of Bill’s most memorable line-up.

Bill got his first big break with the great Epi Shalfoon at the Crystal Palace in Mount Eden. Epi’s mentorship meant a lot to Bill and it’s something he extended to many musicians at the beginning of their careers.