Bunny Tekokiri Miha Wahi Walters (31 May 1953 – 14 December 2016) was a New Zealand singer who had a number of New Zealand hits during the 1970s. He is best known for the hits "Brandy", "Take the Money and Run", and "Nearest Thing to Heaven". Of Ngāi Te Rangi descent, Walters was born and raised in Katikati, a town on the North Island of New Zealand. In 1969, he competed against Tui Fox at Joe Brown’s at the Rotorua Soundshell during the Search for Stars event held there. Fox was singing simil...
Bunny Tekokiri Miha Wahi Walters (31 May 1953 – 14 December 2016) was a New Zealand singer who had a number of New Zealand hits during the 1970s. He is best known for the hits "Brandy", "Take the Money and Run", and "Nearest Thing to Heaven".
Of Ngāi Te Rangi descent, Walters was born and raised in Katikati, a town on the North Island of New Zealand.
In 1969, he competed against Tui Fox at Joe Brown’s at the Rotorua Soundshell during the Search for Stars event held there. Fox was singing similar material to Walters. Fox won the final with Walters coming in second.[3] His first single, titled "Just Out of Reach", was released in 1969. He then released "It's Been Too Long" and "Can't Keep You Out of My Heart".
He made his first television appearance on Happen-Inn, a New Zealand television show.
After performing at Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan, he received contracts to return to Japan. He gained considerable exposure. The New Zealand Herald reported that he may have also appeared on the Rolf Harris show in London.
In 1971, he replaced Vaughan Lawrence as the resident singer on Happen-Inn. From 1972-74, he recorded the hits "Brandy" (which reached #4 on the pop charts), "Take the Money and Run" (which reached #2), "Home Isn't Home Anymore" (which reached #18), and "The Nearest Thing to Heaven" (which reached #10 in 1974).
In 1978, he recorded a promotional record for the New Zealand Labour Party. The single was titled "To Be Free with Labour" and was the B side of a song titled "To Be Free", written by Robinson-Bretnall.[8] Walters appeared in the 1978 film Skin Deep[9] and an episode of Shortland Street.
In 2013, Walters was the profile in episode 9 of The Untold Stories of New Zealand Music History.
Walters died in Waikato Hospital, Hamilton, on 14 December 2016. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Create your free account or Login
Please login or create account to unlock these features.