Tadravakasiga was already making waves in the iTaukei music scene in the ‘70s when a visit by Manoa Rasigatale from the Pacific Harbour Cultural Centre took their music to another level.
Group leader Peni Vunisau said one day when they returned from a performance in Suva, they went to their base in Natukitai, Rewa, and “drank beer until the morning”.
“We were all knocked out from drinking when Manoa Rasigatale from the Cultural Centre in Pacific Harbour came for a visit,” he said.
“When he saw all the members sleeping, he said the name Tadravakasiga really described the band well because we serenade at night and sleep during the day.”
Vunisau said Rasigatale told them to change the introduction to the song that made them famous — Vuniniu Kala.
“Manoa said at the start of the song after the lead guitarist Kitione Save played the intro, for us to stop and knock on the guitar to make it sound like someone knocking on the door.
“After that a trio harmony was to hum before I say ‘curu mai lewa curu mai’.
“That song made us famous and we stayed at the number one spot on Radio Fiji’s Digidigi Domoni for one whole year.
“And we want to thank Manoa for changing the way we composed, recorded and performed our music.”
Vunisau said the song was about a couple who had a disagreement which resulted in the wife leaving home.
“After many months apart, the lady decided to go back to her husband and knocked on the door, waiting for him to welcome her back.”
The song, along with many others, took Tadravakasiga to the top of the Fiji music scene.
And stories in this column over the past few weeks told of their many exploits, musical and otherwise, during the height of their live performances.
The second lead guitarist Simione Ranawakana said, his passion to play began as a young boy when he used to cut pieces of wood into guitar-like shapes, attach fishing lines, and practise chords he saw the men in Muana Village, Rewa, play when they gathered for sigidrigi sessions.
Ranawakana said he also had a keen interest in playing drums and used pot lids and empty drums as makeshift drum kits.
He said sometimes his mother would get angry when her pot lids and fishing lines went missing.
Ranawakana said his love for music was proudly displayed in a tattoo on his arm.
“One day when we were drinking homebrew in the village, I asked my friends to tattoo a guitar and drums on my arm and it is still here today,” the 67-year-old said.
He said the tattoo was a clear indication of his connection to music.
“Before the first album was recorded, the Tadravakasiga group went around looking for a lead guitarist.
“Some of the members said to look for Apakuki Mate, a well-known lead guitarist in Fiji at that time.
“But they then decided to give me a chance and I want to thank the group for believing in me. They told me to start practising their first 10 songs and I never looked back after that.”
Ranawakana was 23 years old in 1976, when the album was recorded, one of the youngest lead guitarists in an iTaukei band at the time.
He said being a member of the group was one of the best experiences in his life, despite the fact there was no money at that time.
Ranawakana said the camaraderie and bond they shared kept them going and that rubbed off in the way they presented their music and helped make them one of the most popular acts in the 70s.
“The songs we composed and the things we sang about were very deep and meaningful, not like a lot of the music you here today, almost all of it is just about love and heartbreak.
“And what made the music in our era special was the fact that every instrument was played live, not like today where most of the stuff is programed.
“There is no heart in it, it can’t touch you like the music from the old days.”
These days, Ranawakana sings a different tune, he plays and sings music to glorify God.
Another band member, Taitusi Savutila, said he was very proud to have been a member of the Tadravakasiga.
He said through the music they composed and performed, the group toured across Fiji and, as a result of this, they met a lot of people of different races and enjoyed many experiences in their journey. Band leader Vunisau said the band broke up during the Bose ko Viti which was held in Rewa in the ‘80s.
He said after serenading to their tauvu from Bua, they took off their Tadravakasiga uniform shirts and gifted them along with all their music instruments.
