Record, 'My Old Man's an All Black!' by the Howard Morrison Quartet

'My Old Man's an All Black!' was written by Gerry Merito (Ngāi Tūhoe, 1938-2009) and recorded by his group, the popular all-Māori Howard Morrison Quartet, in the Pukekohe Town Hall in 1960.

It is possibly New Zealand's first recorded protest song. It riffs off Lonnie Donegan’s ‘My old man's a dustman’ as a light-hearted way to make a point about the New Zealand Rugby Union's decision to bow to South Africa's apartheid laws and send the All Blacks without Māori players. Sporting ties with South Africa during the apartheid years had become a source of increasing debate in New Zealand society. Many New Zealanders rallied around the 1959-60 'No Maoris - No Tour' protest campaign by the Citizens' All Black Tour Association.

The song was a great hit, regardless of its poor sound quality, and sold an estimated 60,000 copies.

Oh, my old man’s an All Black,
He wears the silver fern,
But his mates just couldn’t take him
So he’s out now for a turn...

Well the All Black team is leaving
And the best of luck to them
And if they find things tricky
They’ll have to play like men
Cos the Springboks will be watching from Transvaal to Cape Town
That team that ain’t got Horis
To score their last touch down.

...fi fi fo fo fum, there’s no Horis in that scrum.