Bunny Walters

aka Miha Walters, Miha Tekokiri Waahi


Bunny Walters is often remembered as a TV pop star who sang covers of international hits on mainstream music variety shows. But his contribution to NZ music is too easily dismissed: a talented performer influenced by The Drifters and Tom Jones, Walters enjoyed a string of Top 10 hits in the early 1970s.

From 1969 to 1974, Walters recorded and released singles, starting with ‘Just Out Of Reach’. That song just nudged into the Top 20, but his 1972 release, ‘Brandy’, kicked off a dream run of singles, including the Tony Christie-styled ‘Take The Money and Run’, ‘Home Isn’t Home Anymore’, and ‘The Nearest Thing To Heaven’.

Bunny and manager Benny Levin, 1977
Performing on television in the early 1970s, Bunny Walters' face and voice were regular visitors to the living rooms of New Zealand for years
Bunny Walters
Bunny Walters takes second place in Joe Brown's Search for Stars, 1970 (NZ On Screen)
Bunny performing with Ray Columbus and Beverley Lee circa 1970
Bunny Walters performing in the early 1970s
1976 Bunny Walters publicity shot proof sheet
Bunny Walters' 1972 album Sings For Lovers And Rockers. Recorded at Stebbings in Auckland, produced by Peter Dawkins and Bernie Allen.
Bunny Walters, 1972
"Bunny Walters, Katikati pop singer". from Bay of Plenty Times, published 29 February 1972.
Photo credit: Tauranga City Libraries Photo gca-20139, CC BY-NC 4.0
Bunny Walters performs with Ray Columbus and Beverley Lee circa 1970
Bunny Walters and Ray Columbus circa 1970
Bunny Walters
A series of shots of Bunny Walters in the foyer stairwell of Stebbings Studios, Auckland, 1977
Prince Charles meets Max Cryer, Miss New Zealand (Carol Robinson), Corben Simpson and Bunny Walters at Superpop 70 in Auckland
Photo credit: Corben Simpson Collection
Bunny Walters, 1976
Bunny Walters
Bunny Walters
Bunny Walters sings Land of A Thousand Dances (Sweet Soul Music special, 1986)
Bunny Walters and Pauline Yandall sing Sam Cooke's Bring It On Home to Me (Sweet Soul Music special, 1986)
The 1972 Australian single release of Take The Money And Run, licensed to the Image label based in Melbourne
Bunny Walters sings 'Welcome Back' on Ready To Roll backed by players including Kevin Bayley, Carl Evensen, and Clinton Brown, with Val Murphy, Tony Backhouse and Beaver on backing vocals.
Bunny Walters in Stebbing Studios, Herne Bay, Auckland, July 1977
Bunny Walters, Ritchie Pickett and Tom Sharplin
spotify:track:5jiEwNIpZH8ICVDd2EMEdk
After a variety show in the early 1970s, performers including Rusty Greaves, Craig Scott and Bunny Walters are presented to Princess Alexandra, one of the VIPs in the audience.
"Bunny Walters, Katikati pop singer". from Bay of Plenty Times, published 29 February 1972.
Photo credit: Tauranga City Libraries Photo gca-20140, CC BY-NC 4.0
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