'Heart' of legendary quartet recalled by founding member

Sir Howard Morrison was quartet frontman but Gerry Merito who died Monday was the heart of the show, says fellow founding member Joe Mutu.
Merito died after having a heart attack at the Waihou Hotel in Waikato. He was 70.
He had performed on Sunday night at the hotel and returned the next day to collect band equipment when he had the sudden heart attack and died.
Mr Mutu, speaking yesterday from the Masterton home he shares with wife Isobel Ann, was one of two original backup singers with the legendary Maori song-and-comedy group when it formed in Rotorua in 1953 from a throng of amateur performers twice the size.
He performed with the Howard Morrison Quartet along with Merito, Gary Rangi-i-hu and three Morrison brothers until 1957 when he took a promotion to Wellington with the then Department of Social Security.
Merito began playing guitar after a nurse gave him his first instrument while he was sick and went on to become the comic engine, musical director, lyricist and vocal coach for the quartet, Mr Mutu said.
"Gerry was instrumental in teaching guitar to a second quartet formed right at the outset and it was Gerry who penned a number of the Howard Morrison Quartet parodies (My Old Man's An All Black and We All Live In A Purple Maori Pa).
"We were all natural singers and none of us could read music but Gerry would still get us to the right notes and pitch when needed," he said.
"Howard was the lead singer and frontman with fine stagecraft and a sense of humour he is Mr Entertainment but Gerry was also like that and I don't think the quartet would have got anywhere without him.
"Gerry was the pou, he was the anchor and was totally indispensable and essential to the group."
He said he last saw and spoke to Merito last year during a Wairarapa performance featuring his old friend, who was still working an entertainers' circuit through the North Island.
Several singers of note also took the stage with the quartet during their immensely popular performance and recording career, including Toni Williams and John Rowles.
Mr Mutu, 73, has a wide vocal range and has sung in various venues and with the Masterton Amateur Theatrical Society since moving in 1977 to Masterton, where he also rose to become assistant director of pensions and benefits in Wairarapa for the then Department of Social Welfare until his retirement in 1987.
He is to next take the stage during the MATS 100th Jubilee performance in Masterton at Easter.
He took up singing at the feet of his father, also Joe, who "had a beautiful singing voice" and would regularly gather together family members for sing-alongs at their Rotorua home.
Mr Mutu said he is only days older than Sir Howard and the death of Merito makes the pair the only surviving members from the original line-up.
He said he and his wife Ann are now contacting friends and family regarding the time and place of the Merito tangi.
He said he is happy to sing at the funeral of his friend if called upon although he believes this will be a duty Sir Howard is more likely to perform.