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early seventies, taxiing between venues and dancing across the band meeting later, the decision was made and they relocated
city for tourists when the cruise ships came in. and performed at the venue for a year.
“I’d go to school in the day, and by the nights I was dancing For a time, Paul Almeida – whose cousins in the band Tavares
with a group where I was the only young one. Suva was one had achieved global fame with ‘Heaven Must be Missing an
place to be back then, wow! The music!” she exclaims. Angel’ and who had himself provided backing vocals for UK
“Those days, it was very safe. There was nothing to fear. superstar Lulu – joined the entourage and toured Viti Levu,
People loved to be entertained so when they hear there’s a floor singing beside Eni and pulling huge crowds.
show, everybody would just sit and wait for it.” “We played at the Fijian Hotel, the Hyatt Regency, and then
When she was just 12 years old, Eni was invited to be a guest we went back again to Hunters Inn. There was ten of us and
in the final of the Suva JC’s Singing Competition. Realising we travelled in a 36-seater bus with all our equipment and
her talents extended beyond dancing, Eni fully committed to a everything. And I tell you that was one of the best times.”
career as a vocalist, supported by her mother, who everyone “It’s so lovely to sing with people who come from a long way
knew as ‘Marama’. away,” Eni reminisces. “Because you get more exposed, and
Some years later she would win the same competition with a you benefit from the experience that they bring in. It’s so nice.”
rendition of Natalie Cole’s ‘Mr Melody’, and with it, the opportunity The band also pulled big crowds in the capital’s iconic venues
to travel to Australia, of the time.
After a year in Sydney, homesick and on the cusp of adulthood, “We played at The [Golden] Dragon, and we played The
Eni returned to Fiji and was quickly approached by local Crystal Palace. Right next door there was another place called
supergroup Ulysses to sing. The band would be home for her for Rockefellers – more upmarket, you know, everything is so dim,
many years, introducing her to a gang of incredibly talented and the seatings are very low, you climb up the steps and you dance
close-knit friends. on top.”
The group captured the spirit of Fiji’s harmonious melting pot “It was always full. When we played those days those places,
that Eni remembered from her youth. the line of people to get in was down to the library! They wait,
“It wasn’t just Fijian boys – there were Indian boys, Rotuman when one goes out one goes in. The music life was like that –
boys, Chinese boys, all great musicians,” she tells me, people just go out to dance and listen to bands.”
emphasising the word great, rolling the R heavily for effect. “But the coup,” she says throwing up her hands and shaking
Still… quite the Boys Club, I note, to which she laughs. her head, “changed everything.”
“At that time there was not very many female singers. In the
sixties there were some, but when the modern music came it Musical harmony, national discord
was just me and Melaia Dimuri, who’s passed now.” In those earlier days Eni spent so much time rehearsing and
“I was doing Candi Staton, Dionne Warwick, Rita Coolidge, performing with Ulysses, that it is unsurprising a romantic chord
Chaka Khan,” Eni says, clearly drawing inspiration from the struck and Eni found herself drawn to the band’s drummer, her
American and European female artists of the time. “We worked husband-to-be and soulmate, Aneil Kumar.
very hard, we rehearsed a lot, and we changed our songs every “Eni and Aneil were both young and single,” band leader Henry
week. We managed to do that because we all clicked so well.” Foon remembers, “Aneil was an incredibly talented muso who
“This was when there was no television in Fiji, there was was technically skilled in audio production and a great groove
no phones, most of my songs I would get over the radio,” she player on drums. He was also one of the male vocalists in the
continues excitedly, “We just had small tape recorders, record band and I suppose Eni noticed all these outstanding qualities
players, putting the needle back over and over, that’s how we that he had.”
learned our songs. And it was tough times. We worked our butts However, in later years, the progressive professional and
off I tell you!” personal relationships that always existed in the band and
Ulysses played across Viti Levu, from Lucky Eddie's in Suva, in parts of the music scene, were not always reflected on the
to the Mocambo Hotel and Sunlover Hotels in Nadi, from Hunters streets.
Inn Lautoka to the Pacific Harbour Resort. As you might imagine, On the one hand, Eni was adored on stage and being
it wasn’t all work. groomed as potential Hibiscus royalty, but on the other she and
“Weilei, we had some crazy times!” she exclaims. “We had a Aneil faced judgement, harassment and bullying for any public
party in one room at Mocambo, and we flooded the whole wing. display of affection.
“The stopper fell into the sink, the tap was on, and we fell “We couldn’t walk together like that,” she tells me, “Because
asleep! when he walked with me the Fijian guys would turn around and
“So, then the manager thought to put us out, but we were spit on the ground.”
making them so much money, we were pulling the crowds from On top of this neither family accepted the relationship at first.
Ba, Sigatoka, Lautoka, so the hotel was always packed when the “We went through hell. But we were so much in love we didn’t
band played. Always! They couldn’t let us go because we were care… So, we ran away together!”
making money for the hotel, and I tell you, it was big money!” Once again, the roll on the R from “ran” is as defiant as her
The next year a new venue in Lautoka called Hunters Inn tone, and Eni is laughing and smiling. The couple eloped to the
came calling. The manager approached band leader Henry west and spent a year playing gigs at The Regent Hotel and JP’s
Foon and asked that Ulysses sign up as house band. A quick nightclub, staying at the Sunseekers Hotel.

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