Maria Dallas was discovered at a talent contest in small town Morrinsville

Morrinsville

Morrinsville is a town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. The land for the town and surrounding farmland was purchased from Wirimu Tamehana,the king maker prior to the NZ land wars of the 1860s. The land then was very swampy...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Her first single "Tumblin' Down", written by Jay Epae

Jay Epae

Jay Epae , born Nicholas Epae, was a Māori pop singer from Manaia, Taranaki, New Zealand. He moved to the United States in 1957. His albums were released on the American Mercury label until 1962, when he switched to American Capitol...

, released in 1966 and made it to #11 in the charts. It also won her a Loxene Golden Disk Award.
She released several albums and singles before moving on to Australia in 1967 and then to Nashville.
She returned to New Zealand in 1970 and scored a #1 hit with the song "Pinocchio".