THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,657) Ronnie Burns — “Piccadilly Pages”
Ronnie Burns gives us a music hall-y nostalgic pop rock delight. “Long live . . . one of [Australia’s] truest pop heroes!” (Paul Culnane, http://www.milesago.com/artists/burns.htm). Indeed.
Paul Culnane tells us Burns’ story in the definitive Milesago: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1965-1975:
He began his musical career as a folk singer in Melbourne before catching the ‘Beatle bug’ in 1964, whereapon he became a founding member of The Flies . . . . one of the very first bands in Melbourne to catch on to the new ‘beat’ style and gained attention as “Victoria’s top Beatle-alikes” . . . . achieved considerable popularity on the booming Melbourne dance circuit, with a repertoire of Brit-vasion standards from the catalogues of The Searchers, The Hollies and Herman’s Hermits and others . . . . The Flies toured interstate during late 1964 and early 1965 . . . . supporting The Rolling Stones on their first Australian tour in January 1965. . . . Ronnie quit the band in August 1965 to go solo . . . . [He] clean-cut image, appealing, boyish, dimpled good looks and impeccable sartorial presentation immediately made him a favoured TV and pin-up star when he launched his solo career under the aegis of leading Melbourne impresario Jeff Joseph. . . . Ronnie could often be seen on pop TV shows including The Go!! Show and Uptight . . . . was extremely popular, and enjoyed a series of strong chart hits, many written and/or produced by the cream of Aussie pop composers and backed by some of our top musicians. And he was voted Australia’s most popular male performer, or “King Of Pop”, on more than one occasion. . . . [H]is popularity gradually spread thanks to regular TV and concert appearances. He signed a solo recording contract with the Spin label, and his debut solo single for them . . . “Very Last Day” . . . . made the Top 20 in Melbourne in June 1966, as did the follow-up, “True True Lovin'” . . . (#17 in September), and it also made the new Go-Set national Top 40, first published in the 5 October 1966 edition, coming in at #22 in the inaugural chart. . . . He scored major success on the singles chart by tapping into a rich vein of material written by his illustrious label-mates The Bee Gees . . . . The Bee Gees [see #291, 353, 354, 439, 466, 484, 497, 570, 594, 717, 861, 962, 1,065, 1,101, 1,125, 1,190, 1,321, 1,336, 1,343, 1,465, 1,584, 1,640] penned Ronnie’s third solo single “Coalman” . . . especially for him . . . . [It] became a national Top 10 hit . . . peaking at #6 . . . . [and] followed by another brisk, hard-beat Gibb number, “Exit Stage Right” . . . peak[ing] at #19 at the end of July. . . . His growing popularity was certainly assisted by the fact that his biggest competitor, Normie Rowe, had been away from the local scene, first with trips to Europe and America in 1967, and then by his call up for National Service . . . . in early 1968. The Groop’s songwriting team of Brian Cadd and Max Ross, provided Ronnie with both sides of his next single, “When I Was 6 Years Old”, which charted briefly in Go-Set, reaching #28 (Mar. 1968) . . . . Ronnie’s next single — and one of his best — was the magnificent “Age Of Consent” (#16, Jan. 1969), a lush, emotive ballad penned by The Twilights’ [see #563] Terry Britten . . . . Britten wrote quite a few songs for Burns, as did Johnny Young. . . . Ronnie toured the land extensively over the next few years . . . . Johnny Young produced a full album’s worth of solid material in 1969’s Smiley. The LP’s wistful title track was an enormous hit for Ronnie in December 1969, only just missing out on the #1 spot [with today’s song on the B-side]. It was one of the few Australian hits of the ’60s to directly address the issue of the Vietnam War, although it was not the first, as is sometimes claimed — that honour goes to The Masters Apprentices’ “Wars Or Hands Of Time” [see #297] . . . . Further introspective Young-penned songs for Burns’ singles, like “The Prophet” and “If I Die” helped to prolong Ronnie’s turn in the spotlight. After a couple more polished pop albums that featured well-chosen material from notable singer-songwriters of the day . . . . Burns retreated from the glare of the pop music spotlight for some time. . . .
Tim Sendra adds that:
Spin Records signed him and released his first single, a cover of Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Very Last Day’ in 1966. After another record, a cover of Cliff Richard’s “True, True Lovin,'” the label suggested Burns work with the Bee Gees. Burns wasn’t too excited at the prospect, thinking the young Gibb brothers and their rocker hairstyles were a bad fit. After a listen to their demo tape, he realized right away that his misgivings were unfounded and their Beatlesque tunes were perfect for him. At their initial meeting, Burns recorded four songs written and produced by the Gibbs; they were released as the “Coalman”/”All the King’s Horses” and “Exit Stage Right”/”In the Morning” singles in 1967. Plans to record an entire album were foiled by the Gibbs’ departure to the U.K.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-is-ronnie-burns-mw0003305818 https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ronnie-burns-mn0000330070#biography
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