Ronnie Burns (singer)

the Australian singer

Ronald Leslie Burns AM (born 8 September 1946) is an Australian retired rock singer songwriter and musician. He fronted the Melbourne band "The Flies" in the early 1960s, followed by a solo career into the 1970s and was a member of Burns Cotton & Morris in the 1990s. He retired from performing in 2000. His solo hit single, "Smiley" peaked at number two on the Go Set National Top 40 in 1970. On 10 June 2013 Burns was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia with the citation "For significant service to the community, particularly to children recovering from illness and trauma, and to the entertainment industry".

Born on 8 September 1946, Burns was raised in Elwood, Melbourne, Victoria. His father was a butcher, his mother Edna was a fan of vaudeville and his brother Frank, who is five years older, was a drummer. In 1968, Burns appeared on Once Upon a Twilight, the pilot for a projected TV series starring The Twilights, he performed the Barry Gibb song 'In The Morning' with the group and comedian Mary Hardy, but plans for the series were scrapped after the sponsor withdrew support. Late that year, former pop star Johnny Young was writing "The Real Thing" as a ballad and intended to offer it to Burns. Young was practising it in a dressing room while TV pop show Uptight was being recorded. Meldrum happened to walk by and wanted it for his newly managed artist, Russell Morris (ex Somebody's Image). Morris recorded it as his debut solo single with Meldrum's production turning it into a six minute long psychedelic pop song – it became a national No. 1 hit in May 1969. On Burns's arrival at Gibb's flat, he gave his host a gift replica gun, as Burns was aware of his fondness for them. Gibb then took his guest downstairs to show him his gun collection. Handing Burns a German Luger pistol, Gibb uttered the words, "Careful, it has a hair trig—". Before Gibb could finish what he was saying, the gun went off and its bullet parted his hair, missing his head by millimetres. According to Burns, "Barry just went white".

Year Single Chart Positions Notes AUS1966"Very Last Day"45#12 Melbourne"True True Lovin'"50#15 Melbourne1967"Coalman"6#5 Melbourne, No. 5 Sydney, No. 8 Brisbane, No. 8 Adelaide"Exit, Stage Right"23#12 Melbourne, No. 15 Sydney, No. 15 Brisbane"We Had a Good Thing Going"33"When I Was Six Years Old"301968"Age of Consent"181969"How'd We Ever Get This Way"82"Smiley"2#3 Melbourne, No. 1 Sydney, No. 3 Brisbane, No. 10 Adelaide1970"Prophet"30"One Bad Thing"76
A B side "All The King's Horses" charted as a flipside in Sydney.