Ronnie Ronalde

Infobox Musical artist


Img_size = 150
Name = Ronnie Ronalde
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Ronald Charles Waldron
Alias = 'The voice of variety'; 'The world’s greatest whistler'
Born = 1923, Islington, London
Genre = Music Hall, Variety
Occupation = Siffleur, Singer, Yodeler
Notable_songs = 'In a Monastery Garden', 'If I Were a Blackbird'
Associated_acts = The Silver Songsters
Years_active = 1938-present
Label = Columbia
Decca Records
EMI
Major Minor
Pye
URL = [http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~rronalde Official homepage]

Ronnie Ronalde (born Ronald Charles Waldron, 1923, London) is a British music hall singer and siffleur. Ronalde is famous for much more than just his voice: he is also world-renowned for his whistling, yodelling, imitations of bird song and his wonderful stage personality.

Such was his success in the US in the 1950s that he was seen as serious competition to Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, and also other greats like Richard Tauber and Josef Locke. His crystal clear yodelling gained him acceptance with connoisseurs of Alpine and Western music around the world.

After nearly 70 years of performing, Ronalde is perhaps one of the greatest success stories in British show business.

Biography

Early life (The Silver Songsters)

Ronalde is a true rags-to-riches story. Starting out from humble beginnings in a poor but loving Islington home, Ronalde found a talent for singing, whistling and bird impressions from early childhood. In these formative years, he would often entertain informally for pocket money, or with church and school choirs. It was here that Ronalde developed his talents in stage performance.

During a time in which he was training for accountancy, Ronalde was invited to become one of Arturo Steffani’s internationally famous ‘Silver Songsters’, aged 15. This 21 piece boy’s choir was renowned for its complex vocal and visual arrangements of popular songs, with each boy usually going into other trades when older. Steffani however was so taken with Ronalde’s voice, determination and whistling (he would refer to him as “The Pink of Perfection”), that on finding Ronalde he disbanded the Silver Songsters (in 1947) and became his personal manager, mentor and chaperone. They would later tour all over the world together.

After wartime service, Steffani encouraged Ronalde to study singing in London and yodelling in Switzerland, and for nearly a decade he began working his way up the bill, not only as a solo Variety performer, but also under his new name: Ronnie Ronalde.

The Fifties (The Halcyon Years)

After early struggles, Ronalde’s first successful UK tour (in the late 1940s) met him with a wave of interest. Bookings from this point on came fast and furious. Ronalde’s first recordings were with Decca Records (these were frustratingly only to be whistling performances), but his first major label contract came from EMI. Ronalde would also join Pye, Major Minor and Columbia records, becoming one of their biggest sellers. Ronalde was a million selling artiste in the pre-Beatles age.

“If I Were a Blackbird” (1950) is among Ronalde’s most famous songs. This rendering of Delia Murphy’s Irish folk song had him in the British top 20 for a record 6 months. She would later jovially express her thanks for boosting her income. Other songs include “Tritsch Tratsch Polka” (in which the speed of delivery illustrates Ronalde’s excellence in the art of whistling), “Bells Across the Meadow” (by Albert Ketèlbey), and many more. His best known recording is “In a Monastery Garden” (by Albert Ketèlbey). This haunting song is always played as his finale, and over a million copies of it have been sold in their varying formats.

Across this decade Ronalde was always a Headliner, and broke box office records all over the world: he was a big name in the UK, the U.S., Australasia, Scandinavia, Africa, South America and Europe. Such was his success in the US in the 1950s, he was seen as serious competition to Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby (on occasions outselling them), and other greats like Richard Tauber and Josef Locke.

Ronalde had his own BBC Radio Show from 1949 called "The Voice of Variety". During this series, Ronalde’s fan mail caused such a problem for the BBC that extra secretaries were employed to answer the volume of correspondence. The "Voice of Variety News" fan publication had a print of 55,000 copies twice yearly, and Fan Clubs during this era sprouted all across the UK. Thames TV also presented a weekly show titled "Meet Ronnie Ronalde".

In 1949 Ronalde filled Radio City Music Hall in New York (with capacity of over six thousand) every night for ten weeks. He would become the most frequent UK artiste to ever perform here (over 1000 times). In Canada he topped that by filling a 25,000 capacity Toronto venue for a fortnight.

During this period, Ronalde also performed for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at the Royal Command Performance at the London Coliseum. A Daily Express reporter commented on the Prince’s attempts to demonstrate whistling to the Queen after this performance. He would later appear before Prince Philip again.

Later life

At the height of his popularity, Ronalde foresaw a decline in variety performing and took a step away from the limelight. Nonetheless, Ronalde never abandoned the entertainment industry – he has always maintained an engagement diary and summer seasons, as well as TV and radio appearances. He first settled on the island of Guernsey in the 1960s, being attracted to it after a performance there. He purchased a hotel (St Martin’s, which would come to be known as Ronnie Ronalde’s Hotel), and met Austrian wife Rosemarie who would become his business manger after Steffani’s death. After raising three children, both he and Rosemarie moved to the Isle of Man in the late 1980s, then to New Zealand in the 1990s (to Whistler’s Lodge). He now lives in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

He still broadcasts and does concerts. In New Zealand in 1990, Ronalde filled the 2500 capacity Aotea Theatre, and was asked to stay for another concert; this was again a full house. He was also asked to return for repeat performances in Auckland’s Town Hall and the Town Hall in Christchurch.

Ronalde was awarded America’s North Carolina Louisburg Hall of Fame Award in 1995, their highest acclaim, given only to artists of outstanding international distinction.

His recording “Bird Song at Eventide” was featured in the hit TV series, and subsequent best-selling soundtrack, The Singing Detective in 1986.

His 1998 autobiography is entitled "Around the World on a Whistle" and draws extensively on memorabilia, theatre bills, photographs and clippings, making it not only the definitive Ronnie Ronalde story, but also an excellent contribution to the published history of variety circuits. His next book, he quips, will be “an Encyclopaedia of Whistling”.

EMI Australia released a CD with the same title ("Around the World on a Whistle") in the 1990s. In testament to the longevity of his popularity, this gained him another Gold Disc and a small upsurge in his career. Since "Around the World" EMI have released a number of albums of Ronalde’s early works that haven’t been available since their original gramophone releases.

Ronnie Ronalde appears in the 2007 Australian feature film "Clubland".

The comedians Bob Hope, Jimmy Edwards, Morecambe and Wise, Bob Monkhouse, Peter Cook, Max Wall and Max Bygraves have all made references to ‘Whistling Ronnie’ in their routines. Terry-Thomas joked that he was sick of hearing Ronalde’s whistling, and frequently attempted impersonations.

Other Artists

Due to the nature of Variety performing, artists that have shared stages with Ronalde run to a formidable list, often reading like a who’s who of show business. Such artists include:

Max Wall, Peter Sellers, Danny Kaye, Spike Milligan, Tommy Cooper, Shirley Bassey, Duke Ellington, Sir Harry Secombe, Sophie Tucker, Edith Piaf, Josef Locke, Julie Andrews, Laurel and Hardy, Ginger Rogers, George Formby, Tommy Sands, Vera Lynn, Bruce Forsyth, Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson, Neil Finn, Wee Georgie Wood, Nat Gonella, Phyllis Dixie, Harry Corbett, Tony Pastor, Cavan O'Connor, Arthur Tracy, Gracie Fields, Max Bygraves, Benny Hill, Sandy Powell, Catarina Valente, Semprini, Frankie Howerd, Anne Shelton, Alma Cogan, Bert Weedon, Arthur Askey, Max Bygraves, Charlie Chester, Bud Flanagan, Ted Ray, Frankie Vaughan, Terry-Thomas, Reginald Dixon, Dorothy Squires, Billy Reid, Nicholas Parsons, Josephine Baker, Jack Train, Charlie Naughton and Jimmy Gold, Robert Harbin, Frank Cordell, Jimmy Scott, Jack Jackson, Janet Brown, Stan Stennett, Lester Ferguson, Wilfred Pickles, Hughie Green, Winifred Atwell and Harry Shields.

Ronalde also became acquainted with Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Louis Armstrong, Laurence Harvey, Abe Saperstein, Jack Fox, Beryl Reid, Richard Murdoch, Joan Collins, Roy Castle and Meat Loaf, some of whom stayed at Ronalde’s Hotel.

Discography

References

*Ronalde, Ronnie] | title=Around The World On A Whistle| publisher=Blackbird Publications Ltd| year=1998 | id=ISBN 0-473-05692-5

External links

* [http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~rronalde/ Ronnie Ronalde official website]
* [http://www.emicatalogue.co.nz/Discography.aspx?artist=3982/ EMI Catalogue - Ronnie Ronalde]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/sessions/2000s/2002/May19ronnieronalde/ John Peel session 2002]
*BBC - [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/r/ronnieronalde/ Ronnie Ronalde]