Ronnie Burns

★★★ This Is Ronnie Burns CHERRY RED. CD

Former Flies singer’s journey from avid Beatlehead to social activist.

Melbourne singer Ronnie Burns sang in ’60s beat band The Flies, famed for their Doin’ The Mod single. Going solo in 1966, the Beatles addict hooked up with the Bee Gees in Sydney, and they gave him four songs, two of which became his first hits. Both 1966’s Coalman and 1967’s Exit Stage Right were catchy harmony pop concerned with relationship matters. Like many of his peers, his later works, as collected on this anthology of singles and nonalbum tracks, capture the cultural moment: as in Smiley, written by Johnny Young, and Prophet: the first, from ’69, is a moving reflection on the Vietnam War set to orchestra; the second, from ’71, is a genuine plea for peace with Hare Krishna chanting.