Slick as a WHISTLE

Meeting beloved radio star Ronnie Ronalde still blows Kevin away

- KEVIN MILNE

One of the songs I associate most with the radio Sunday Request Sessions of my childhood is If I Were a Blackbird. Remember it? It was performed by the remarkable English siffleur (whistler and singer) Ronnie Ronald. It fascinated me.

How could a man whistle like a bird? The record sold over a million copies. I got to know Ronnie Ronalde much later in his life. He came to New Zealand to retire in the ’90s. I happened to MC one of his shows. He was touring New Zealand performing mainly to the elderly, though at 75, he found himself on stage with Tim Finn after Tim released his Try Whistling This album.