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Biography Australian-born Singer, Musician, TV personality, Actress & Author. Shirley Abicair was born on 26 October 1930 in Melbourne. Some sources show her year of birth as 1935, however a contemporary account shows she was 23 or 24 on arrival in England and, as she had completed tertiary studies in Australia, the earlier date seems more likely. She was the only daughter of a Wing Commander in the RAAF. Prior to pursuing studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and/or (as with her year of birth, accounts differ) Sydney University where she took Philosophy, Languages and the Arts she resided in Adelaide. While studyimg in Sydney she began singing to support her studies and at parties. She would accompany herself on the harp-like instrument called a zither. Self-taught, she is said to have found the zither whilst rummaging in a cupboard as a small child. She then entered and won a Sydney radio talent quest. This led to offers of engagements on radio and in theatre and cabaret. Melbourne is the state capital and largest city in the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-largest city in Australia (after Sydney), with a population of approximately 3. ...
The RAAF Roundel is based on that of the British Royal Air Force, with the central circle replaced by a Kangaroo, a symbol of Australia. ...
Adelaide is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia, and is the fifth largest city in Australia with a population of almost 1. ...
Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and with a population of over four million people is the most populous city in Australia. ...
A Musima Guitar Zither 45 strings with 21 melody, 24 chords The zither is a musical string instrument, mainly used in folk music. ...
Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and with a population of over four million people is the most populous city in Australia. ...
In 1953, to advance her career, she left Sydney for London. In true fairy tale fashion she was photographed by a newspaper photographer looking for pretty faces whlist disembarking at London airport. Her photo was spotted by a radio producer in the newspaper and within weeks this led to her appearing on BBC television. Not much later that year she had her own programme in which she sang and played the zither. The zither was, along with her Australian-ness, to become her trademark. She released her first record "Careless Love" that year. During 1955 she co-starred with comedian Norman Wisdom in the film, "One Good Turn". London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ...
A Musima Guitar Zither 45 strings with 21 melody, 24 chords The zither is a musical string instrument, mainly used in folk music. ...
A Musima Guitar Zither 45 strings with 21 melody, 24 chords The zither is a musical string instrument, mainly used in folk music. ...
Sir Norman Wisdom (born February 4, 1915, other dates reported) is an English comedian, singer and actor. ...
In 1956 she recorded (with George Martin producing) the title song for the soundtrack of the classic Australian movie "Smiley". Through the middle/late 1950's she hosted (with help from her puppet friends, Australian indigenous children, Tea Cup and Clothespeg), a series called Childrens Hour, a childrens TV show. In the process she became an unofficial ambassador and promoter of Australia to a generation of British children. This Australian image was reinforced by her release of records with titles such as "(I Love You) Fair Dinkum" & "Botany Bay". During 1959 she returned to Australia briefly to record a series of televison documentary films she had conceived, based on Australian folk songs, entitled "Shirley Abicair in Australia", for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) TV network. For the author, see George R. R. Martin. ...
The ABC or Australian Broadcasting Corporation is the national, Australia. ...
1962 saw her tour Russia and in the same year she gave a recital at the Festival Hall in London. Later that year in October she visited the USA for performances. It was in 1962 as well that her childrens book, "Tales of Tumbarumba" was published. In June 1963 she returned to the US and appeared on the "Smothers Brothers" TV show. 1965 saw her put out an EP, "On the Nursey Beat", which was a number of nursery rhymes put to a Mersey beat. During 1966 she did a tour with British comedian Frankie Howerd to entertain British forces stationed in the Malay peninsula during the unrest there. This tour was filmed and later released as a TV special "East of Howerd". During 1966-1967 she released a number of more mature songs on record including her version of the evocative Gerry Goffin - Carole King song, "So Goes Love" and Paul Simon's, "Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall". She had previously, in the early 1960's, released three albums of folk songs. Tumbarumba is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, about 500 kilometers southwest of Sydney. ...
The Smothers Brothers are an American musical-comedy team, formed by real-life brothers Tom and Dick Smothers. ...
Frankie Howerd (born Francis Alex Howard in York, England, 6 March 1917 - not 1922 as he claimed; died in London, 19 April 1992) was a distinctive English comedian and comic actor. ...
Gerry Goffin (born February 11, 1939) is an American lyricist. ...
Tapestry (1971) Carole King (born February 9, 1942) is a Jewish American singer and songwriter. ...
Publicity still for Youre the One, released in 2000 This article is about the musician; for other Paul Simons, see Paul Simon (disambiguation). ...
She joined up with harmonica player Larry Adler in 1968 to do a childrens theatre show. She began her own one-woman theatre show in 1969 at the Arts Theatre in London. Lawrence Larry Cecil Adler, (February 10, 1914 – August 7, 2001), was an accomplished musician, widely acknowledged as one of the worlds most skilled harmonica players. ...
She moved to the United States (Oregon) in 1971 where she appeared in a series of College concerts with the famed American writer Ken Kesey. Shirley Abicair lives in London and divides her time between Britain, the USA and Australia. Ken Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American author, best known for his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, and as a cultural icon whom some consider a link between the beat generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. ...
References - Australian Encyclopedia - Sixth Edition - 1996 - Vol. 1 - Published by Australian Geographical Pty Ltd
- Sleeve Notes from LP - "Shirley Abicair Sings Songs From Many Lands" - 1960
External Web Links - Reference to her 1962 visit to the US - Newspaper Article "Kennedy's finest hour" Spectator, The, Oct 19, 2002 by Worsthorne, Peregrine
- Smothers Brothers TV performance
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