Shirley Thomas

b. 12 January 1925, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, d. 1 July 1999, Summerland Stage, Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia. Thoms was raised on a plantation and by her early teenagers, she was performing and yodelling the music of Pal Williams and Tex Morton that she noticed on the air. In 1940, she gained a radio skill competition with her edition of Harry Torrani’s ‘Mocking Parrot Yodel’. This achievement resulted in her initial six recordings for Regal Zonophone, manufactured in Sydney on 27 Might 1941. She published her own materials and the tunes included ‘Where The Golden Wattle Blooms’. They quickly proved well-known and six even more recordings quickly adopted, including her edition of ‘Mom’s Old Crimson Shawl’. She toured with numerous shows, including Single Bros Circus, and during Globe Battle II, she was also extremely popular as an associate of an military entertainment device. Between 1942 and 1946, she documented 20 more edges, including her weepy ‘The Faithful Aged Puppy’ for the same label. She wedded John Single in 1950 and nominally retired, although she documented six edges for the Rodeo label in 1952. Her child Peter was created in 1956 however in 1958 her spouse died. She later on wedded a veterinary doctor and even though the relationship failed, she created a pastime in veterinary technology. She also published on viewpoint and designed and constructed herself a palatial house in Sydney. In 1970, she was persuaded to seem in the Tamworth Event. She also came back to the documenting studios, this time around for Hadley, where she quickly demonstrated that her tone of voice had lost non-e of its charm, nor experienced she dropped her capability to yodel with the very best (her Austrian-born grandfather experienced always stoutly managed her capability to yodel was hereditary). Although her documented output had not been large, she experienced the unique variation to be the 1st female Australian nation singer to create solo recordings, aswell being the 1st Queenslander to produce a record. She sang using a plaintiveness comparable to Kitty Wells and her first 78 recordings remain highly popular by collectors. Nevertheless, through the 70s, all her first Regal Zonophone recordings had been reissued (in documenting purchase) on three albums. In 1980, she became the 5th artist however the initial female performer to become elected towards the Australasian Nation Music Move of Renown.