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Ralph Ernest Newton (22 October 1932 – 8 January 2023), professionally Slim Newton, was an Australian country music singer-songwriter. In June 1972 he issued an extended play, The Redback on the Toilet Seat, which peaked at No. 3 on the Go-Set National Top 40 Singles Chart and sold over 100,000 copies. In 1973 Newton won a Golden Guitar Trophy at the inaugural Country Music Awards of Australia for Top Selling Record for the EP. Newton continued his career as a part-time musician and released several albums while also working in his trade as a welder. In 1977 the Country Music Association of Australia inducted him into the Australasian Country Music Hands of Fame, and then in 2009 into the Australian Roll of Renown.

Early life

Ralph Ernest Newton was born on 22 October 1932 and grew up in Perth with two brothers. At the age of 17 he was an apprentice welder when he started performing country and western music at week-ends. Newton was 19 when he had two motor bike accidents leaving him with "crockery teeth and one leg an inch shorter than the other". He finished his apprenticeship at the age of 21 and while working his trade he continued performing as a musician.

Career

1954–1970: Early years

In 1954 he toured Western Australia and followed with a solo northern Australian tour in the next year. By 1957 he was living in Sydney where he performed on the Reg Lindsay Show both on radio and at local venues. Also that year fellow country artists, Rick and Thel Carey, recorded "You Can Say That Again", which was co-written with Newton. He returned to Perth in 1959. In the mid-1960s he formed a group, The Mavericks, with Mick Kodra.

1971–2023: "The Redback on the Toilet Seat"

Newton had continued his songwriting and, in 1971, after contact from Eric Scott of Hadley Records, he and his family relocated to Tamworth, so that he could start recording his own material at their studios. His debut release was a four track extended play, The Redback on the Toilet Seat, which appeared by June 1972 and was produced by Scott. The EP peaked at No. 3 on the Go-Set National Top 40 Singles Chart, with a run of 15 weeks. According to David Kent in his Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 the EP appeared in the Kent Music Report Singles Chart on 19 June 1972, peaked at No. 5 for two weeks and remained in the top 100 for 28 weeks. Fellow country music artist, Slim Dusty, recalled in his autobiography, Another Day, Another Town (1996), how he had often been mistaken as the song's author.

In August 1972 Newton told Nan Musgrove of The Australian Women's Weekly of an occasion where a visiting friend used his outside toilet in Perth where the light globe had blown. The friend reported that he was lucky there were no redback spiders on the toilet seat. The phrase inspired Newton to write the track, "The Redback on the Toilet Seat", which he indicated was "easy to write, that most songs come fairly easy except when you have to write one on demand, then and there". Newton's follow up EP, How Did the Redback Die?, appeared in October and continued the theme to explain what happened to the spider. In 1973 Newton was awarded a Golden Guitar Trophy at the inaugural Country Music Awards of Australia for Top Selling Record.

Newton received further recognition for his work from the Country Music Association of Australia: in 1977 he was inducted into the Australasian Country Music Hands of Fame, and then in 2009 into the Australian Roll of Renown.

In November 2003 Newton was honoured by a celebration of his life in country music with his children and grandchildren performing his signature song. Newton attended with his partner, Mary Holdom, and the couple also provided some duets. Stephen has worked with John Williamson both at Enrec Studios (when located in Sydney) and as a concert guitarist. In 2009 Stephen relocated Enrec Studios to the former Hadley Records venue.

Personal life and death

In December 1956 Slim Newton performed with the Gill Brothers Rodeo and Circus in Canberra, he was promoted as "West Australia's own Cowboy Singer". In September 1958 he married Fay Edwards née Gill in Campsie and they returned to Perth the next year. The couple had five children: Eric (1959–1981), Stephen, Lisa, Linda and Jodi. By the time Jodi was born the family had relocated to Tamworth.

Eric had died in a car accident and, in 1983, Stephen established a studio, Enrec, in Tamworth in honour of his older brother. As of June 1984 Newton was working as a welder for Wetherall Engineering in Tamworth but was still touring periodically. In 1992 Stephen relocated Enrec Studios to Kurri Kurri and then on to Sydney.

Newton died on 8 January 2023, at the age of 90.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Awards

Country Music Awards of Australia

The Country Music Awards of Australia (CMAA) (also known as the Golden Guitar Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival, celebrating recording excellence in the Australian country music industry. They have been held annually since 1973.

Tamworth Songwriters Awards

The Tamworth Songwriters Association (TSA) is an annual songwriting contest for original country songs, awarded in January at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. They commenced in 1986.

Bibliography

• Newton, Slim (2008). Redback on the Toilet Seat. illustrated by Craig Smith. Malvern, South Australia: Omnibus Books. ISBN 978-1-86291-752-1.

References

1. "Roll of Renown". TCMF. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
2. ^ "Slim Newton 1977". Australian Country Music Hands of Fame. Australian Country Music Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
3. "Slim Newton". Country Music. 2 January 1998. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
4. ^ Musgrove, Nan (2 August 1972). "Slim Newton and His Spider". The Australian Women's Weekly. p. 7. Retrieved 3 November 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
5. "'You Can Say That Again"' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 4 November 2013.
6. Newton, Slim; Willis, Rob; Cameron, Bruce (2002). "Slim Newton, Entertainer & Song Writer". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 4 November 2013. Notes: Recorded on Aug.9, 2002 at Millfield near Cessnock, N.S.W.
7. ^ Nimmervoll, Ed (4 November 1972). "National Top 40". Go-Set. Waverley Press. Retrieved 4 November 2013. Note: Title of track is given as "Red Back on the Toilet Seat".
8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
9. Ryan (bulion), Gary (2 February 2011). "1972 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). Retrieved 4 November 2013.
10. Dusty, Slim; McKean, Joy (2003) . Another Day, Another Town. Sydney: Pan Australia. p. 201. ISBN 1-40503555-2.
11. ^ "Slim Newton 2009". Australian Country Music Roll of Renown. Australian Country Music Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
12. "1973". Country Music Awards of Australia. Country Music Association of Australia. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
13. ^ Byrnes, Cheryl (November 2003). "News from Tamworth". Capital News. Rural Press Limited. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
14. ^ Wolfe, Jon (7 May 2009). "Enrec Moves into Hadley Studios". Tamworth City News. Country Music Bulletin. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
15. "Advertising". The Canberra Times. 6 December 1956. p. 17. Retrieved 4 November 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
16. "Search Results: You searched marriages for the Groom's name Ralph Newton and Bride's name Fay Gill in the years 1788 to 1962". New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
17. "Slim's Spider Crawls to Prominence Once Again". The Canberra Times. 19 June 1984. p. 3. Retrieved 5 November 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
18. Slim Newton dies: Country star known for redback on toilet seat dies at 90
19. "Past Award Winners". Retrieved 2 November 2020.
20. "Roll of Renown". Tamworth Country Music Festival. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
21. "Tamworth Songwriters Association". Tamworth Songwriters Association Online. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
22. "Tamworth Songwriters Association Past Winners". Tamworth Songwriters Association Online. Retrieved 23 March 2022.

External links

• Slim Newton discography at Discogs
• Slim Newton at IMDb
• Article at countrymusichalloffame.com.au

• 1932 births
• 2023 deaths
• Musicians from Perth, Western Australia
• Australian country singer-songwriters
• Australian male singer-songwriters
• Australian singer-songwriters