"A Little Ray of Sunshine" is a song by Australian country rock band Axiom. The track was co-written by band members,

Brian Cadd Brian George Cadd AM (born 29 November 1946) is an Australian singer-songwriter, keyboardist, producer and record label founder, a staple of Australian entertainment for over 50 years. As well as working internationally throughout Europe and the ...

and Don Mudie. It was released as a single in March 1970 and peaked at number 5 on the ''Go-Set'' National Top 40 in May 1970. The song was celebrated with its own stamp in Australia Post's 1998 Australian Rock stamp series.

Background

Axiom formed in late 1969 in Melbourne as a country rock group by

on co-lead vocals, organ and piano, Doug Lavery on drums, Don Mudie on bass guitar,

Glenn Shorrock Glenn Barrie Shorrock (born 30 June 1944) is an English-born Australian singer-songwriter. He was a founding member of rock bands the Twilights, Axiom, Little River Band and post LRB spin-off trio Birtles Shorrock Goble, as well as being a solo ...

on co-lead vocals and rhythm guitar, and Chris Stockley on lead guitar. "A Little Ray of Sunshine" was co-written by Cadd and Mudie. According to Australian music journalist,

Ed Nimmervoll Edward Charles Nimmervoll (21 September 1947 – 10 October 2014) was an Australian music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock and pop magazines ''Go-Set'' (1966–1974) and ''Juke Magazine'' (1975–92) both as a journalist ...

, " t wasinspired by the birth of Don Mudie's first child." However, according to Cadd, the song was written about his niece. The song is written to celebrate her arrival. Axiom travelled to London in May 1970 to attempt to break into the English music market. Meanwhile, the Australian music market was embroiled in the

1970 radio ban The Australian 1970 Radio Ban or 1970 Record Ban was a "pay for play" dispute in the local music industry that lasted from May until October. During this period, a simmering disagreement between commercial radio stations – represented by the Fed ...

, with major labels and radio networks involved in a "pay for play" dispute. Christobel Munson of ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'' described, on 16 May 1970, how, "commercial radio stations throughout Australia ceased to play most British and Australian-made records from midnight last night" and cited a local disc jockey, Terry Malcolm, who predicted, "the average listener would not notice the difference in programmes. 'The main ones which will be dropped after Friday night will be the Beatles' 'Let It Be', the Axiom (an Australian pop group) record 'A Little Ray of Sunshine'..." Axiom's single peaked at number 5 on the ''Go-Set'' National Top 40.

Track listing

; 7" single (7XAPA1869) All tracks written by

and Don Mudie. *Side A "A Little Ray of Sunshine" - 3:25 *Side B "Ford's Bridge" - 3:40

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

* In 1974,

released a solo version. * In 2011,

Denis Walter Denis Walter OAM, (born 3 January 1955) is an Australian radio presenter, baritone singer, recording artist and media personality who also presented television news for 16 years. Career Walter's music career has lasted over forty years and he ...

recorded a version for his album ''Songs from a Southern Land'' * In 2013,

recorded a version for his album ''45 Years of Song''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Ray of Sunshine 1970 songs 1970 singles Parlophone singles Songs written by Brian Cadd