RADIO BIRDMAN

Deniz Tek and Rob Younger formed Radio Birdman in mid-1974 in Sydney, having recently left their bands TV Jones and The Rats respectively. The pair sought to begin a band that would have no commercial interest and break the norm at the time, so they recruited classical keyboard player Philip 'Pip' Hoyle, drummer Ron Keeley and bassist Carl Rorke. The band took their name from a misheard lyric from the Stooges' song "1970" (the actual lyric is "radio burnin'"). After being rejected many times from various venues, Radio Birdman found a pub in Taylor Square, Sydney and eventually took over its management, naming it The Oxford Funhouse.

Under their management, the Funhouse became a home to any and all groups with musical tastes similar to the band. Not long after the opening of this venue, Carl Rorke left the band and was replaced by longtime friend of Rob Younger, Warwick Gilbert (also a former 'Rats' member). Also, to temporarily leave the band would be Philip Hoyle, and though his departure was short lived, this was how Radio Birdman came across guitarist Chris Masuak. Soon, a culture of Radio Birdman was developing in the underground, people started to dress differently, followed the Birdman symbol and the Oxford Funhouse was their home.

This was the beginnings of the Sydney punk scene. Using the Funhouse as a base of operations, Radio Birdman recorded an EP, 'Burn My Eye'. and their first album 'Radios Appear' produced by John L Sayers and Charles Fisher at Trafalgar Studios in Annandale. Trafalgar Studios financed the recordings. 'Radios Appear' was critically acclaimed, getting five stars in the Australian Rolling Stone edition. The album owed much of its style to Detroit bands of the late 1960s, such as The MC5 and The Stooges. The title of the album comes from a Blue Öyster Cult song "Dominance and Submission" from their 1974 'Secret Treaties' album, influences from which can also be seen in Birdman's creative output.

Though 'Radios Appear' was totally ignored by commercial radio, it was championed by Sydney station 2JJ (Double Jay). Sales of this album were initially limited because they were recording using a private label Trafalgar Records. Shortly after initial release, Trafalgar Records leased the recordings to WEA who took on the album and gave it a wider release. However, sales remained limited due to a lack of commercial support. Promotion could have been also somewhat inhibited as some fans felt the recordings lacked the ferocity and immediacy of the live shows and did not represent their experience of the band. The band remained underground but began to travel far from Sydney to perform their shows, it was at this time that keyboard player Pip Hoyle returned to the band. When Sire Records president Seymour Stein came to Australia to sign up fellow punk band The Saints, he saw Radio Birdman play and immediately invited them to join his label.

Under this new label, Radio Birdman released a new version of 'Radios Appear' featuring a mixture of re-mixed, re-recorded and some new material. Comparisons between the two versions of the album are disputed with some feeling that the second version is a more accurate reflection of the band's sound. Most fans however own both versions and simply treat them as two separate and different recordings. With the commercial release of this new album, the underground punk scene, that Radio Birdman was a part of, began to attract some groups with negative agendas, namely biker gang, Hells Angels.

With this new, more violent and rowdy crowd, the Funhouse was at the point of overflowing. The band was blamed for violent incidents occurring at the Funhouse, so in mid-1977, they left Sydney and took a break from music, instead pursuing educational goals. The band returned half a year later and performed their most famous show to date at Paddington Town Hall alongside The Saints. Two thousand people supposedly packed into the venue (in fact film of the event suggests a few hundred at most) and tracks recorded from the show would later be included on numerous other Radio Birdman recordings.

After this show, the band began their European tour, but their overseas success was short lived as Sire Records began having financial difficulties and were forced to drop Radio Birdman from their label. On the other hand, Tek has apparently claimed that Stein offered to support the band if he and Hoyle would defer their medical studies for five years, but that they both refused (see Vivian Johnson's biography of the band). Without a label, the band struggled to progress musically. In 1978, as one last sendoff, they recorded their second album 'Living Eyes' at Rockfield Studio in Wales, which had a posthumous release in 1981, long after the band's 1978 break-up. Radio Birdman played one last show at Oxford University, after which the band split up. The underground punk scene of Sydney was shocked by this, as the band had only been together for four years, but many felt that they had made their mark well enough on Australian musical history.

Radio Birdman reunited for the Big Day Out tour in 1996 and again in 1997. Since then, Radio Birdman have continued to tour sporadically. In 2002 Warwick Gilbert was replaced by Jim Dickson who had previously played with the New Christs, Louis Tillett, the Passengers, the Barracudas and Deniz Tek. Drummer Ron Keeley left the band in 2004 after the band's poor performance at The Azkena Festival in Spain, and was temporarily replaced by Nik Reith, formerly of the Celibate Rifles, Tumbleweed, the New Christs and the Deniz Tek Group. He was replaced after six shows by You Am I drummer Russell Hopkinson.

The year 2006 saw much activity by Radio Birdman, spearheaded by the completion of a new album entitled 'Zeno Beach', released in Australia on 24 June 2006 via the band's own Crying Sun Records, and in the US via Yep Roc Records on 22 August. Named for the closing track, a surf-rock tune written by Hoyle, 'Zeno Beach 'was recorded in Sydney in December 2005, produced by guitarist Deniz Tek and engineer Greg Wales. Carl Rorke, the original Radio Birdman bassist, died the year of the new album's scheduled release, and it was dedicated to his memory.

Following a February tour of Australian capital cities, an extensive world tour of dates in support of Zeno Beach for Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the US was accomplished, commencing 27 July 2006 in Sydney, and ending on 7 October. This successful tour marked the first time Radio Birdman played in America. Many Australian dates featured LA soul/punk band the Bellrays. In July 2007 the band was inducted into the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Hall of Fame (in an interview, vocalist Rob Younger indicated the band had previously declined an invitation to join the Hall of Fame years before). The induction saw all living original members plus current members attend the ceremony, except for Pip Hoyle.

The band again toured Australia, the US, Canada and Europe, with approximately 80 concerts in 2007. In September 2007 the band featured in the Clash of the Titans tour alongside the Stems and Hoodoo Gurus, which launched in Sydney at the Enmore Theatre and included dates across Australia. Radio Birdman ceased touring after a long run of dates in Europe, ending in Athens, Greece in October 2007.

The band released a definitive box set on the Citadel label in 2014. The box set included 7 CDs and 1 DVD, featuring remasters of the band's official releases plus a wealth of archived and previously unheard studio material. The Box also contains a professional recording of the 12 December 1977 Paddington Town Hall concert. In November 2014, the band was reassembled to promote the release of the Box Set, and played shows across Australia. The 2014 lineup continues to this day, and features Nik Rieth on drums and Dave Kettley on guitar (replacing long time member Chris Masuak), along with Jim Dickson (bass) and original founding members Rob Younger, Pip Hoyle, and Deniz Tek. Radio Birdman remains active as of this writing, with European and Australian tours completed in 2015 and 2016.The band is undertaking a joint national tour with Died Pretty in June and July 2017.

In 2017 Radio Birdman was the subject of a feature-length documentary Descent into the Maelstrom – The Radio Birdman Story. The film covered the band's history from precursor bands The Rats and TV Jones to their European tour in 2015. In December 2020, Radio Birdman were listed at number 44 in Rolling Stone Australia's "50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time" issue.

Members

Deniz Tek (guitar), Rob Younger (vocals), Pip Hoyle (keyboards), Ron Keeley (drums), Chris Masuak (guitar), Warwick Gilbert (bass), Carl Rorke (bass), Russell Hopkins (drums), Jim Dickson (bass), Nik Reith (drums), Dave Kettley (guitar)

SINGLES 
''New Race / T.V. Eye'' 1977 Trafalgar 
''Aloha Steve And Danno / Anglo Girl Desire'' 1978 Trafalgar Australia 
''Alone In The Endzone / Breaks My Heart'' 1981 WEA
''Alien Skies (Instrumental)'' 1983 

''''Subterfuge / Zeno Beach'' 2006 Crying Sun 
''Buried And Dead / Ballad Of Dwight Fry'' 2016 Citadel 

EPs 

'Burn My Eye' 1977 Trafalgar

ALBUMS 

'Radios Appear' 1977 Trafalgar
'Living Eyes' 1981
'Ritualism' 1996 Crying Sun
'Zeno Beach' 2006 Crying Sun
'Live In Texas' 2010 Crying Sun

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Birdman