Editing Radio Birdman (section)

== History ==
=== Origins ===
[[Deniz Tek]] and [[Rob Younger]] formed Radio Birdman in the mid-1970s (around 1974) in [[Sydney|Sydney, Australia]], having recently left their former projects, [[TV Jones]] and the Rats.<ref name=":0" /> They recruited classical keyboard player Philip "Pip" Hoyle, drummer Ron Keeley, and bassist Carl Roke. The band took their name from a [[mondegreen]] of the phrase “Radio 'burning'” in [[The Stooges]]' song "[[Fun House (The Stooges album)|1970]]".<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Stafford |first=Andrew |date=2024-01-28 |title=Radio Birdman on their last shows – and their legacy: 'It's a bit of a wank to acknowledge all that' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/jan/29/radio-birdman-australian-band-final-live-tour |access-date=2024-09-25 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

[[File:DSC19610 PSMS-2.jpg|thumb|Rob Younger, during a performance by Radio Birdman in Melbourne in 1996.]]

In 1975, after facing rejection from various venues and performing in rented garages and community halls{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}, Radio Birdman secured a residency at the Oxford Tavern{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} at [[Taylor Square]] in [[Sydney]]. They eventually took over the venue's management, renaming it The Oxford Funhouse.<ref name=Thompson/> By then, Carl Roke had been replaced by former Rats member Warwick Gilbert.

Radio Birdman developed a following within the emerging Sydney [[Punk subculture|punk]] scene.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-04 |title=From stage dives to infights: the birth of Australian punk |url=https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/musicshow/the-saints-ed-kuepper-radio-birdman-murray-engleheart/104068104 |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=ABC listen |language=en-AU}}</ref> With the help of [[Rock Australia Magazine|''Rock Australia'' Magazine]] editor, Anthony O'Grady, the band selected a recording studio and recorded an EP, ''[[Burn My Eye]]'', and their first album, ''[[Radios Appear]],'' both produced by [[John Sayers]] and Charles Fisher at Trafalgar Studios in [[Annandale, New South Wales|Annandale]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Bell |first=Steve |title=When The Birdmen Fly: Part One |url=https://themusic.com.au/features/radio-birdman-when-birdmen-fly-part-one/51v4-_r9_P8/30-10-14 |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=The Music |language=en}}</ref>

Under [[Michael McMartin]]'s management, Trafalgar Studios signed the band and financed the recordings. ''Radios Appear'' was critically acclaimed, earning 5 stars in the Australian edition of [[Rolling Stone Australia|Rolling Stone]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bell |first=Steve |title=How To Get Your Head Around Eight Discs Of Radio Birdman |url=https://themusic.com.au/news/how-to-get-your-head-around-eight-discs-of-radio-birdman/uoetrK-u0dA/09-10-14 |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=The Music |language=en}}</ref> The album was influenced by Detroit bands of the late 1960s, such as [[MC5]] and [[the Stooges]].<ref name=Thompson/><ref>{{Cite news |last=McKenzie |first=Simon |date=2014-05-27 |title=Australian anthems: Radio Birdman – Aloha Steve and Danno |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/australia-culture-blog/2014/may/27/australian-anthems-radio-birdman-aloha-steve-and-danno |access-date=2024-09-25 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The album's title comes from the [[Blue Öyster Cult]] song, "Dominance and Submission", from their 1974 ''[[Secret Treaties]]'' album, which influenced Radio Birdman's sound.<ref name="Thompson" /> ''Radios Appear'' was played on Sydney station [[Triple J|2JJ (Double Jay)]].<ref name=":3" /> Released on the newly-created independent label Trafalgar Records, the album was sold by mail order and distributed by band members and friends to a few record stores, never achieving widespread sales or commercial success.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |author=Staff Writer |title=When The Birdmen Fly: Part Two |url=https://themusic.com.au/features/when-the-birdmen-fly-part-two/5Ff39vn4-_o/07-11-14 |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=The Music |language=en}}</ref> 

Several years after the initial release and following the band's breakup, Trafalgar Records licensed the recordings to [[Warner Music Group|WEA]], who took on the album and gave it a wider release. However, sales remained limited.<ref name=":4" />

When [[Sire Records]] president [[Seymour Stein]] came to Australia to sign [[Brisbane]] punk band [[The Saints (Australian band)|the Saints]], he saw Radio Birdman and invited them to join his label.<ref name=":4" /> Under Sire, licensed by Trafalgar, Radio Birdman released a new version of ''Radios Appear'' featuring a mixture of re-mixed, re-recorded, and some new material.<ref>{{Citation |title=Radio Birdman - Radios Appear |date=2023 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/29005615-Radio-Birdman-Radios-Appear |access-date=2024-12-10 |language=en}}</ref>

As the [[Punk rock in Australia|punk movement in Australia]] continued to grow, the underground scene at the Funhouse began to attract some outsider groups, including the Sydney chapter of the [[Hells Angels]]. Following a concert at [[Paddington, New South Wales|Paddington]] Town Hall with [[The Saints (Australian band)|the Saints]] and the Hot Spurs in April 1977, Radio Birdman left the Sydney scene, playing sporadically in other cities and working on new material.<ref name="Needspublished"/>

The band returned six months later and performed their most well-attended show at [[Paddington Town Hall]] on 12 December 1977, with approximately 2,000 attendees.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RADIO BIRDMAN: MOVIE MAELSTROM |url=https://eastsidefm.org/radio-birdman-movie-maelstrom/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=89.7 Eastside FM |language=en}}</ref> After this show, the band moved their base of operations to London and toured in the UK and Europe, headlining and as support for Sire label-mates the [[Flamin' Groovies]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Hernandez |first=Raoul |date=2007-06-22 |title=Descent Into the Maelstrom |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2007-06-22/494060/ |url-status= |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=Austin Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref> 

Their overseas operations were short-lived, as [[Sire Records]] began having financial difficulties and dropped Radio Birdman and many other bands from the label. A planned American tour with [[Ramones|the Ramones]], scheduled for the second half of 1978, was cancelled.<ref name=":5" /> In May 1978, they recorded their second album, ''[[Living Eyes (Radio Birdman album)|Living Eyes]]'' at [[Rockfield Studios]] in [[Wales]]. Unreleased by Sire, the tapes were released in 1981, long after the band's 1978 breakup.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Doe |first=John |date=April 1981 |title="Albums" |url=https://issuu.com/libuow/docs/up104_4_03__2_ |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=[[Roadrunner (Australian music magazine)]] |pages=27}}</ref>

=== Breakup ===
Without a label, with no tour support or distribution for ''Radios Appear'', the relationships between the band's members grew strained. They split up after playing one last show at [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]] in June 1978.<ref name="Needspublished"/>

=== 1978–1996 ===
All six members went on to other bands. Younger joined the Other Side, and later [[New Christs]], bands more oriented towards hard rock.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1970-01-01 |title=NEW CHRISTS, THE |url=https://www.bang-records.net/bands/new-christs-the/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=Bang Records |language=en-US}}</ref> Tek, Keeley, and keyboardist Pip Hoyle formed [[the Doors]]-influenced inner-city band [[The Visitors (Australian band)|the Visitors]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=THE VISITORS |url=https://www.deniztek.com/the-visitors-csjw |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=deniz-tek |language=en}}</ref> Guitarist [[Chris Masuak]] and bass guitarist Warwick Gilbert's [[the Hitmen]] went on to participate in the [[Pub rock (Australia)|Australian pub rock]] scene.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Hitmen |url=https://www.lanewaymusic.com.au/the-hitmen |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=laneway-music |language=en}}</ref> Tek, Younger, and Gilbert played in a one-shot touring band called [[New Race]], with [[Dennis Thompson (drummer)|Dennis Thompson]] of the [[MC5]] and [[Ron Asheton]] of [[the Stooges]]. They made no studio recordings but released one official "live" album, ''[[The First and the Last (album)|The First and Last]]'', and there are two more "[[Bootleg recording|bootleg]]" live albums, ''The First to Pay'' and ''The Second Wave'', on the French label Revenge. 

A non-musical LP, ''Soldiers of Rock 'n' Roll'', was released in 1982. This album, described by the record company as "an audio documentary of Radio Birdman," was released after Deniz Tek had left music to pursue a career as a jet pilot and was assembled by the people at Trafalgar Records, akin to a soundtrack for a documentary that was never produced. 

=== Reunion ===
Radio Birdman reunited for the [[Big Day Out]] tour in 1996 and again in 1997. Since then, Radio Birdman has toured sporadically. In 2002, Warwick Gilbert was replaced by Jim Dickson, who had previously played with the [[New Christs]], [[Louis Tillett]], [[The Passengers (band)|the Passengers]], [[the Barracudas]] and [[Deniz Tek]]. Drummer Ron Keeley left the band in 2004 after the band's performance at the Azkena Festival in Spain. He was temporarily replaced by Nik Reith, formerly of [[the Celibate Rifles]], [[Tumbleweed (band)|Tumbleweed]], the [[New Christs]] and the Deniz Tek Group. He was replaced after six shows by [[You Am I]] drummer [[Rusty Hopkinson]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-07-20 |title=Descent into the Maelstrom: The Untold Story of Radio Birdman (Umbrella) |url=https://www.cyclicdefrost.com/2017/07/descent-into-the-maelstrom-the-untold-story-of-radio-birdman-umbrella/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=Cyclic Defrost |language=en-US}}</ref>

The band's next album, ''[[Zeno Beach]]'', was 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. ''Zeno Beach'' was recorded in Sydney in December 2005, produced by guitarist Deniz Tek and engineer Greg Wales. Carl Roke, the original Radio Birdman bassist, died the year of the new album's scheduled release, which was dedicated to his memory.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kimbo |date=2013-11-19 |title=HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN MUSIC FROM 1960 UNTIL 2000: RADIO BIRDMAN |url=https://historyofaussiemusic.blogspot.com/2013/11/radio-birdman.html |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN MUSIC FROM 1960 UNTIL 2000}}</ref>

Following a February tour of Australian capital cities, the band toured internationally in support of ''Zeno Beach'' in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the US, from 27 July 2006 in Sydney to 7 October. This was the first time Radio Birdman played in America. Many Australian dates featured the LA soul/punk band [[The Bellrays]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The BellRays • Home |url=https://thebellrays.com |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=The BellRays}}</ref>

In July 2007, the band was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association ([[Australian Recording Industry Association|ARIA]]) 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).<ref>[http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2007-07-05/music_feature.php]{{dead link|date=April 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> The induction saw all living original members plus current members attend the ceremony, except for Pip Hoyle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Deniz Tek: The Citadel Years and Beyond |url=https://bigtakeover.com/profiles/deniz-tek-the-citadel-years-and-beyond |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=The Big Takeover |language=en}}</ref>

[[Daniel Johns]] of [[Silverchair]] gave the induction speech, followed by the band playing a two song set. The three guitarists (Tek, Masuak, and Dickson) also participated in a rehearsed stage move, each holding up their guitars and saluting the drums during the song New Race. Murray Shepherd (ex-[[The Screaming Tribesmen]] and current [[The Hitmen]] drummer) sat in on drums for this occasion, as then-drummer Russell Hopkinson was touring with You Am I.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Rockers blow up myth about 90s hellraising |url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/you-am-i-tour-celebrate-30th-anniversary-of-the-album-that-changed-aussie-rock/news-story/047cfa1c8f241b14709215b8d8b8dcde |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250405033423/https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/you-am-i-tour-celebrate-30th-anniversary-of-the-album-that-changed-aussie-rock/news-story/047cfa1c8f241b14709215b8d8b8dcde |archive-date=2025-04-05 |access-date=2025-04-19 |work=news |language=en-GB}}</ref>

The band 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. In October 2007, Radio Birdman ceased touring after a long run of dates in Europe, ending in [[Athens]], [[Greece]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Radio Birdman Concert & Tour History {{!}} Concert Archives |url=https://www.concertarchives.org/bands/radio-birdman?page=2#concert-table |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=www.concertarchives.org}}</ref>

In 2014, the band released a box set on the Citadel label. The box set included 7 CDs and 1 DVD, featuring remasters of the band's official releases plus 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 featured Nik Rieth on drums and Dave Kettley on guitar (replacing longtime member Chris Masuak), along with Jim Dickson (bass) and original founding members Rob Younger, Pip Hoyle, and Deniz Tek. Radio Birdman completed European and Australian tours in 2015 and 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Radio Birdman Concert & Tour History {{!}} Concert Archives |url=https://www.concertarchives.org/bands/radio-birdman?page=1#concert-table |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=www.concertarchives.org}}</ref>

In June and July 2017, the band undertook a joint national tour with [[Died Pretty]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/497417/radio-birdman-died-pretty-touring.htm|title=Radio Birdman and Died Pretty are touring the country together soon|website=Tonedeaf.com.au|date=6 February 2017 |access-date=22 September 2017}}</ref> They last performed live in 2019.<ref name="Needspublished"/>

In 2017, Radio Birdman was the subject of a feature-length documentary, ''Descent into the Maelstrom – The Radio Birdman Story''.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |work=The Guardian |title=Radio Birdman: brutally honest doco cements legacy of volatile Sydney punk band |last=Stafford|first=Andrew|date=9 June 2017|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jun/10/radio-birdman-brutally-honest-doco-cements-legacy-of-volatile-sydney-punk-band |via=theguardian.com |access-date=23 February 2022}}</ref> 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|''Rolling Stone Australia''{{'}}s]] "50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time" issue.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-04 |title=50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time – #44: Radio Birdman |url=https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/50-greatest-australian-artists-of-all-time-radio-birdman-22639/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203000033/https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/50-greatest-australian-artists-of-all-time-radio-birdman-22639/ |archive-date=2021-02-03 |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=Rolling Stone Australia |language=en-AU}}</ref>

In 2024, Radio Birdman toured Australia to celebrate their 50th anniversary. The tour culminated with a Sydney concert.<ref name=":1"/> A biography "''Retaliate First: How one band smashed the rules of Australian rock and roll''" was released in July 2024 coinciding with this final tour.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-03 |title=Excerpt: What Really Happened in the Radio Birdman Story |url=https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/radio-birdman-biography-excerpt-62885/ |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=Rolling Stone Australia |language=en-AU}}</ref>