In the late Seventies, after The Saints lit the fuse of Australian punk with their classic single (I’m) Stranded, they were followed to the UK by Radio Birdman.
Like The Saints, who came from Brisbane, Radio Birdman had been playing their loud, abrasive garage rock since 1974 in and around their home town of Sydney.
But in those pre-internet days, with their own record industry in its infancy, Aussie bands struggled to reach an international audience unless they could make it to London or New York.
Radio Birdman made it after Sire Records boss Seymour Stein travelled to Australia to sign The Saints to his label and added Radio Birdman to the roster.
I saw Radio Birdman in March 1978 on what I believe was their very first UK date at The Vortex in Wardour Street.
It was later described by the band as “one of the most violent crowds we’ve ever encountered.” They were that kind of band: loud, abrasive and uncompromising; just like their contemporaries The Lost Boys, who were doing a similar thing down in Melbourne with a demented front man called Nick Cave.
After a handful of UK dates with The Flamin’ Groovies, and recording a second album in Wales – which remained unreleased until 1981 – the band broke up in June 1978, missing out on a potentially lucrative US tour with The Ramones.
Radio Birdman were formed by vocalist Rob Younger and guitarist Deniz Tek in 1974, recruiting classical keyboard player Pip Hoyle and completing the group with bass player Carl Roke.
Their debut album Radios Appear was recorded in 1976-77 in Sydney but was only available in the UK by mail order until it got a release in the summer of ’77 as punk was beginning to explode – though that version is partially re-recorded and re-mixed, with some new material.
Their garage-punk influences were clear to see from the opening Stooges cover (T.V. Eye) and a later version of a song by the 13th Floor Elevators (You’re Gonna Miss Me), as well as the album title itself, which comes from a Blue Öyster #Cult song, Dominance And Submission.
By then they had already released Descent Into The Maelstrom, which sounds exactly like its title suggests it will, and was also the title of a 2017 documentary about the band.