― David Gunnip, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― dave q, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Dave225, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― lee g, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Andy, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― philT, Friday, 25 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
ah, shout that out drunk when someone says that hunters and collectors rock...
― goeff, Saturday, 26 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Jack Redelfs, Friday, 1 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
That is what you meant, wasn't it?
― Dave(-id), Friday, 1 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― J.redelf (Squirrel_Police), Friday, 19 December 2003 11:37 (twenty years ago) link
― the surface noise (electricsound), Friday, 19 December 2003 11:40 (twenty years ago) link
I like a few of their songs but find themas w hole, severely overrated.
― budgie, Friday, 19 December 2003 13:50 (twenty years ago) link
― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 13:21 (twenty years ago) link
― Hayden Nicholls (Pop the Weasel), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 14:04 (twenty years ago) link
?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
And yes, the CD version of Radios Appear is worth getting mostly because the couple songs the Essential does miss -- "Hit Them Again", "Monday Morning Gunk", their cover of the 13th Floor Elevators' "You're Gonna Miss Me" -- are well worth getting.
― nate detritus (natedetritus), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 21:09 (twenty years ago) link
so, classic.
― el sabor de gene (yournullfame), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 01:56 (twenty years ago) link
― nate detritus (natedetritus), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 02:15 (twenty years ago) link
― Hayden Nicholls (Pop the Weasel), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 16:14 (twenty years ago) link
― Myonga Von Bontee, Wednesday, 18 February 2004 20:42 (twenty years ago) link
― Broheems (diamond), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 21:08 (twenty years ago) link
― lil' merzbow wow (haitch), Thursday, 25 May 2006 11:12 (seventeen years ago) link
― kingfish doesn't live here anymore (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 04:22 (seventeen years ago) link
― guns to deal with vodka (haitch), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 10:13 (seventeen years ago) link
― StanM (StanM), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 11:33 (seventeen years ago) link
Radio Birdman, Mudhoney, Dirtbombs and Easy Action Sept. 3rd, Majestic Theatre, Detroit.
with mudhoney opening, hopefully that means they'll make it to the pacific northwest
― kingfish doesn't live here anymore (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 13:05 (seventeen years ago) link
― js (honestengine), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 13:54 (seventeen years ago) link
except for life being so unstable that i don't go to shows much
― kingfish doesn't live here anymore (kingfish 2.0), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 15:14 (seventeen years ago) link
Hell, I thought everyone knew this by now...
August: Wednesday 30th: Los Angeles - Wiltern TheaterThursday 31st: San Francisco - Great American Music Hall
September: Friday 1st: Seattle - El CorazonSaturday 2nd: Chicago - Double DoorSunday 3rd: Detroit - Majestic TheatreTuesday 5th: Cleveland - Beachland BallroomWednesday 6th: Washington (DC) - Black CatFriday 8th: New York - Irving PlazaSaturday 9th: Cambridge (MA) - The Middle EastMontreal - tba
― LOL Thomas (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 16:49 (seventeen years ago) link
...
Hi
For those of you who care about such things, thought I'd drop a dimeand spell it out for your use/knowledge-base:
The brand new album, "Zeno Beach" is being release in North America via Yep Roc Records. The release date is August 22nd. I'm also happy to report that the new album shows the band not having skipped a beat, or having aged badly... fans will be undoubtedly very, very pleased...
The tour of the US starts later that month. Here's the official, confirmed dates:
8.30.06 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern LG8.31.06 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall9.01.06 Seattle, WA - El Corazon9.02.06 Chicago, IL - Double Door9.03.06 Detroit, MI - The Majestic Theater9.05.06 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom9.06.06 Washington, DC - Black Cat9.08.06 New York, NY - Irving Plaza9.09.06 Cambridge, MA - Middle East9.10.06 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
This is the first ever appearance by the band on these shores--theDennis Tek stuff doesn't count.
Please spread the word....
Hmm, looks like there are no Canadian dates, as previously hinted.
― ((((((DOPplur)))n)))u))))tttt (donut), Saturday, 10 June 2006 19:41 (seventeen years ago) link
In AMG, John Dougan wrote, "I've seen this box set exactly once (in Minneapolis to be exact), didn't pick it up and have regretted it almost daily ever since. If you've caught the fever of this band and are inclined to have their complete recorded works — buy it!"
That must be the one I bought ;) I played cuts from it pretty often on my radio show. Overall I felt there was something missing, in a way similar to The Dictators. If they were legends, their recordings were missing the spark I would expect.
I figured it would only be a matter of time when everything was remastered and reissued with nice liner notes. I didn't get the Sub Pop collection because I want all the songs. This site referred to both albums being reissued. Was it Aussie only?
"In 1996 Tek and Younger went into the studio and remixed both Radios Appear and Living Eyes for re-issue on CD. The original master tapes from Rockfield had been found and after some repairwork were put back into service. In the two decades since the band had last been active, Younger had become the best producer in Australia with a knack for creating crackling hot records, and he put all of his skills to use in remixing the two CDs. The final results are essential; it is rare to hear records benefit so much from remixing as these two have; everything is so much more clear and punchy."
― Fastnbulbous (Fastnbulbous), Sunday, 11 June 2006 00:37 (seventeen years ago) link
Too bad they can't do anything 'bout the songs, which were the weak part, and I actually bought the original "Radios Appear" and listened to it quite a lot. "Man With Golden Helmet" -- yuck. And not much after the first was too good with the exception of the song "Burn My Eye."
The live CD from a few years ago off one of their Aussie reunion tours wasn't bad. It convinced you their best moment was easily "Aloha Steve & Danno." "New Race" and "Do the Pop" maybe coming in second and third.
Given the choice between them and the James Gang reunion tour this summer with Joe Walsh, I'll take the James Gang by a six-pack for 70's nostalgia.
― Urnst Kouch (Urnst Kouch), Sunday, 11 June 2006 21:30 (seventeen years ago) link
DAMMIT SCREW YOU PHILLY!!!
― alex in montreal (alex in montreal), Monday, 12 June 2006 13:33 (seventeen years ago) link
― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Saturday, 8 July 2006 05:02 (seventeen years ago) link
― Urnst Kouch (Urnst Kouch), Saturday, 8 July 2006 05:21 (seventeen years ago) link
― StanM (StanM), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 21:15 (seventeen years ago) link
― the dow nut industrial average dead joe mama besser (donut), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 22:54 (seventeen years ago) link
Deniz Tek's an interesting guy though, he formed the band down under when he was in medical school, went on to become a flight surgeon/pilot in the US Navy and now practices in Montana. He still plays the old Epiphone Crestwood he bought from Fred Smith.
― m coleman (lovebug starski), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 23:12 (seventeen years ago) link
― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 23:22 (seventeen years ago) link
I really really really don't want to hear anything about that new Stooges album anymore after this.
― StanM (StanM), Wednesday, 30 August 2006 07:30 (seventeen years ago) link
Anyone know why their show was cancelled last night?
― Colonel Poo, Saturday, 27 October 2007 01:10 (sixteen years ago) link
http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/9891.jpghttp://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0007Y8A7E.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
― and what, Saturday, 27 October 2007 01:15 (sixteen years ago) link
Where? Are they on tour again?
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 27 October 2007 16:13 (sixteen years ago) link
They were, yes.
http://www.radio-birdman.com/dates.html
and they apparently had visa trouble that one time - someone says something about it in the replies here (live pictures in there too) : http://www.myspace.com/theofficialradiobirdman
― StanM, Saturday, 27 October 2007 17:21 (sixteen years ago) link
I don't think they're that great overall. They had a great name, great image, great song titles, but they never exceeded the sum of their parts.
Their sound is quite thin really, especially considering there was six of them. I'd like to like them, but overall they're a bit dud.
― PhilK, Saturday, 27 October 2007 17:29 (sixteen years ago) link
I was reading the section about them in Clinton Heylin's Babylon Is Burning, and pulled out the CD. It had been a few years and it sounded pretty great. It's no Stooges, but what is? By the way, I always assumed the book was just a rehash of From the Velvets to the Voidoids with UK punk and 80s indie and grunge tacked on, which is why it merited the persnickety reviews. But at least up through the 70s, it's pretty great, giving a more well-rounded picture, with more of everything.
― Fastnbulbous, Saturday, 8 November 2008 16:27 (fifteen years ago) link
bummed by all the "they're no [x]" and "they're okay i guess" talk on this thread. you disappoint me, ILM. though there might be a bit of chaff here or there, the songwriting & performances on radios appear are rock solid, keeping respectable company with the saints, stooges & MC5. the surrounding EP tracks & singles measure up just fine, supporting the album without eclipsing it.
i have to admit that living eyes probably did do something to dilute their rep. it's a fine record and compellingly dark, but nowhere near as immediately ingratiating as the debut, and the original mix was incredibly poor, rendering everything down into a flat gray mush. (btw, i don't know that i've ever heard an album so spectacularly redeemed by a remix - if you haven't heard it since back in the day, you owe yourself some time with the remix/master.) still, whatever's done for the sound, it's a mite draggy overall, and a few remarkable exceptions noted ("crying sun"! "time to fall"!) the hooks are few and far between. worth remembering that it was a posthumous release, though. in the long run, this is a band that lives or dies by one near-flawless album, along with a manageable apocrypha.
listen to Younger blow his fucking larynx on "new race" ("kids are gonna eeject / cuz now it's time to PUNCH OUT!"). he's doing that for your benefit. listen to him wallow in post-exile despair on "love kills", as lovely and memorable a song as a supposedly punk band ever managed, in or out of australia. and Tek's just one of the best goddam guitar players of his day. every bit as versatile, passionate and inventive as the heavy-hitting proto-punk riff lords in whose favor he's now ignored. furious & ecstatic without sacrificing precision and melody, always in perfect control of his tone, working every sideways shimmer and bleed for maximum stun. check his raging bumblebee buzz on "do the pop", and shit the "descent into the maelstrom" solos rank among the most satisfyingly maniacal gtr blowouts anyone's ever welded to a fistful of stolen surf & berry riffs.
in part, i suppose it's a question of tastes and times. they aren't a particularly heavy band. their groove is practically nonexistent, which cost them when they loosened up on the BOC-indebted living eyes. they snap and twitch more than swing, and their best riffs ("hand of law", "do the pop") jump up and down in place like sugar-buzzed schoolkids.
in his liner notes for the sub-pop compilation, David Fricke says, "we never had a rock and roll band as complete and certain in its sound, mind and agenda as Radio Birdman." and i love his writing, but i don't know about that. one of the things that makes RB so satisfying for me, and perhaps part of what keeps others on the fence, is their lack of cohesion. they want to kick ass and blow doors like the stooges and the MC5, but they're torn by their devotion to sunny melodic pop, bleary comedown blues, and wiry punk. they live & die by showy glam guitar heroics that went out of fashion at least 20 years ago, and even at their best, they're working through (and okay sometimes recycling) a very small handful of fine ideas.
still, this is some of the best damn rock and roll anybody's ever cut to wax. i fucking love em just for "snake", one of my favorite songs of all time - so sweet & sexy & fast, like summertime forever top down no brakes no cares just GO. great tunes, a distinctive vision & sound, and a hell of a lot of fun to listen to. easily deserving a place of honor alongside the other, now more celebrated bands mentioned in this thread.
― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Thursday, 17 December 2009 11:58 (fourteen years ago) link
I dunno if I've got the remixed version or not but Living Eyes is totally great.
― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 17 December 2009 12:02 (fourteen years ago) link
i'd agree now, maybe without the totally?, but for years i rated it more interesting than successful. think if it'd had just a couple more tracks like "455 sd" (another of my all-time favorite songs) & "burn my eye" i'd have forgiven all sins. always been a sucker for the crocodile rock.
― a dimension that can only be accessed through self-immolation (contenderizer), Thursday, 17 December 2009 12:11 (fourteen years ago) link
These guys were fucking awesome. I agree with the above post about "Snake" another great one is "I-94" partially because I grew up right off I-94.
― Bill Magill, Thursday, 17 December 2009 14:47 (fourteen years ago) link
Birdman's "greatest hits" or whatever its called that came out on SubPop about a decade ago is spectacular workout music. And drinking music.
Love this band.
― Prince Kajuku (Bill Magill), Thursday, 15 May 2014 22:04 (nine years ago) link
I can confirm it's great drinking music, that Sub Pop thing was the first "new" vinyl I ever bought, back when it first came out.
― djenter the dragon? (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 15 May 2014 22:05 (nine years ago) link
Tek was a true master of his craft
― Prince Kajuku (Bill Magill), Friday, 16 May 2014 03:35 (nine years ago) link
yay, i get to spend more money
― katsu kittens (contenderizer), Friday, 16 May 2014 05:24 (nine years ago) link
StanM, its a documentary, on WEA Aus.
BOC isn't on it, don't know if they are mentioned I've not played it all but the script is on the back.
Produced at budget price, AU$6.95 or so.
― Mark G, Friday, 16 May 2014 06:58 (nine years ago) link
Box set just arrived, 7 CDs and a DVD. It's going to be a fun week immersing myself.
Open question: which tracks were re-recorded for the Sire version of "Radios Appear" and which are the same?
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Saturday, 25 October 2014 20:06 (nine years ago) link
I think there were only a couple - New Race and Love Kills maybe? But I just got the box myself and haven't immersed myself enough to say for sure. I didn't even know the CD I had of Radios Appear was a combination of the Sire and Trafalgar versions until recently.
― ...and Lou Reed as Dr. Eldon Tyrell (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Saturday, 25 October 2014 20:17 (nine years ago) link
Thanks for the revive, forgot all about this & luckily not sold out yet.
Details herehttp://www.musicfarmers.com/product/radio-birdman_radio-birdman-box-set_cd/
― StanM, Saturday, 25 October 2014 22:16 (nine years ago) link
Where is "If I Wanted To" from the 1995 "Living Eyes" reissue? Does it have a different name in the box?
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Sunday, 26 October 2014 03:04 (nine years ago) link
Man With The Golden Helmet and Love Kills maybe? Sorry I don't know for certain either.
― everything, Sunday, 26 October 2014 03:14 (nine years ago) link
"If I Wanted To is a notable absence" - maybe because it was a cover song, licensing issues perhaps?
http://www.i94bar.com/news/first-sighting-radio-birdman-box-set-tracklisting
― StanM, Sunday, 26 October 2014 03:45 (nine years ago) link
Ok, not a cover song apparently. No idea then.
― StanM, Sunday, 26 October 2014 03:47 (nine years ago) link
Which of the post-Birdman albums are the cream of the crop?
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 28 October 2014 01:35 (nine years ago) link
^^^ This is a really good question, actually! I've always wondered that myself.
― Brocktoon Tanuki (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Tuesday, 28 October 2014 03:05 (nine years ago) link
i think the visitors s/t is great, new christs distemper is supposed to be p good though i haven't heard it in full
― mit iodine (electricsound), Tuesday, 28 October 2014 04:24 (nine years ago) link
New Race - "The First And The Last" is classic and scorchio.
― StanM, Tuesday, 28 October 2014 12:33 (nine years ago) link
This box set looks awesome
― Prince Kajuku (Bill Magill), Tuesday, 28 October 2014 15:57 (nine years ago) link
I once played in a band that did a cover of a Deniz Tek song: Breaking My Heart, Breaks My Heart, something like that? I think that was a New Race song rather than R. Birdman.
― ... and a Martin Parr photo essay (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 October 2014 16:01 (nine years ago) link
Birdman did Breaks My Heart
― Prince Kajuku (Bill Magill), Tuesday, 28 October 2014 16:02 (nine years ago) link
Ah right, good song!
― ... and a Martin Parr photo essay (Tom D.), Tuesday, 28 October 2014 16:03 (nine years ago) link
Do check out the New Race version of Breaks My Heart as well, though.
― StanM, Tuesday, 28 October 2014 21:22 (nine years ago) link
... yeah, I think that's where I first heard it!
― ... and a Martin Parr photo essay (Tom D.), Wednesday, 29 October 2014 01:36 (nine years ago) link
I'm expecting the box set tomorrow.However, dear Radio Birdman, with all due respect, I don't think I'll be needing too many re-remastered versions of the same 30-odd songs again in the near future.
1988 2CD Under The Ashes (WEA/Trafalgar)2001 The Essential Collection (Sub Pop)2002 Europe 2003 4CD Tour Pack (Trafalgar/Citadel)2014 this box set
(Don't tell me the 1988 book has been rewritten after the reunion too - the old one's pages are yellowing a bit by now)
― StanM, Wednesday, 29 October 2014 17:24 (nine years ago) link
Twelve years in the 2000s might as well be a century!
― Brocktoon Tanuki (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Thursday, 30 October 2014 02:20 (nine years ago) link
they're doing at least one show next march at the golden plains festival in victoria - no chris masuak though, "due to personal differences with Rob Younger"
http://2015.goldenplains.com.au/whos-playing/radio-birdman/
― DigitalNativeDunce (haitch), Thursday, 30 October 2014 03:46 (nine years ago) link
I'm totally not sure yet which remaster I prefer to be honest - the CITCD550/CITCD551 4CD Euro Tour set or this new one.Think I'm even going to re-rip that Under The Ashes 2CD and the SubPop compilation just to have them all next to each other.
― StanM, Thursday, 30 October 2014 17:34 (nine years ago) link
"due to personal differences with Rob Younger"
who doesnt have personal differences with Rob Younger?
― Prince Kajuku (Bill Magill), Thursday, 30 October 2014 18:57 (nine years ago) link
Just ordered the box; got an email saying that Citadel is closed until November 5. Some kind of weird Australian holiday? Oh, well. I can wait.
― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Thursday, 30 October 2014 23:30 (nine years ago) link
lol
― mit iodine (electricsound), Thursday, 30 October 2014 23:35 (nine years ago) link
The box set is great. Some genuinely surprising alternate arrangements, various different versions, mixes and demos, a tantalising but very short glimpse of their live performances on the DVD, but the real gem for me is the Paddington concert. Yeah hup!
― StanM, Friday, 31 October 2014 00:07 (nine years ago) link
closed until November 5. Some kind of weird Australian holiday? Oh, well. I can wait.
hitch-hiking to Melbourne for the Cup obv
― Starland Vocal Gland (sic), Friday, 31 October 2014 00:44 (nine years ago) link
I think I have a problem with the box set I got.
To anyone who has the new box set: do you have a ticking sound in the intro of some of the remastered tracks too? Murder City Nights, for instance - both the Sire and the Trafalgar versions have it, but the 2001/2002/earlier versions didn't. It's not a hi-hat, since it's not in the same place. It's not my CD player, it happens on more than two.
― StanM, Friday, 31 October 2014 09:54 (nine years ago) link
The first five seconds of Murder City Nights. I mean those vertical lines in the 2014 ones:
citcd550, 2002 : http://i61.tinypic.com/5u4dqa.jpgcitcd579, 2014 : http://i58.tinypic.com/25zij4i.jpgcitcd580, 2014 : http://i57.tinypic.com/2u4rclg.jpg
― StanM, Friday, 31 October 2014 09:57 (nine years ago) link
I don't hear any ticking on mine.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 5 November 2014 18:36 (nine years ago) link
I've mailed Citadel about it but haven't received a reply yet - I don't suppose Amazon UK will feel they're responsible for misprints if I just send it back
― StanM, Wednesday, 5 November 2014 19:03 (nine years ago) link
Thanks for checking though - xpost
Just paid for my copy of the box last night - won't see it for 2-3 weeks.
― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Wednesday, 5 November 2014 20:15 (nine years ago) link
Aaaaaand the box arrived in this morning's mail—12 days after payment/shipment. Not bad turnaround time!
― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Tuesday, 18 November 2014 01:25 (nine years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQEiFEQq0zQ
― StanM, Wednesday, 19 August 2015 17:31 (eight years ago) link
Found the reunion cd 'Zeno Beach' a couple of months back. That is a good record. "The Brotherhood of Al Wazah" was my favorite tune.
― earlnash, Saturday, 23 February 2019 21:21 (five years ago) link
the Birdman doco Into The Maelstrom is now free to stream on Tubi, in territories that have it, and price dropped to $1 rental or $4 purchase on Vimeo everywhere, to be nice to people that can't Tubi.
― donald failson (sic), Thursday, 16 April 2020 02:59 (four years ago) link
i would not want to live in a world where i couldn't tubi
also the doc is really good
― Corduroy Stridulations (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Thursday, 16 April 2020 12:49 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ-tc29TRAs
― Wrote For Lunch (Tom D.), Saturday, 6 March 2021 10:56 (three years ago) link
Big ol' interview with Tek:
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2023/03/radio-birdman-interview-deniz-tek.html
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 21 March 2023 21:35 (one year ago) link
ooh thanks. A new solo album with Fleshtones drummer and a European tour
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 22 March 2023 05:02 (one year ago) link
Album might have been out in 2022 but I forgot that
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 22 March 2023 05:03 (one year ago) link
Keith Streng is actually the Fleshtones' guitarist. Maybe he can play drums too?
― Thus Sang Freud, Wednesday, 22 March 2023 10:31 (one year ago) link
Apparently Streng can if the Bandcamp listing for the latest solo album is correct, but an earlier Bandcamp item for a prior Tek release says Streng is on guitar
November 7, 2022 release
Deniz Tek - Guitars, vocals, harmonicaAnne Tek - GuitarsKeith Streng - Drums, percussion, backing vocalsBob Brown - bass
2018 release Deniz Tek - guitarsRic Parnell - drums Bob Brown -bassRon Sanchez - keyboards with special guests :Keith Streng (Fleshtones) - guitar
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 22 March 2023 12:47 (one year ago) link
https://www.twintonedigital.com/full-time-men"Keith Streng - Drums, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Vocals, Percussion"
― StanM, Wednesday, 22 March 2023 13:06 (one year ago) link
he plays strengs and stecks for deniz tek.
― Thus Sang Freud, Wednesday, 22 March 2023 13:34 (one year ago) link