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 Oxford University in June 1978.
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 the Ramones , scheduled for the second half of 1978, was cancelled. In May 1978, they recorded their second album, Living Eyes…
Read More
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. 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…
Read More
As the 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 Town Hall with the Saints and the Hot Spurs in April 1977, Radio Birdman left…
Read More
In 1975, after facing rejection from various venues and performing in rented garages and community halls , Radio Birdman secured a residency at the Oxford Tavern at Taylor Square in Sydney . They eventually took over the venue’s management, renaming it The Oxford Funhouse. By then, Carl Roke had been…
Read More
Deniz Tek and Rob Younger formed Radio Birdman in the mid-1970s (around 1974) in Sydney, Australia , having recently left their former projects, TV Jones and the Rats. They recruited classical keyboard player Philip “Pip” Hoyle, drummer Ron Keeley, and bassist Carl Roke. The band took their name from a…
Read More
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 . The album was influenced by Detroit bands of the late 1960s, such as MC5 and the Stooges . The album’s…
Read More