Radio Birdman

got so much.

Radio Birdman.

Oh, okay.

I thought it was just going to be a cliffhanger.

No, no, no.

Radio Birdman.

An emergency room doctor and a jet pilot.

Oh.

Welcome to The Vinyl Guide, the podcast for record collectors and Absolutely delighted to share that we have Dennis Tech back on the show.

I mean, you guys know Dennis from Radio Birdman and multiple solo projects.

Not only did he form the legendary band Radio Birdman, but Dennis is also a medical doctor as well as a former pilot and flight surgeon.

Man, this guy's ambitious.

In fact, the Top Gun movie, this is absolutely serious, the Top Gun movie famously lifted his call sign Iceman.

And it's been quite a journey.

There's a lot of...

I guess, documentation around the radio Birdman environment over the last few years.

But this one is like one of the best.

Then I got Radio Birdman.

Again, a very early Australian punk band.

And with their song, the one that we loved, Aloha, Stephen Dano.

And it was like when we were teenagers, you know, you'd get the album, you'd get the long player album.

And you'd play it, and you'd sit on the floor and listen to it, and you'd look at the picture of these guys.

And they look so fucking cool, these Australian punks in Radio Birdman.

And we love this song.

He writes, plus, as an aside between the darts and the damned, Rob Younger walked onto the stage.

I wasn't sure if it was about to see Radio Birdman or the New Christs.

Either was a complete and excellent surprise.

Turned out it was the latter, and those old guys smashed out a great set.

Does it matter? That's where they formed.

from the remnants of Radio Birdman Dennis Tech and Rob Younger hooked up with Ron Ashen from the Stooges along with Dennis Thompson of the MC5 They gave you Haunted Road right there.

Fun Things was back there in Savage.

The Hitmen, I don't mind.

But this is the single version of it.

This Perfect Day in 1977.

Radio Birdman.

Burn My Eye in 1976.

So you have things like the MC5, the Stooges, the New York Dolls, and this stuff, if it came out in 76 or 77, it would be called punk.

I mean, we have other things that are like that, right? Like if you think about Radio Birdman or if you think about that band Death, like that single is 1976.

Those are more like proto-punk, but because they come out in the years of punk, they kind of get knocked with that label, don't you think? Yeah.

Well, I'm really glad you mentioned death because comments have been...

But I guess my point was, in the, the Pacific Northwest seems to celebrate the music that was happening here in Australia m- uh, more so in, uh, my experience than other parts of the US, like in the Bay Area where I grew up or Los Angeles.

Yeah, um, you know, I don't think New York knew a whole lot about Radio Birdman.

But, uh, the, that sort of music, Scientists, the Saints, obviously, seem to, uh, find a little bit more good soil in the Pacific Northwest than elsewhere.

Yeah, possibly.

In Hamilton, Ontario, there was Teenage Head, who started doing their thing in 1975 and gaining momentum in 1976.

In Australia, there was Radio Birdman, who were working on a blend of garage rock, surf rock, and early punk sounds.

And in Cleveland, we had the Dead Boys, who would eventually move to New York and become part of the Bowery scene.

Meanwhile, 1976 was also a very, very big year in the UK.