Radio Birdman "Radios On!" 1996

January 1996 saw the reformation of Radio Birdman after an 18 year hiatus. The band themselves were as surprised as everyone else by this development and at the time there was no thought of an ongoing future...
...Only a wait and see approach with the focus being solely on the successful completion of the tour. After all, this was the tour that should have taken place way back in 1978 after their well documented break up and they wanted it to be as good as possible with no damage to their mythology.
During the pre-tour rehearsal time, there had been some discussion as to whether recording some live material for archival purposes should be considered. When Melbourne's Radio Triple R approached the band regarding an appearance on their "Caught In The Act" live music feature, a window of opportunity opened. This was an easy and achievable way to obtain quality live material. Although there were no specific plans for a release, things went so well that Ritualism has become the end result. Radios On! / Ritualism contains 10 new versions of standard Radio Birdman material as well as two new tracks*.
The session was recorded over a six hour period at Seed Studios in South Melbourne on a day off between Melbourne shows. A small but lively audience of 25 hardcore fans attended, these being the winners of a Triple R phone in competition. They were stuffed into the corridor and control room of the studio where they were randomly captured by an overhead mike.
The production was recorded fully live and without overdubs. No efforts have been made to cover up mistakes or doctor the performances. If it sounds like a dozen people yelling at the end of the song, that's because that's what it is. Two days were spent on mixing the tracks with Wayne Connolly engineering the session. Only two songs didn't make it onto Ritualism giving some indication of the playing prowess of the group.
To facilitate this new release Crying Sun Records has been created by the band in association with Citadel Records to handle all current and future recorded work. Radio Birdman will again exist and be completely independent of record industry support or influence. This is seen as essential to maintaining the band's commitment to quality and fairness for the people who choose to listen. Freedom from conformity was a priority 20 years ago, the same attitude today marks the ongoing Radio Birdman reunification. Radios On! / Ritualism is packaged in a booklet with an accompanying 12 page insert containing live full colour shots from the Radios On tour. This exclusive format will only be available by mail order or at selected shows on the forthcoming tour in January. Radio Birdman have taken every care to present their new record at a reasonable price in a superlative packaging.
Band :
Rob Younger - vocals / Chris Klondike Masuak : Guitar / Deniz Tek - Guitar / Pip Hoyle : piano / Warwick Gilbert : Bass / Ron Keeley : Drums

trax:
01 Burned My Eye 02 Smith And Wesson Blues 03 Anglo Girl Desire 04 Hanging On 05 TV Eye 06 Revelation 07 Aloha Steve And Danno 08 Alone In The Endzone 09 455 SD 10 Walk The Earth 11 What Gives? 12 New Race