Research coincidence

While doing some research on that "Lethal Weapons" LP mentioned below, I was looking at the site for the Australian Chart Book, compiled by David Kent from his Kent Music Report, and was surprised to see who was in the sample page given:

Not only did "Radios Appear" spend 18 weeks on the commercial charts back on it's original release in 1977, (with the overseas version putting in another month, almost a year later) the "Soldiers of Rock'n'Roll" audio documentary also snuck in there for a week too. Who'd have thought it?


click on that chart sample to enlarge

ARIA Hall of Fame awards

I was intrigued to see Radio Birdman and the Hoodoo Gurus had both been scheduled for induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame this year.
I'm a fan, the ceremony itself is being held in Melbourne, I've got a few spare dollars right now- it should be no drama to find out who's arranging it, get a ticket and then head along to the Plaza Ballroom in my best duds on 18th July for a big night out, right?
Wrong.
After three weeks of asking, I finally got sent a ticket order form-there are no press passes available apparently, but then I wasn't banking much on that, anyway.
$475.00 to see a couple of songs and get a three course rubber chicken dinner? Err, no, thanks.
I know that the Hall of Fame sponsors the work done by Support Act, and they will be recieving any profits, but really, $475.00 buys a lot of beers, even for an industry crowd, and especially when the TV rights have already been sold.
So, congratulations to the bands & people who are getting this well-deserved recognition, but now will you please play somewhere I can come and see you?

As usual, click on that image to see an enlarged version.

Radio Birdman tour news- update

This just in:

Russell Hopkinson has parted with Radio Birdman and has been replaced on drums - for a planned American tour at least - by former MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson. He played with three Birdmen in the 1981 Australia-only combo New Race. Hopkinson had too many You Am I commitments to remain with the band.
Radio Birdman has pencilled in a June-July run through the USA and Canada but since Thompson has ongoing recording and live commitments with DKT (Davis-Kramer-Thompson -the collective of surviving MC5 members), his tenure with Radio Birdman will be temporary.
Some limited Australian dates before the USA have not been ruled out.

thanks to the Barman for the heads up on this.

Radio Birdman tour news

Spotted this in a blog comment dated 17 January, on their myspace site:

Hey everyone,
After finally catching up on a thousand hours of lost sleep, on a tour where we went through amplifiers the way others go through guitar strings, we are now ready to saddle up and ride out again. We lost our drummer, Rusty, but there are some great candidates out there and we may have some exciting news in the next week or two.

Best,
Deniz

This reads to me as a legit post from Deniz Tek...so, it seems Russell Hopkinson has moved on, but there will be more live dates to come. Watch this space.

2006 Top Ten list. At last.

I sent this in to the I-94 Bar a little bit late, so it's not going up there until the Barman gets back from holiday/out of detox.
Regardless, this is the shit-hot illustrated interactive version. It took me HOURS to do, so I would appreciate it if you could at least read the goddamn thing, OK?
In rough chronological order, then, here's a list of things that made an impression on me last year:

1- Getting kidnapped from the Niagara exhibition opening night at Outre Gallery, by Niagara & Colonel Galaxy. Two of the most charming and witty people you could ever hope to meet- Tracey and I spent an excellent hour or so drinking and chatting with them in the deserted beer garden of the Town Hall Hotel in North Melbourne.
We picked up a copy of the "Hot Box" 5 CD set, as well as a print:

2- Having my nose broken by an old friend in a stupid fight. I fixed it myself, at the bar of the Greyhound Hotel, with a handful of ice cubes in a napkin. Looked straight enough at the time.
So yeah, I finally ended up in Fred Negro's "Pub" comic strip- the hard way:

3- The second Tiger By The Tail LP. If it lacked the same impact as the first, that’s only because I had a better idea of what to expect. I’m looking forward to more from them in 2007.

4- Brewing- among other things, I brewed three batches of all-grain beer this year- malt, water, hops & yeast. From mash to mouth in a month. All tasted pretty damn fine to me, too. Then Little Creatures Brewery released their Bright Ale, which kind of removed the need to make it myself.
But our labels are better than theirs

5-
Pet frogs- if you want a really Zen pet, get a tree frog. They just sit there and look at you in a very calming way. Don’t get a yabbie, it will end in tears.
Note: they do get an absolutely murderous look in their eyes at feeding time, though. And they make a noise like a chainsaw, click here and scroll down to "calls" to listen. Then imagine hearing that at 6.00am in the morning, and repeated at random throught the day.

6- I can’t believe I only saw the Drones once in a whole year. Shit.

7- Radio Birdman- both “Zeno Beach” and the live shows. Standing inside the crush barriers at their final Melbourne show for the last few songs gave me as intense a barrage of music as I’ve ever seen and felt in my life. And of course them Bellrays, too. What did Lisa Kekaula whisper in my ear that night? I’ll never tell…
And I still can't get over this poster, which arrived in the mail, unsolicited and unexpected:

8- The net- all that myspace, podcast, message board and blogging stuff. I found old friends-hi, Hank! hi, Lindsay!- made new ones- hi, Grrtch!- heard some great new music, and tried to spread the word. Hope you found it entertaining.

9- Ian Rilen. Enough said.

10- Now I’m not really a list guy, so I’m gonna cheat by sticking a load of things in one item. I didn’t like the way the epicentre of live music in Melbourne got dragged even further north of the city this year. I did like the way so many people got it together and released their own CDs. Looking forward to – new Beasts of Bourbon, Penny Ikinger, Killer Birds & Double Agents CDs, the Lethal Weapons reissue, more RRR, more Kim Volkman, less broken noses…
I've heard the new Beasts album, and it's great. The Killer Birds are being produced by Ross Knight of the Cosmic Psychos- can't wait to hear it.

Radio Birdman

Some of you are probably aware that I spent a fair bit of time earlier this year immersed in the return of Radio Birdman . I played "Zeno Beach" endlessly, reviewed a couple of their Melbourne shows, updated their Wikipedia page and lobbed a load of links and other bits and pieces into the I-94 Bar's Zeno Beach site. I did it because I wanted to, and enjoyed every minute of it.
So I was hugely surprised and pleased to get a parcel in the mail the other day, containing an enormous one sheet poster for the September 29th show at the Live Club, in Milan, and a beautiful limited edition print of this Stainboy work of art:
Not sure how it made the journey from San Francisco to my house, but it's gonna look mighty fine up on the wall.