Radio Birdman : I-94
In October of 1976, Australia's Radio Birdman released their first EP, Burn My Eye. It is quite simply my favorite discovery of the year. Strange that I knew about The Saints but never gave Radio Birdman a listen. Like the Saints, they're not so much punk as sped up garage rock. You can spot the influences of the New York Dolls, Blue Oyster Cult and the MC5. In fact guitarist and songwriter Deniz Tek was raised in Michigan and owned a guitar that once belonged to the MC5's Fred "Sonic" Smith.
Tek's Michigan youth explains why an Australian band is doing a song about eskimo pies and an American highway that runs through the Great Lakes region. He's homesick or at least nostalgic. And ready to name check Stroh's, Rolling Rock and even Garland Jeffreys.
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