Detroit Rock City

Radio Birdman

The Essential Radio Birdman (1974-1978)

Sub Pop, 2001

Despite the supposed toughness of today's popular Detroit-based acts (Eminem, Kid Rock, Insane Clown Posse, et al), the hardest music to hail from the Motor City (and possibly anyplace else, for that matter) was blasted out by the Stooges and the MC5. Deniz Tek, a teenage guitarist from nearby Ann Arbor, was weaned on these protopunk monsters before he moved to Australia for medical school in 1972. Two years later, Tek joined forces with some Sydney locals to form Radio Birdman, taking its name from a misunderstood Stooges lyric.

One of the '70s' most powerful (if obscure) bands, the six-piece Radio Birdman, driven by two roaring guitars and pounding keyboards, kicked out some truly savage jams. Tek was the chief songwriter and lead guitarist, while Rob Younger, a tall, hirsute Iggy Pop, howled lyrics laced with multiple references to the beloved Stooges. As a unit, the band captured the raw power of Tek's Michigan forebears and fused it with Blue Oeyster Cult's metallic guitar virtuosity and the surf-rock sounds of the Beach Boys, culminating in a swirling sonic maelstrom.

Radio Birdman only released a couple EPs, a few singles and two studio albums in its explosive, too-brief career. The debut LP, 1977's Radios Appear, was its lone American release (issued in the United States by Sire in 1978, albeit in a slightly different format). The follow-up album, Living Eyes, was recorded just before the band's 1978 breakup, but it wasn't released until 1981. Sub Pop's new Essential CD, the only domestic Birdman release in print, draws prime cuts from all these sources.

The 22-track set opens with "Aloha Steve & Danno," a ferocious Hawaii Five-O tribute which goofs on the original Ventures theme, yet has the seemingly sincere chorus: "Steve I wanna say thank you for all you've done for me/ The night is dark and empty when you're not on TV." (Other Sub Pop bands were inspired by both Birdman and Five-O; rumor has it that Mudhoney's Mark Arm wrote "Touch Me I'm Sick" while watching the show.) Besides a few slower (though no less intense) songs, the disc plays like strings of glorious, high-energy anthems, addressing girls, guns, Stroh's Beer, Eskimo Pies and cruising Midwestern interstates in vintage Detroit steel. Highlights include "Burn My Eye '78," "Do the Pop," "What Gives?" and the teenage call-to-arms "New Race" ("the kids are gonna start it up!"), but the best track is a killer live version of the joyously poppy "More Fun."

The collection's title is a bit of a misnomer, as several other "essential" tunes are MIA, particularly "455 SD." However, The Essential Radio Birdman is easier to find and cheaper to buy than the Australian imports of the studio albums (as well as Ritualism, a live CD recorded during a 1996 reunion show). Overall, Essential is a solid introduction to a great band, and if it knocks you out, you'd do well to hunt down the rest.

Incidentally, Deniz Tek didn't abandon his medical studies in the name of rock 'n' roll. These days, between his occasional solo gigs, he works as an emergency-room surgeon in Montana. Yeah, hup!