Happy Birthday Deniz Tek!

Celebrating the birthday of guitarist Deniz Tek with a few brilliant Radio Birdman performance clips. Yep, they've still got it!

Watch The New Christs live on tour in the E.U.

Here's some footage of Radio Birdman's Rob Younger with The New Christs tearin' it up in Spain, Italy and France recently. 

Happy Birthday Rob Younger!

Celebrating Rob Younger's birthday with – what else? – Radio Birdman tearin' it up live in Sydney! 

Deniz Tek tears it up in Paris with Keith Streng on drums!

Yep, that's The Fleshtones guitarist Keith Streng pounding drums behind Radio Birdman's Deniz Tek at La Dame de Canton. 

Happy Birthday Chris 'Klondike' Masuak

Raising a glass to Radio Birdman guitar slinger Chris Masuak with a 2012 Toronto appearance backed by Rob Sweeney and pals. 

Happy 70th Birthday Deniz Tek!

Celebrating guitarist Deniz Tek's 70th birtthday with a Radio Birdman classic and a new tune "Rear View Mirror."

Deniz Tek's latest album Long Before Day is out now via Wild Honey Records – get a copy via Bandcamp right here.

Guitar slingers Deniz Tek & James Williamson reunite for Two To One

Two To One boasts all new songs from Stooges' guitarist James Williamson and Radio Birdman's Deniz Tek. 

Here's the scoop from Deniz Tek...

James Williamson and I have completed work on a new LP, Two To One. The album is on Cleopatra Records, and will be out Sept 18th. 

Two To One contains all new original songs of guitar-based high energy rock and roll. The basic tracks were recorded in San Francisco in December, with the vocals, overdubs and mix finished in February just as the pandemic hit. Michael Urbano plays drums, and Michael Scanland is on bass. James and myself play guitar, and I sing.

Watch a video filmed in the studio (below). Pre-order Two To One right here. 

Watch Radio Birdman live on Australian TV in 1976

Here's Rob Younger, Deniz Tek and company performing three songs on ABC-TV's The Real Thing. 

Radio Birdman rockumentary screens at Duggan's Basement, Friday

The fab Radio Birdman film Descent Into The Maelstrom makes it's T.O. premiere Friday at 8:30pm with director Jonathan Sequeira present. 

Listen to director Jonathan Sequeira discuss his Radio Birdman doc with Lou Molinario on CFMU after some Deniz Tek tunes right here. 

Radio Birdman guitarist Deniz Tek goes instrumental with Lost For Words

Deniz Tek – Lost For Words 

Ten guitar led-instrumentals that could be subtitled Music for imagined films... Action, Western, Surf and Spy. "Burn The Breeze" and "It Shall Be Life" ride the high desert with Morricone, while "Lies And Bullets" is lost in the intrigue of a John Barry spy thriller.  "Boneyard" takes matters out into the mean streets, locked in a deep Memphis soul groove. On "In The Barrens," The Man With No Name rides off into the badlands, while the iron church bell tolls for the dead.
Challenging the wild surf, "Eddie Would Go" and "Song For Dave" take us for that one last ride.
"Vanished," an unreleased Radio Birdman song, is presented in the original arrangement.
An instrumental version of "Zeno Beach," title track from the 2006 Radio Birdman album, and a new version of Deniz’s John Wayne tribute "Hondo’s Dog" round out the track list.

There are 100 copies on blue vinyl available right here while supplies last.

Deniz Tek - guitars
Ric Parnell - drums
Bob Brown -bass
Ron Sanchez - keyboards

with special guests :
Keith Streng (Fleshtones) - guitar
Pip Hoyle (Radio Birdman ) - keyboards
Erik Olson - hammond B3 and saxophone

Produced by Bob Brown

Radio Birdman doc screens in Hamilton November 20

On November 20, The acclaimed documentary, DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM - THE UNTOLD STORY OF RADIO BIRDMAN will screen in Hamilton at This Ain't Hollywood (345 James St. North). Director Jonathan J Sequeira will also be in attendance and DJ Tim Hanna will be spinning a whole bunch of great rock 'n' roll tunes before and after the movie! Advance tickets are  available online. There is also a Toronto screening being planned for Duggan's Brewery on November 23 at 9 pm. Watch for details to be posted soon.

Watch Radio Birdman kick out the jams in Sydney

Rob Younger and Deniz Tek have still got it. Yeah hup!

Watch the trailer for the Radio Birdman doc Descent Into The Maelstrom

Jonathan Sequeira's forthcoming Radio Birdman film coincides with the release of the Funhouse Jukebox comp due June 9. 

Descent Into The Malestrom – Funhouse Jukebox Soundtrack

Funhouse intro dialogue
Radio Birdman — Descent Into The Maelstrom
The Saints — (I’m) Stranded
Radio Birdman — TV Eye
Masters Apprentices — Wars Or Hands Of Time
Radio Birdman — Snake
The Easybeats — Friday On My Mind
Flamin' Groovies — Shake Some Action
Richard Hell & The Voidoids — Blank Generation
Radio Birdman — Burned My Eye
The Rats — Personality Crisis
TV Jones — Monday Morning Gunk
Ramones — Blitzkrieg Bop
Funhouse outro dialogue
Radio Birdman — New Race

Radio Birdman's Deniz Tek joins James Williamson for unplugged Acoustic K.O. EP

Radio Birdman ace Deniz Tek has teamed up with Iggy Pop's axe-wielding sidekick James Williamson for the Acoustic K.O. EP (out March 31) – a new spin on four classic Williamson compositions from the early/mid '70s. The proto-punk guitar stars have unplugged their amps for drastic reworkings of two numbers from Iggy & The Stooges’ seminal Raw Power album (“I Need Somebody” and “Penetration”) as well as two tracks from Pop & Williamson’s underrated Kill City (“Night Theme” and “No Sense of Crime”). These songs were orginally composed by Pop & Williamson, with the exception of "Night Theme" which was penned by Williamson and Scott Thurston.

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Williamson explains hooking up with Tek and working with him on this new project: “I first met Deniz in 2011 when doing the Ron Asheton Tribute show at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor. Deniz had been a good friend of the Ashetons (having come from Ann Arbor like them) and had been asked to play on some of the old Stooges tunes that night.”

“Later we stayed in touch during the times I would visit Australia on tour with the Stooges, and it also turned out that he visited the Big Island of Hawaii frequently, as do my wife and I. In fact, during one of our get togethers on the Big Island Deniz mentioned that we should record some acoustic songs together.  Maybe do some of my old stuff. It was later that day, hiking in a remote area, that we came across some abandoned trucks. His wife, Anne, got her camera out and said 'there’s your record cover!’”

Oddly, in a parallel development, a long time fan and incredible collector of Stooges memorabilia, Hakan Beckman, had suggested to James a couple of years earlier that “Night Theme” should be orchestrated. Further, he had developed a fantasy album cover called Acoustic K.O. James loved these ideas and now, with Tek, had the vehicle to realize them.

“That’s how it all started,” Williamson admits. “However, once we began recording, the project took on a life of its own. If this was to be called Acoustic K.O. it needed to be entirely acoustic. Michael Urbano broke out his old 1920s drum kit and Gregg Foreman used my old 1930s pump organ and a piano. Guitars, of course, were acoustic, and the only exception was the bass that Bob Glaub played - an old hollow body Kay since an upright  just didn’t sound right for these songs. The horn section rounded everything out.”

“For ‘Night Theme’ I enlisted the help of Mark Culbertson, musician extraordinaire who had played contra-bass for me on the albums Ready to Die and Re-Licked, to do the arrangement. He did an extraordinary job! I was able to find an incredible group of players called The Awesome Orchestra from Berkeley, CA under the direction of David Moschler to realize Mark’s arrangement and I couldn’t be happier with the results.”

“It all came together once we layed down Deniz’s vocals while in Hawaii, and with the help of Petra Haden doing some backing vocals and violin, along with Annie Hardy (Giant Drag) doing the duet with Deniz on ‘No Sense Of Crime’ we had performances to be proud of.”

Check out Deniz Tek & James Williamson's reworking of Penetration followed by the original version by Iggy & The Stooges...

The new Radio Birdman film you won't see at Hot Docs 2016

Watch the trailer for John Meredith's Into The Maelstrom doc and wait for the DVD.

Radio Birdman w/Keith Streng in Stockholm

Here's Keith Streng of The Fleshtones on stage with Radio Birdman at Debaser in Stockholm last night. 

Radio Birdman @ Marryatville Hotel, 1977

Radio Birdman play four faves intercut with interview footage at Adelaide's Marryatville Hotel.

See Deniz Tek @ Cherry Cola's tonight

Guitar ace Deniz Tek rips into his new Detroit disc and a few Birdman faves this evening.

New disc due from Birdman's Deniz Tek

DENIZ TEK – DETROIT

 

Best known as a founding member of the influential 70s rock band Radio Birdman, Ann Arbor, Michigan-born guitarist, singer and songwriter Deniz Tek has continued recording and touring over the past three decades with figures emanating from Detroit's iconic groups The Stooges and MC5.

February 22nd marks the long awaited Citadel Records release of Detroit, Tek's first solo album in 21 years – yes that's right, Take It To The Vertical came out in 1992. Apart from flashes of keyboards and harmonica, Detroit is essentially a guitar album, with Tek's vocals and signature string-slashing set against a stone-solid rhythm section.

A year of preparation preceeded the sessions for the album that became Detroit. Two songs were recorded with Bob and Steve Brown and then another five songs were demoed at the end of 2010. Album sessions began in January 2011, with drum-basher deluxe Ric Parnell of Atomic Rooster (aka Spinal Tap's ill-fated Mick Shrimpton) taking over the kit. By the end of the year 14 songs had been recorded and the focus turned to the finish work. Tek's typically tasteful guitar work and driving rhythm section is really all that was needed to get the point across

A vinyl release was always part of the plan. Deniz arranged to take the master tapes to Houston to mix the album at the historic Sugarhill recording studio, with Mort Bradley manning the vintage vacuum tube equipment. It was there Tek decided to create a special mono mix for the vinyl edition (issued by Career Records) and use the stereo mix for the CD version. 

In support of the album, Deniz and band will tour Australia in February/March before heading to Europe and the US.So far no Canadian dates have been announced.

1. Pine Box (3:40)
2. Fate, Not Amenable To Change (4:09)
3. Twilight Of The Modern Age (3:19)
4. Can Of Soup (2:47)
5. Growing Dim (3:30)
6. Ghost Town (4:07)
7. Perfect World (4:01)
8. Falling (3:03)
9. Let Him Pay For That (3:21)
10. I'm All Right (2:51)
11. Take That Away (vinyl only) 

 

Deniz Tek - guitars, bass, vocals

Ric Parnell - drums

Ron Sanchez - keyboards
Bob Brown - bass
Andy Newman - bass
Paul Morrison - B3
Steve Brown, Florent Barbier - Percussion
Daddy Long Legs - blues harp

Produced by Deniz Tek
Recorded at GLEA, Ships In, Sugarhill

Deniz Tek Group w/Rob Younger @ The Sando

LINKS
Deniz Tek homepage
Deniz Tek FB
Citadel Records page
Career Records page

Radio Birdman tapes discovered!

Radio Birdman fans will be thrilled with the news that numerous lost reels of the legendary Australian rockers' peak-period studio recordings have just been found. According to founding guitarist Deniz Tek, who recently revealed the fantastic find on his blog site (see below), the tapes are in excellent shape and there's enough solid material for a box set. Can I get a Yeah, Hup! somebody?

"Radio Birdman management has located dozens of boxes of 24 track tape recorded by the band in the mid 70's. These tapes had long been thought to have been destroyed. The tapes were found at AC/DC's famed Albert's Studios in North Sydney. They had been kept in a climate controlled archive, and are in pristine condition.
The band will be sorting through all of the many hours of this material in the next month, to prioritise material for a box set that will include outtakes, unreleased songs, and alternate versions. In addition to studio material, there is a complete multitrack recording of a concert at Paddington Town Hall, from 12/12/77. With a production session scheduled for April, fans can expect a release by years end.
In other Radio Birdman news, production and artwork is completed on a live album recorded in Texas during the North American leg of the bands 2007 world tour. Notable for the absence of Pip Hoyle the keyboard player, this album features a stripped back but furious sonic attack."

In the meantime, check out these awesome Radio Birdman performance/interview clips taken from a TV appearance on Rockturnal originally broadcast in 1978:

What Gives and Descent Into The Maelstrom


Burn My Eye and Search & Destroy 

LINKS
Deniz Tek deniztek.blogspot.com
Radio Birdman http://www.radio-birdman.com/indexM.html
http://www.myspace.com/theofficialradiobirdman