Song of the Day 5/3/10
The best 666 songs of alltime countdown continues every day, all the way to #1. Monday’s song is #87:
Radio Birdman – I-94
Regrettably common American experience set to a savage, chromatic garage-punk tune – kid discovers that college has ruined his old friend:
I bought you a case of Stroh’s
You never drank ’em down
You keep drinking Rolling Rock
You know I can’t hang round
This was 1979. Stroh’s wasn’t owned by Coors or available much further east of Michigan, and this being before the age of microbrews, beer lovers couldn’t get enough of it. Rolling Rock, on the other hand, had already become a staple of fratboy bars from Massachusetts down to the Carolinas. The song is on the classic Radios Appear album – as you might have noticed by now, most of the songs on that record are on this list.
Song of the Day 2/15/10
The best 666 songs of alltime countdown continues every day, all the way to #1. Monday’s song is #164:
Radio Birdman – Smith & Wesson Blues
Deniz Tek’s surreal wee-hours scenario unfolds with offhandedly savage chromatic guitar and one of the great bass hooks of alltime, courtesy of Warwick Gilbert. Yet another classic track from the iconic 1979 Radios Appear album. To hear the song click the link above, then click on the top “opening” link on the page.
Song of the Day 1/13/10
Every day we count down the best 666 songs of alltime, all the way to #1 (or at least we try to do it every day). Fewer than 200 days to go, enjoy while it lasts! Wednesday’s song is #197:
Radio Birdman – All Alone in the Endzone
This has nothing to do with football, Australian or otherwise – it’s just under two minutes of vicious, chromatic 1979 garage punk driven by one of the catchiest hooks ever written. That’s bassist Warwick Gilbert playing it on the studio version on the Radios Appear lp; the link above, a lightning-fast live take from a recent tour, features Jim Dickson from the New Christs.
Song of the Day 9/4/09
Every day, our top 666 songs of alltime countdown gets one step closer to #1. Friday’s song is #327:
Radio Birdman – Hit Them Again
Characteristic pyrotechnics from the Australian garage-punk legends’ Radios Appear album, 1979, a co-write with Ron Asheton. Deniz Tek’s excoriating noise solo as the song burns its way out is pure adrenaline. Mp3s are everywhere – and here’s the Visitors doing the song in 2008 live!
Song of the Day 7/31/09
Every day, our top 666 songs of alltime countdown gets one step closer to #1. Friday’s song is #362:
Radio Birdman – Murder City Nights
Ferocious garage punk from the Aussie legends’ second and best album, Radios Appear, 1979, bandleader/lead guitarist Deniz Tek contributing a characteristically intense, lightning-fast solo.
Song of the Day 6/23/09
Every day, our top 666 songs of alltime countdown gets one step closer to #1. Tuesday’s song is #400:
Radio Birdman – Descent into the Maelstrom
One of the legendary Australian garage punks’ finest moments, this combines the surfy stomp, eerie chromatically-charged guitar fury and over-the-edge, desperate feel that defined them. The studio version from Radios Appear, 1978, is blissfully good; the link above is a characteristically ferocious live take.
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