''Living Eyes'' was the second studio album released by Sydney, Australia punk rock band

Radio Birdman Radio Birdman is an Australian punk rock band formed by Deniz Tek and Rob Younger in Sydney in 1974. The group influenced the work of many successful, mainstream bands, and are now considered instrumental in Australia's musical growth. Hist ...

. It was the last recorded album by the band as they split up shortly after it was recorded in 1978. The album was recorded over a three-week period at the

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was originally founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Facilities Rockfield is a two- ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

whilst the band was on its first overseas tour, supporting the

Flamin' Groovies Flamin' Groovies is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965, originally co-led by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. After the Groovies released three albums, on Epic ('' Supersnazz'') and Kama Sutra (''Flamingo'' and '' Teenage Hea ...

around Britain and Europe. The original master tapes disappeared before the album was released and as a result the album was mastered from a cassette recording of trial mixes, which impacted on the sound quality. ''Living Eyes'' sound was heavily influenced by the lead guitarist and producer Deniz Tek who had lived in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

before moving to Australia and been influenced musically by the "Motor City Rock" sound. The music of Birdman has been compared to that of

The Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Da ...

and

MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...

, but their sound is also comparable to that of 60's rock 'n' roll bands such as

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

. "Smith and Wesson Blues", "I-94" and "Burned My Eye" had all been previously released on the

Burn My Eye ''Burn My Eye'' was the debut EP recorded by Sydney punk rock band Radio Birdman, in October 1976.MacFarlane, Ian (1999). ''The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'', p. 507. It was a low-budget EP recorded at Trafalgar Studios, Sydney and ...

EP, but were re-recorded for the album. 18 songs were recorded at Rockfield, with 13 songs making the album. Pip Hoyle's instrumental "Alien Skies" was considered out of step with the other music, and "Didn’t Tell The Man" had been released by

The Hitmen The Hitmen are an Australian hard rock band formed in November 1977 by long-term members, Johnny Kannis on lead vocals and Chris Masuak on lead guitar as Johnny and the Hitmen. The group went through numerous line up changes in its first run ...

in 1979. Tek later said that

Seymour Stein Seymour Stein (born April 18, 1942) is an American entrepreneur and music executive. He co-founded Sire Records and was Vice President of Warner Bros. Records. With Sire, Stein signed bands that became central to the new wave era of the 1970s ...

was largely responsible for the delay in release. He said, "To me, it was already recorded. The expense had already been put into it. So there was no reason for his attitude and we wanted to have it out because we were proud of it. It was 'Yeah, Dennis, I agree it should come out. You've got my word on it.' Then nothing happens." In 1995, John Foy ( Red Eye Records) retrieved the original master tapes from Rockfield Studios and the band had the songs remixed, remastered and re-sequenced. The remastered version of ''Living Eyes'' was issued in 2005 on Red Eye (through Polygram).

Reception

Reviewed at the time of release,

Roadrunner The roadrunners (genus ''Geococcyx''), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests. They are found in the southwestern and south-central United States and Mexico, us ...

said the album was, "less of a total blitz," than their previous work, "with perhaps more contrasts and definite attempts at greater tonal variation." "Crying Sun" was described as a "killer track," and "Do the Moving Change" a "pop classic."

Track listing

1981 original

All songs written by Deniz Tek, except where noted.Original 1980 vinyl LP labels #"More Fun" #"TPBR Combo" (Tek, Chris Masuak) #"455 SD" #"Do The Movin' Change" #"I-94" #"Iskender Time" #"Burn My Eye '78" #"Time to Fall" #"Smith and Wesson Blues" #"Crying Sun" (Tek, Warwick Gilbert) #"Breaks My Heart" #"Alone in the Endzone" #"Hanging On"

1995 Reassembled, remastered and re-mixed version

#"Hanging On" #"455 SD" #"Do The Movin' Change" #"TPBR Combo" #"I-94" #"Iskender Time" #"Burn My Eye '78" #"Alien Skies" #"Time to Fall" #"Smith and Wesson Blues" #"Crying Sun" #"If I Wanted To" #"Breaks My Heart" #"More Fun" #"Alone in the Endzone" #"Didn't Tell the Man" #"Dark Surprise" (Bonus-CD in 2015 edition with ''More Fun!'' EP)

Charts

Personnel

;Radio Birdman *Warwick Gilbert - bass *Ron Keeley - drums *Pip Hoyle - organ,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

* Chris Masuak -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, harmony vocals * Deniz Tek - guitar, harmony vocals * Rob Younger - lead vocals

External links

*http://www.divinerites.com/dr_birdm.htm *https://web.archive.org/web/20090331163740/http://www.radio-birdman.com/ - Official Radio Birdman Website

References

{{Authority control 1981 albums Radio Birdman albums Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios