''Living Eyes'' was the second studio album released by

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

Radio Birdman Radio Birdman is an Australian punk rock band formed by Deniz Tek and Rob Younger in Sydney in 1974. ''Classic Rock'' magazine describes them as "Australia’s first influential punk band". History Origins Deniz Tek and Rob Younger f ...

. 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 founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Recording studios Rockfield is a two-stu ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

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 He ...

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 Deniz Tek (born November 10, 1952) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and a founding member of Australian rock group Radio Birdman. He has played in many of the underground rock bands of the 1970s, including Australian bands The V ...

who had lived in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

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 or Iggy and the Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexande ...

and

MC5 MC5 was an American rock music, rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The classic lineup consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis (bassist), Michael Davis, and drummer ...

, 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 over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. "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 in 1979. Tek later said that

Seymour Stein Seymour Steinbigle (April 18, 1942 – April 2, 2023), known professionally as Seymour Stein, was an American entrepreneur and music executive. He co-founded Sire Records and was vice president of Warner Bros. Records. With Sire, Stein signed ba ...

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, Mexico and C ...

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

, except where noted.Original 1980 vinyl LP labels #"More Fun" #"TPBR Combo" (Tek,

Chris Masuak Christopher William Masuak (born 1959) is a Canadian-born Australian musician, guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He joined the punk rock group Radio Birdman (1976–1978, 1995–1996, 1997, 2005–2007), then the hard rockers, the Hit ...

) #"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 Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

*Ron Keeley -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Pip Hoyle -

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, harmony vocals *

- guitar, harmony vocals *

Rob Younger Rob Younger (born Robert Kent Younger) is an Australian rock musician, vocalist, songwriter and producer. He is a founding mainstay of the punk rock group Radio Birdman, and he is a pioneer of the local independent music scene. Radio Birdman, ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

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