Radio Birdman: Retaliate first: How one band smashed the rules of Australian rock and roll

'Radio Birdman live brought loyalty as strong and powerful as their music. Yeah hup!' Anthony Albanese, PM and fan

'Radio Birdman are analogous to dark matter: largely unseen yet profoundly influential.' Brad Shepherd, Hoodoo Gurus

'Murray's raw passion somehow doesn't mess with his skill to present the story, the context and the truth.' Tim Rogers, You Am I and The Hard-Ons

Sydney's legendary Radio Birdman were a stake through the satin and scarfed hearts of the mid seventies' music scene, revolutionising the conservative Australian industry in the process. Regarded as one of the earliest punk bands, before the world had heard of the Sex Pistols, Birdman were feared and loathed by many, yet adored by fiercely loyal fans. But their story has never been told in depth-until now.

Murray Engleheart's Radio Birdman: Retaliate First is drawn from more than 150 interviews with the band members, their closest associates, devotees and observers. From tales of singer Rob Younger filling his mouth with sheep brains from a human skull to fans breaking limbs while dancing wildly at gigs and publicans cutting the power in a desperate bid to halt their force-of-nature-like performances, the Radio Birdman story is one of confrontation, commitment and inspiration.

With 2024 marking their half-century of existence, and a commemorative tour that may be their last, it's the perfect time to look back over fifty years of the band that never took a backward step and made rock and roll thrilling and dangerous once more. Radio Birdman: Retaliate First is the ultimate insider's guide to how Australia's most hated act were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and became global icons.

'Riveting and insightful.' Stuart Coupe See more