'Descent into the Maelstrom' by Radio Birdman | BLIND REACTION

00:00 Intro
00:50 Reaction
05:10 Final Thoughts
Neighbor Sue and I check out Radio Birdman for the first time. Thanks to Heath for suggesting this one!
SOURCE VIDEO
• Radio Birdman DESCEN...
Follow us on Instagram
@secondhandreactions
If you'd like to support our channel you can buy us a beer - Cheers! 🍻
www.buymeacoffee.com/secondha...
If you'd like to help raise awareness for Suicide Prevention here in the US - click here:
afsp.org
Here's a link for Suicide Hotlines around the world. If you're struggling, or know someone who is, don't wait! Help is out there. You are not alone!
blog.opencounseling.com/suici...

[@glennlambert454]

One of Australia's best bands.. raw power. Gets me going even to this day. A generation surrounded by sounds of an era that will last in their heads forever.

[@davidmason7765]

Guitar solo at the end is Dr Deniz Tek. Yeah, he's an emergency physician. Also a qualified jet pilot who has done carrier landings at night. For real. The first day I met him Deniz let my teenage son play that very same triple pickup Epiphone Crestwood Deluxe you see in this clip, I nearly passed out. Dr Pip Hoyle on keyboards also a senior doctor. Both have worked with my wife and I am so glad to know them. Their show in Sydney just two weeks ago was blazing hot

[@garymallett5962]

Maelstrom is a whirlpool in the sea

[@richardeast5660]

Australian Punk , no spiked hair or razor blades just bloody good live music there is no substitute 🇦🇺

[@Semprini537]

My favorite Ozzie band, maybe THE SAINTS...

[@richardeast5660]

@@Semprini537 Try The Saints'Im Stranded' same time line in the 70s

[@Semprini537]

@@richardeast5660 i'm in your line, dude. Adore THE SAINTS, THE AINTS, and everything that haves the connection with Chris (RIP) Bailey. I try to remember the other guy from THE SAINTS,but i failed. Funny stuff, THE SAINTS first album was released in socialistic state of Yugoslavia. I was born there, we were prepared for PUNK. I Really love the Australian sound, NICK CAVE is your boy, Damien Lovelock, even the pop stars, be proud!

[@rikhellum5652]

Old enough to have seen them. They where fantastic live.

[@davejensen7922]

Glad that the bands I loved back in my teens are finally getting the recognition they deserve forty years later

[@christophermurphy5454]

I'm a surfer from the 70's and 80's and Malstrom was wild surf as In descent into the Malstromw. Mudjimba Island

[@davidformosa7626]

Radio Birdman are playing for likely the very last time in Sydney in July this year as a celebration to mark their 50th year as band! 3 shows at the Manning Bar - virtually already sold out! Bit of trivia - the guitar Deniz Tek is playing in this clip and the only guitar he used for many, many years is a rare Epiphone Crestwood Deluxe. It used to belong to Fred Smith from the MC5. During tough times in the early 70's Fred pawned the guitar to a 2nd hand shop. By chance, Deniz saw it in the shop whilst back in Detroit, bought it and the rest is history. Check out his website and the brilliant 2017 documentary - also called "Descent Into The Maelstrom" by Jonathan Sequeira! Band name came from a miss heard lyric from The Stooges song "1970" -.............."radio burnin up above"

[@nes8936]

Birdman! A friend took me to see them play a reunion show about 20 years ago and they were amazing. They still had that energy. Became obsessed and got the symbol tattooed on my back 🫠

[@neighborsue]

Wow!

[@secondhandreactions]

Oh shit! That’s commitment

[@garymallett5962]

I saw them last night playing their 50 years anniversary

[@floydster23]

Great song I haven't heard in a long time. Nowadays you normally hear their better known songs "New Race" & "Aloha Steve and Danno". Lead guitarist Deniz Tek grew up in Michigan and was heavily influenced by The Stooges & MC5, which led to Radio Birdman's awesome surf-punk sound.

[@secondhandreactions]

Thanks for the insight. I can hear those influences ✌️

[@iliasmastoris529]

​​@@secondhandreactionsExactly, and the band went on to influence the Sydney rock scene in the 1980s with bands like: the New Christs, the Celibate Rifles, the Screaming Tribesmen, the Lime Spiders, Hoodoo Gurus, the Sunnyboys, and to a lesser extent, Porcelain Bus. Magical times...

[@garymallett5962]

Been seeing them since 1976

[@PhalseProfit13]

Welcome to Australian underground

[@secondhandreactions]

Here for it

[@Alex-dz2et]

Yes to more radio birdman. I was too young to see them live in a sweaty pub gig. But have loved them on vinyl. One of the better Sydney bands of the early 1970s. Deniz Tek is an interesting character - Musician, ER doctor, and fighter pilot. Serious overachiever 😂

[@timmcgrath676]

Only the radio Birdman

[@davidformosa7626]

Not a fighter pilot - thats an urban myth.

[@leighclarke269]

@@davidformosa7626 he was a flight surgeon in the US airforce - usually the 2nd pilot

[@garymallett5962]

Deniz Tek was a RIO (radar intercept officer) backseater in F-4 Phantoms in the marine corps

[@timmcgrath676]

Greatest Australian band High radoobirdman flying to be able to get the latest flash the

[@letstalk3265]

Radio Birdman has a story of it's individual members that is totally amazing. The lead guitarist Deniz Tek grew up in Ann Arbor but came to Sydney in the early 70"s to finish a medical degree plus help form one of the greatest rock bands on the planet. He's a dual citizen and is a medical trauma specialist in Sydney. He went back to the States and served in the Navy, flew fighters and was a medico. His call sign was ''Iceman'' and rumour is that he was the role model for that character in the first Top Gun movie. The guys a veritable genius. Oh and check out a similar band arriving on the music scene but miles north in Brisbane called The Saints. Both DIYers because they played loud and fast. These guys released the first punk/rock single called ''(I'm) Stranded'' in September 1976. Like Birdman's ''Aloha Steve & Danno'' Stranded is a classic for the time and actually both bands from this era are timeless. Both bands were never punk, hard and fast rock'n'roll. Bob Geldof said that 70's music was changed by three bands - Ramones, The Saints and Sex Pistols. The Saints and Radio Birdman piss on those other two easily.

[@secondhandreactions]

Deniz seems next level. Amazing. Brain May level of accomplishment. There’s super humans walking among us. Thanks for the insight. Also, I appreciate the suggestion. Added them to our list of things to react to. ✌️

[@davidformosa7626]

Deniz never flew fighters. He was a Navy surgeon and trained to be a pilot. Also joined the marines.

[@letstalk3265]

@@davidformosa7626he trained as a fighter pilot, so he flew jets

[@theubiquejim]

I grew up on this band - fan fucken tastic

[@iliasmastoris529]

"Descent into the Maelstrom" is a reference to an Edgar Alan Poe short story.

[@secondhandreactions]

Thanks for the insight!

[@neighborsue]

Ohhhh, I should have recognized that, thank you

[@markwhite9730]

You guys have great taste! Try any Radio Birdman-all quality especially Monday morning gunk

[@secondhandreactions]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@achebwahs1111]

Ah cool. Happy you enjoyed this. I heard Sue mention you were only a boy when this came out and same here for me. I shared a room with my brother who's 8 years older than me and he spent every dollar he earned on vinvl. He's a really good brother and taught me how to play and respect vinyls. His eclectic tastes introduced me to all sorts of cool shit. Radio Bordman just one of many.

[@secondhandreactions]

I was the opposite. My older brother wasn’t / isn’t into music so much. He sticks with what he’s familiar with. Sort of a mix between 70s rock ‘n’ roll and 80s easy listening.

[@achebwahs1111]

@@secondhandreactions Oh what a waste of good ears. Music makes up a huge part of what's enjoyable in life. I still get a buzz from hearing something new that's great.

[@secondhandreactions]

@@achebwahs1111 Every now and then I throw something his way. It doesn't always connect. Recently I sent him The Big Push and he liked them so there's hope. I think Ren's solo stuff and Gizz would be too much for him.

[@PFay]

Think your clip is from 2017 doc Descent Into the Maelstrom, but band was part of mid seventies Sydney. Guitarists Denis Tek and Chris Masuak were originally Detroit natives, which probably accounts for the band’s sound with obvious Stooges, MC5 influences?

[@neighborsue]

"******ing, ******ing, etc.," says Clay haha

[@achebwahs1111]

Hahaha. Funniest part is I knew what Clay meant by it ;)

[@neighborsue]

@@achebwahs1111 I love when he gets all fired up about a song!!!

[@achebwahs1111]

@@neighborsue Power of music

[@secondhandreactions]

Shit! What did I say? I gotta go back and watch it again.

[@PhalseProfit13]

You guys are so awesome for doing Radio birdman....one of the most underground bands and kick ass mthr first.. do yourself a favour..listen to more please

[@secondhandreactions]

We will for sure. 👍 Thanks for watching with us

[@shaynewest8757]

Love them Ive known Rob Younger the singer for decades ( he went on to produce lots of aussie acts). Greatest garage band of all time ( theyre not punk theyre influences are Stooges, Sonics and MC5).

[@shanehumphries2392]

here alwa steve and deno 5 o by radio birdman sorry about the spelling

[@secondhandreactions]

Thank you!

[@stl1321]

Grunge before grunge.

[@secondhandreactions]

Yes

[@neighborsue]

Seriously

[@DogInSpace]

@@secondhandreactions Kim Salmon coined the term ''Grunge'' in 1983. Mudhoney and that ilk spoke about getting Australian music into their orbit in the 80's and I think recordings of Sydney's ''Grunge nights'' of the early 80's were reaching places like Seattle. I remember the word ''Grunge'' in the early 80's, but I thought everybody in the world was using that term.

[@secondhandreactions]

@@DogInSpace the term grunge appeared in the early 90s for me. Maybe late 80s… I can’t be sure. I was never into hair metal. I like some metal and alternative. I listened to bands like The Cure and New Order in the 80s and then the Chilli Peopers and Jane’s addition in line 89, 90, 91. I heard rumblings of grunge in Seattle with bands like Mudhoney. Nirvana dropped like a bomb. Changed everything. Grunge was on the map forever.

[@DogInSpace]

@@secondhandreactions I saw The Cure in Melbourne in 1980 and 1981. And I also saw New Order at the same place in 1981/maybe 82(?). Some British bands were very good live, but there were a lot of disappointing British groups that couldn't live up to what the Aussies could do live. Our bands six nights a week, and would play up to 3 shows a day. That's how AC/DC, Radio Birdman, Midnight Oil, The Saints, The Angels, etc. cut their teeth. They played to an audience that might kill them if they didn't give their 110%. Check these out: birthday party- release the bats (live hacienda 1982) Midnight Oil - Stand In Line (triple j Live At The Wireless - Goat Island 1985)

[@DogInSpace]

Maybe it's a little unreasonable of me to feel slightly defensive over Radio Birdman and The Saints. I mean, it's not like like these guys need an ageing Melbourne punk like me to defend them. But shit.. Australia was very exciting in the 70's and 80's. Even saying there was a lot of great bands isn't even enough to emphasize what was going on. If there's a magic cloud that rests on a city and gives it life, that cloud would have been resting on London in the 60's and 70's, Manchester in the 80's, New York in the 70's, Seatle in the 90's and without a doubt in my mind, Melbourne and Sydney in the 70's and 80's. Unfortunately, Paul Hogan told the world to put a shrimp on a barbie and that set the world's impression of Australia. Instead of seeing what was really happening, you saw a grinning opportunist representing a whole country.... But at least the bastard boosted our tourism industry, I'll give him that...

[@secondhandreactions]

I’m paying attention. There is so much talent we’re following coming out of Australia. I’ll admit we’ve been blind to it. Your marketing example is correct. BUT there was also the beloved Steve Erwin. I never even thought to explore the 70s punk scene in Australia until we did this channel. Stuff like this is what makes doing the channel worth it for me. I’m looking forward to digging in

[@DogInSpace]

@@secondhandreactions I'm a grump that's in his 60's. I bought _Pretty Hate Machine_ and _Bleach_ in 1989, and when Nirvana exploded into the mainstream, I didn't know what the fuss was all about. My attitude was ''What? Now you care about this stuff? Why?''. I was in the eye of the storm when Radio Birdman and The Saints were happening, and I got to see a lot of the bands in the wake of Birdman/Saints. There's a lot there.. So much stuff... And before the punk thing, there were heavy duty bands in Australia back in the 60's and 70's that are now being called proto-punk. But we didn't have terms like ''punk'' in the very early 70's. It was just our local rock 'n' roll and it had to be tough. Billy Thorpe & The Aztects (check out ''Mama'') and Lobby Loydd And The Coloured Balls were the big noise makers in Australia and AC/DC rose from that sound.

[@garymallett5962]

And definitely Radelaide in the 80’s with On Heat (my band)Exploding White Mice Lizard Train Screaming Believers Grong Grong 22nd Sect Mark of Cain etc etc

[@DogInSpace]

@@garymallett5962 I saw Exploding White Mice a few times in the 80's. Awesome band!

[@robgiblin4404]

Punk started in Australia well before England with the Saints and Radio Birdmen.