Rolling Stone Australia — July 2017

30 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com July, 2017

CLASSIC

SHOT

Radio

Birdman

Stand and

Deliver, 1981

‘T

he fi rst time I photo-

graphed Radio Birdman

was when they supported

Ol’ 55 at Sydney University,” recalls

snapper Bob King. “I was there

to ‘shoot’ Ol’ 55, but as I arrived

before they played I took some

photos of Radio Birdman too. They

were very energetic – and very

loud! – and the audience was danc-

ing right in front of the stage, close

to the band. I sent some proofs to

their manager the following week.

“Later that month they invited

me to the recording of a TV special

at the ABC TV studios at Gore

Hill. Then over the following two

months I photographed the band

twice in a small photographic

studio in Ultimo that belonged to a

friend of mine.

“After a slow start in the studio

• I think they were a bit nervous in
  the beginning – we started to get
  some good shots. However I had a
  problem getting eye contact with
  all the band. In particular I had to
  keep asking guitarist Deniz Tek to
  ‘look at the camera’.
  “They were intent on making a
  great shot, and having the band’s
  logo on the backdrop was impor-
  tant. We ended up with some great
  shots, one of which was used on
  the band’s 1978 overseas release of
  Radios Appear.”

Photographed by

Bob King