Check out her Tek-nique

If you're into being inked and live in Melbourne, there's a young lady with the surname Tek who might be able to add some colour to your flesh. Check out here work here.

Revival a night no-one with half a brain should miss

Just 10 bucks to see this line-up? You'd have to be mad to pass it up if in the area. Online tix have just gone on sale here.

Metro Times reveals Deniz Tek nearly became a Stooge

Probably the best and most comprehensive interview with Iggy and James Williamson you'll see this time around in the lifetime(s) of the Stooges has appeared in the Detroit Metro Times. Bill Holdship has conducted long interviews with both and has done a fantastic job.

Watch for the "Raw Power" original mix re-issue and ponder what might have been, post Ron, if Ig hadn't decided to put ex-Radio Birdman leader Deniz Tek on ice and pursue Strait James.

It's not too late on that front and reprising "Raw Power" songs surely needs a second guitar. Read it here.

Dr Tek in Sugar Hill supergroup

Sugar Hill Studios is an historic place in Houston, Texas, where you can apparently feel the presence of people who've worked there. Like Roky, the Stones, Roy Head and Janis Joplin. Ex-Radio Birdman soundie Andy "Mort" Bradley runs the show and recorded Hitmen DTK (circa "Moronic Inferno") and Deniz Tek there.

Dr Tek was back there this week to mix a live Birdman album from their final US tour (are you taking note!) and also to work with a combo of past clients to lay down "San Francisco Girls", a song recorded by Texan psych band Fever Tree in 1968 for a forthcoming tribute to the studio. Here's some footage for The SugarHill Gang.



Players included Deniz's ex-US Navy mate (and DTG 1992 Australian tour bassist) Dust Petersen and Fever Tree member Rob Landis.

The Last of the Bad Men

The Deniz Tek-inclusive punk band The Last Of The Bad Men has a new album out. A review is pending at the I-94 Bar. Sharp observers will note the inclusion of a Deniz Tek Group song and Radio Birdman's "Hit 'Em Again". Meanwhile, here's an online write-up with which Bar staff concur. And if you want to lay your hands on a copy, go here. Day To Ride!

Powertrane/Iceman hit the road

Click to read the fine print.

Buried Treasure from an ex-Vicious Kitten

One of the Gray brothers, Colin - late of Vicious Kitten zine and the 1990s Aussie record label of the same name - has entered the podcast arena with a live feed of great Australian rock sounds of the '80s and '90s. Buried Treasure is a (hopefully regular) feed of the likes of Hitmen DTK (with special guest Deniz Tek), Asteroid B612, the Screaming Tribesmen, all committed to tape in glorious mono in pubs in and around Sydney. Stream or download it here, drop Col a line.

New Roy Loney not far away

Here's some news that's a big deal in a few places. Spain, patches of the USA and yes, even Australia, are waiting for the new album by Roy Loney and the Longshots. It's called "Shake It Or Leave It" and it's shaping as something special.

Roy's the original singer from the early Flamin' Groovies (some would say the best singer in the best line-up) and he's been rolling out a succession of good, and mostly great, albums since he moved on in the early '70s. "Shake It Or Leave It" has been a long time in the pipeline, with producer Ron Sanchez beavering away for months on end on sporadic sessions. More than a little of the work has involved guest guitarist Deniz Tek. That's Ron (top) pictured with Deniz and Roy in the photo above. The Iceman's contribution on guitar on "Don't Like Nothing" is said to be especially noteworthy.

Read about the sessions here and ready your ears for the release in September. It'll be be on Career Records and it'll have distro around the world. We'll let you know when it's out at the I-94 Bar when it's out.

Tyner tune "Taboo" live

What's the use of YouTube if you don't share? Cop this: Scott Morgan's Powertrane (with special guest Deniz Tek) rocking out on "Taboo", the song co-written by the MC5's Rob Tyner and Powertrane guitarist Robert Gillespie, at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor in June. Thanks to Dave Champion for the link.

And a reminder - that long-awaited Powertrane studio album, which has been held up by pressing problems, should be days away from a proper release. (Early copies lacked this very song.)

Theft Most Foul in the Murder City

Word from the other side of the world is that the Powertrane support to the Stooges in the Motor City went down a storm. One disappointing note, however, when PT's special guest, Deniz Tek, parted ways with a near new Rickenbacker somewhere between Montana and Detroit Metro Airport. Deniz isn't holding his breath, suspecting foul luggage handler play. Thankfully, it's wasn't the Epi Crestwood.

When too much Stooges isn't nearly enough

So I'm sitting here in sunny Sydney, cooling my heels, when I shoulda jumped a plane to the Motor City to see the Stooges, supported by Powertrane Featuring Scott Morgan with special guest Deniz Tek. Then this fine little promo movie pops into my mailbox. What's a poor boy to do but put it here on a blog for public consumption?

Iceman joins Powertrane for Stooges homecoming

Powertrane Featuring Scott Morgan will support the Stooges at their Detroit homecoming at Fox Theater on April 13. Also aboard for the ride, as Powertrane's special guest, will be Radio Birdman's Deniz Tek, currently doctoring in Montana. Word is that Powertrane's new studio album should finally see the light of day in time for the show.

If you didn't know, pictured above are Ron Asheton (Stooges), Powertrane's superbly talented lead guitarist Robert Gillespie, Dr Tek and Scott Morgan, just before the show at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor a few years ago that was released as "Ann Arbor Revival Meeting". Props to K. Shimamoto for the visual.

This is a gig for which I seriously considered flying to the US seeing I had a bit of time on my hands, but it clashed with a commitment for The Barmaid. Pity, 'cos it will be some show.

Mark and Chase: Eclectic excursions into musical back pages

Remiss of me not to pen a review for the Mark Sisto's Detroit Actual gig at the Excelsior Hotel in Surry Hills a couple of months ago, I know. But other factors got in the way. So treat this, not so much as a review of that show, but a preview of what's coming up when the Marquis and Friends returns to the same venue on Thursday, March 16. Except predicting what they might do next is fraught with danger.
Mark, who you may know as Radio Birdman's Minister for Defence and back-up singer or vocalist for the post-Birdman band the Visitors, has been fronting a band called Vindicator Electro. Only, when they play laid-back stuff, they're Vindicator Smooth. Members include Radio Birdman's Chris "Klondike" Masuak (on drums but back on guitar), Ged Corben (Lime Spiders), Steve Lucas (X) and Jon Schofield (Paul Kelly, Hell to Pay and dozens of others), but it's more a floating collective than a permanent line-up.

Last outing, the gig started with a set by KLINK - not the Colonel from Hogan's heroes but principally Madeleine Chase, of '80s Sydney band The Skolars - and friends, who had dual membership of Detroit Actual. This was the "nightclub trip" - Madeleine and Mark dueting at times, on cruisy, loungey stuff. Chase plays Julie London, Sisto is cast as Scott Walker. No Corben, Schofield or Lucas on board this time, but Jack Stewart Shanley was adeptly cool on sax and a session guy Calvin Welch (an actual Michigan native who's played with Earth, Wind & Fire and Jackie Orszaczky, among others) sat in on drums and - stunned us with his mastery of the traps. Props to the consumate bass skills of Andy Newman (ME-262), the constant in these fluid line-ups.

Next came a KLINK set of the rockier stuff - "Detroit Actual" - with some country and blues excursions. Not so much actual Detroit songs (although "Get Ready" obviously hails from Motown) but a diverse selection, something like Detroiters would have grown up listening to on the radio in the '60s. Cue surprise guests with Birdmen Deniz Tek and Pip Hoyle joining bandmate Klondike.
We gratefully cop the Tek-penned "Pushing the Broom" (replete with ringing Masuak country licks), Visitors tunes "Brother John" and "Sad TV" (the former with a fucked up tempo - but whadya expect when it was played on a whim?), and a Tek solo vocal with dance moves on Guy Clark's "Desperadoes Waiting For A Train".

Take note: Deniz was seen playing a Strat.

Mark's own "Atoms Action" gets an airing with Chase harmonies. If anything, the set's a bit light on for the stuff he did with his '90s band Manifestations and those Vindicator songs of a more recent vintage, but this can change on the night.
All very eclectic, which is what a lot of Sydney rock and roll isn't. It drew well too, even though the show fell on the same night as the Big Day Out (which I suppose wasn't the same demographic.)

Anyway, you can listen to a couple of songs here and if you want to show up at the Excelsior on the 15th you ought to know that it's being billed as "Showdown at the Lazy K". And it will be supporting either Penny Ikinger Inc or French band Dimi Dero Inc (or maybe both) so be early. Plus Electra Jean (a French duo) will be opening up. I don't really know what Mark and Chase are going to do (Johnny Halliday, the French Elvis? Serge Gainsborough?) but it will be fun.

Radio Birdman tour news

Spotted this in a blog comment dated 17 January, on their myspace site:

Hey everyone,
After finally catching up on a thousand hours of lost sleep, on a tour where we went through amplifiers the way others go through guitar strings, we are now ready to saddle up and ride out again. We lost our drummer, Rusty, but there are some great candidates out there and we may have some exciting news in the next week or two.

Best,
Deniz

This reads to me as a legit post from Deniz Tek...so, it seems Russell Hopkinson has moved on, but there will be more live dates to come. Watch this space.