Rob Younger


Rob Younger is an Australian rock musician, vocalist, songwriter and producer. He is a founding mainstay of the punk rock group, Radio Birdman, and a pioneer of the local independent music scene. Radio Birdman, formed with Deniz Tek on guitar in November 1974, was one of the first punk rock bands ever formed in Australia, and is considered one of the most influential and crucial bands in Australian music history. Younger formed a short-term super-group, New Race, in 1981. He also formed New Christs in that year, who is still active today.
Younger undertook production work, particularly with bands on the Citadel Records label. He has teamed up with the label's engineer-producer, Alan Thorne, and has worked independently in Australia and Europe. Younger and Radio Birdman are cited as influential by various rock and roll artists including The Hives and Silverchair. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2007 Daniel Johns of Silverchair announced the induction of Radio Birdman into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

Biography

Rob Younger was lead vocalist of the Rats in 1974 alongside Warwick Gilbert on guitar, Mick Lynne, Ron Keeley on drums and Carl Rourke on bass guitar. They played cover versions of material by New York Dolls, the Stooges, and Velvet Underground. Younger shared a house with fellow musician, Deniz Tek, who was a member of TV Jones. Younger, Keeley, Rourke and Tek on lead guitar formed a punk rock group, Radio Birdman, in Sydney in November 1974 with Philip "Pip" Hoyle on keyboards. Rourke was soon replaced on bass guitar by Gilbert. Fellow Australian musician, and some-time rock music journalist, Vince Lovegrove, observed, " turned the volume up full bore on their amplifiers, screamed out about revolution into the microphones, raised clenched fists in the air and in the process heralded in a brand new era for Australian rock'n'roll music."
The group's debut four-track extended play, Burn My Eye, appeared in October 1976. It was followed by their debut studio album, Radios Appear, in July 1977. Younger co-wrote a track, "Aloha Steve and Danno", for the international version, which appeared early in the following year. However, the group disbanded in June 1978. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "From the outset, played an Americanised brand of rock'n'roll that was totally honest and totally committed... Although generally loathed and shunned by the mainstream music industry of the day... one of the most potent rock bands ever to emerge from Australia, holds pride of place as THE cult band of the last 25 years. The band's iconoclastic approach, uncompromising do-it-yourself ethos and outsider status in the face of overwhelming hostility remain the stuff of legend."
Younger and Keeley formed the Other Side in 1978 with Clyde Bramley on bass guitar and Charlie Georges on guitar. Mark Kingsmill replaced Keeley on drums. The group disbanded in the following year. In 1980 Younger was involved in production work on a four-track extended play, The Visitors, by local punk group of the same name – which included former band mates Hoyle, Keeley and Tek.
The New Christs were formed in 1980 as a hard rock group by Younger and Bramley with Bruce "Cub" Callaway on guitar, John Hoey on keyboards and Don McGloneon on drums. The line-up never performed live but released a single, "Face a New God", which was co-written by Younger and Callaway. McFarlane described it as "searing acid-punk" which has "since emerged as one of the most collectable artefacts of the Australian punk/new wave era." The group disbanded later that year.
Early in 1981 Younger, Gilbert and Tek formed a short-term punk super-group, New Race, with Ron Asheton on guitar, and Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson on drums. They toured Australia's east coast during April and May and recorded a live album, The First and Last, which was issued posthumously in the following year. It was co-produced by Younger with Charles Fisher and Alan Thorne. McFarlane felt it was "one of the greatest live albums in the history of Australian rock'n'roll... hard'n'fast Detroit rock'n'roll at its very best, with Tek and Asheton's incendiary guitar interplay well to the fore."
The New Christs reformed in June 1983 with Younger joined by Kingsmill, Chris Masuak on guitar and Tony Robertson on bass guitar and Kent Steedman on guitar. The group, according to AllMusic's Geoff Ginsberg, "have managed to persevere through many personnel changes, as well as Younger's many commitments producing other bands." They issued five studio albums, Distemper, Lower Yourself, We Got This!, Gloria and Incantations.
Younger had teamed up with the Celibate Rifles on a live four-track EP, Rob Younger and the Celibate Rifles, which was recorded in July 1988 at one of that group's performances in Backnang, Germany. He had joined them on stage to provide vocals for cover versions of "I-94", "She's so Fine", "Shakin' All Over" and "It's a Long Way to the Top ".
In April 1997 he was interviewed by Lovegrove: he described his recent work with New Christs and as a producer for other artists, "Yeah, I haven't done anything exceptionally odd, just work in studios, written songs and produced bands. I've got a family to support, a little girl aged 18 months and a four year old boy, so I've even had to work a few day jobs at various times. The band doesn't have a big audience in Australia, so I'm champing at the bit to do this European tour. I think the lack of commitment on our part over the past few years hasn't helped our Australian following, so we've had a real slump. But a band's only as good as the songs that it writes, and we've got some good songs at the moment. We can rock, we know how to rock".
Younger has participated in reformations of Radio Birdman in 1996 and the following year; they reunited sporadically thereafter. In July 2007 the group were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. They had refused an earlier nomination in the previous year but relented according to Shane Pinnegar, "to pacify friends & family who wanted to see them acknowledged for their contribution to Australian rock n’ roll." Younger reflected, "I didn't really want to accept because I didn't think the music business was ever really on our side, but there were people that did help us out, whether they were journalists or the odd agent or whatever. But generally, of course, I was always on my high horse about what assholes most of the people in the music business were, but I was just scattering my antipathy around at the world really. I don't know where it all fell, whether it landed on the right people or anything like that."

Production work

TitleArtistsDetails----
The VisitorsThe Visitors1980 EP, Phantom Records----
The First and the LastNew RaceAugust 1982, WEA----
The Name of the GameCity Kids1983----
City KidsCity Kids1984----
Next to NothingDied PrettyAugust 1985 EP, Citadel RecordsStrange Device
The Melting Skyscraper
1985
Waterfront Records		Love Will GrowThe StemsFebruary 1986 EP, Citadel Records
Destroy Dull CityThe Psychotic TurnbucklesAugust 1986 EP, Rattlesnake Records----
Free DirtDied PrettyAugust 1986, Citadel Records----
The Orphans ParadeCity Kids1986----
Long Sweet DreamsPlaymates1986----
In the PouchJoeys1987----
This Is the PlanetMeera Atkinson1987----
Vital HoursFixed Up1987 EP----
LostDied PrettyJune 1988, Blue Mosque/Festival Records----
Home Sweet HomeAsylum1988----
OutHappy Hate Me Nots1988----
HeadcleanerLime Spiders1988, Virgin Records----
Taste This!Bits of Kids1989 EP----
Have no MoreToys Went Berserk1989 EP----
WiredHorny Toads1989 EP----
DistemperNew ChristsAugust 1989, Blue Mosque/Citadel Records----
The Smiler with a KnifeToys Went Berserk1989----
MindlessThrust1989----
Sarah's not Falling in LoveThe PlunderersApril 1990 EP, Citadel Records----
The Mutated NoddysThe Mutated Noddys1990----
Da Da Da DaClub Hoy1991----
Quit SlylarkingThe Barbarellas1991 EP----
FringeThe Barbarellas1991 EP----
Home Movie The PlunderersJuly 1991 EP, Citadel Records----
The Lost GenerationThe TrilobitesFebruary 1992----
Heaven on a StickThe Celibate RiflesMarch 1992, Festival Records----
A Place to LiveHappy Hate Me Nots1992----
Dateless Dudes ClubHard-OnsMay 1992, Waterfront Records/Festival Records----
FormaldehydeThe Screaming Tribesmen1993, Survival Records----
Caressing Swine Died PrettyJune 1993----
Woe BetideNew Christs1995 EP----
SoldDied PrettyFebruary 1996, Columbia Records----
Lower YourselfNew Christs1997, Citadel Records----
Remember The RiverHalfway November 2006, Laughing Outlaw Records----
Cremation Day In The Court Of MiraclesDimi Dero Inc.2010----
HikikomoriHITSMarch 2014----
TransmissionThe VolcanicsOctober 2015----

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