The Visitors
Visitors

How many great bands have risen from the ashes of the Radio Birdman? Let's quickly count the most famous ones: New Christ, New Race, Hitmen, and then, there are the Visitors.

The Visitors were born in 1978 and can be considered a true continuation of Radio Birdman, with 3 of the 5 members being former Radio Birdman: Deniz Tek on guitar, Pip Hoyle on keyboards, and Ron Keely on drums; joining them is Mark Sisto on vocals, a friend and companion from the Radio Birdman days in the role of "minister of defence," and Steve Harris on bass (not that Steve Harris, of course).

Only one EP and one album for the Visitors, but that's enough to place them among the great Australian rock'n'roll bands, and given the lineup, it's no surprise.
The sound of the Visitors is clearly indebted to that of Radio Birdman (as well as the Stooges), also because many songs were written specifically for them, although in the Visitors' version, the keyboards and piano have a greater role as heard from the very start with Living World.

The album fires off one authentic rock'n'roll gem after another like Brother John, the splendid Haunted Road which would not have looked out of place on a Radio Birdman album, there’s no shortage of rock'n'roll ballads like Life Spill and Miss You Too Much or long journeys like Journey By Sledge, but also the more direct and punk pieces like Let's Have Some Fun and Hell Yes.

Sure, in their tracks the presence of Birdman is very clear, but beware they are not mere clones, considering them as such would be unfair to an excellent band, moreover Mark's deep crooner voice gives everything a touch of captivating originality.

In short, not only were Radio Birdman a fantastic rock'n'roll band, but from their ashes, like a new phoenix, other fantastic bands were born that made Australian rock'n'roll proud, and the Visitors are a great example of this.