The Radiators From Space - TV Tube Heart

42 years ago, Irish trailblazers The Radiators from Space put Dublin on the punk rock map with their debut album TV Tube Heart. The Radiators were pretty much the only punk band in Dublin back then. Sure, a few others followed their lead, but while London was burning to the Sex Pistols, Clash et al, Dublin was a pretty solitary place for teenagers looking for something new and exciting before and during the summer of '77. But what Dublin lacked in quantity was redeemed by quality: the Rads were ours, and they were brilliant. Sure, a little rough around the edges, but that's the way it was back then and all the better for it. TV Tube Heart is basically the studio version of the Rads' live set from 1977, ranging from the sublime pop of Enemies and Prison Bars to the media assault of Sunday World and Press Gang, the theatrical Electric Shares ('I'm gonna pull that switch - fry that son of a bitch'), to the version of their debut single, Television Screen, a radical reworking that signalled the band's future intent. If you weren't in Moran's Hotel back in 1977, this is an aural snapshot of what it was like the year punk exploded and The Radiators from Space helped change some people's lives forever, mine included. Music was that important back then.

John Byrne

Ripped from a very clean copy of the 1977 vinyl to MP3 @ 320kbps

The Radiators From Space; TV Tube Heart

A1.  Television Screen

A2.  Prison Bars

A3.  Great Expectations

A4.  Roxy Girl

A5.  Press Gang

A6.  Contact

A7.  Sunday World

B1.  Electric Shares

B2.  Enemies

B3.  Ripped And Torn

B4.  Not To Late

B5.  Blitzin’ At The Ritz

B6.  Party Line