“I was delighted to contribute to this top notch podcast series highlighting a range of classic Irish albums.”
Pete Holidai

Episode Notes

“It’s good to have The Radiators as support. It's difficult for them but they went down better tonight. The tickets for this tour had to be printed ‘Thin Lizzy plus Support’ because certain venues would not have us if we announced we were playing with a new wave band. And it’s good too because I’ve learnt a lot about new wave, its finer points and its philosophy through talking and chatting to them on the road.”
Phil Lynott in conversation with Jim Evans in Record Mirror, 03 December, 1977.

“Visconti is currently excited about The Radiators whom he first saw and heard on a Thin Lizzy tour. ‘Phil Lynott of Lizzy is one of his country's greatest patriots, he is always recommending Irish bands for me to go along and hear,’ he says. ‘When I saw The Radiators they were young and inexperienced, but I am pleased with the studio results. I am glad that we took time with the album and didn't rush it. The band have all the great harmonies that the Irish seem to have, and they are very strong on verse too.’”
Tony Visconti in conversation with Chris White in Music Week, 28 October, 1978.

“No Irish band has ever attempted anything as ambitious as Ghostown, and no one ever will. Why should it? It has been done and, like Pet Sounds, it's a monument forever.”
George Byrne, Sunday Times, 1998

Episode fourteen of To Here Knows When - Great Irish Albums Revisited focuses on Ghostown by The Radiators

In this episode I’m joined by Pete Holidai to discuss Ghostown. Our chat covers a lot of ground: the early days of The Radiators; playing one of Ireland’s first big outdoor concerts at Dalymount Park in 1977 on a bill with Thin Lizzy, Fairport Convention, Graham Parker and the Rumour and The Boomtown Rats; touring the UK with Thin Lizzy; meeting producer Tony Visconti and recording Ghostown in his Good Earth studio. Holidai recalls listening back to Visconti’s studio tapes of Marc Bolan rehearsing ‘Get it On’ and how Philip Chevron played the guitar David Bowie recorded ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ with on a song on Ghostown. We also talk about how Pete worked with the original master tapes to put together the 40th Anniversary edition of Ghostown. Pete now plays in Trouble Pilgrims alongside former Radiator From Space Steve Rapid and we talk about Blood, Glass & Gasoline, the band’s latest album.

I first came across The Radiators, actually The Radiators from Space, in 1992 when my brother bought a compilation album called “Irish A to Z of Rock”. It was a 37 track double CD that as the title suggested tried to give an overview of Irish rock music. The late 70s were represented by Stiff Little Fingers, The Undertones, and the Boomtown Rats. Nestled between U2’s ‘Out of Control’ and 'The Stars of Heaven’s ‘Every Other Day’ was ‘Television Screen’, the debut single by the Radiators from Space.

In the accompanying sleevenotes it says, “Ireland’s first real punk adventure. ‘Television Screen’ is about many things – consumerism, frustration, boredom, It’s also about three minutes length of adrenaline rush and excitement.”

What drugs was the writer on – my brother’s CD player clocked ‘Television Screen’ in at 1 minute and fifty seconds – the shortest track of all 37.

A few years later – into the mid-90s – a friend put Ghostown by the Radiators onto one side of a C90 for me. But I couldn’t really square this band with the one that had produced the 110 seconds of punkish fury on ‘Television Screen’. Over the years I would return to that tape now and again but it took me many years to fully appreciate Ghostown. My understanding and appreciation of the record was aided by reading some of the contributions that The Radiators’s Phil Chevron made to the Pogues online forum in the early 00s. In an age where a lot of musicians stood aloof here was a guy who seemed happy to engage with fans and answer questions about his Radiator past.   

‘Television Screen’ was released in March 1977 and a few weeks later is was awarded Single of the Week by Sounds when they declared, “The Radiators have their own category - Dublin's best.”

In June of 77, The Radiators played the Punk Festival at UCD along with The Undertones and others. Tragically at this concert 18 year old Patrick Coultry was stabbed to death. In the wake of the tragedy following a lot of tabloid hysteria promoters cancelled gigs. Later that summer The Radiators were added to the bill of one of Ireland's first ever major outdoor concerts  when they joined Thin Lizzy, Graham Parker and The Rumour, The Boomtown Rats and other in Dalymount Park.

In the late 90s, I attended Ballyfermot College of Further Education. By this time Pete Holidai was a tutor in the College on their Music Management course. Out in the small outdoor smoking area a few of us would nudge each other and cast eyes over in Holidai’s direction. In hushed awe we’d mumble, “there’s Pete Holidai – he was a Radiator.”

“Steve Averill was designing the cover and we found a crumbling warehouse down the docks for a location. Though I’d worked with many bands by then, I was particularly thrilled to be shooting the Radiators” - Conor Horgan.
Another beautiful photograph from this session can be viewed on Conor’s website here.

For Further Reading/Listening:

To Here Knows When column in The Goo on Ghostown…

Ghostown can he heard below.

Below a selection of Radiators’ music press cuttings from Sounds (@soundsclips), NME & Melody Maker (@nothingelseon), and Record Mirror & Music Week (americanradiohistory).