Radio Birdman was one of the first punk bands. Deniz Tek and Rob Younger formed the group in Sydney, Australia in 1974. The group influenced the work of many successful, mainstream bands, such as Midnight Oil, but their main legacy was their towering influence over Australian indie rock in the 1980s.

They began recording in 1976 (see 1976 in music) when the single "Burn My Eye " was released. Their first LP, Radios Appear , showed diverse influences, including Detroit bands of the late 1960s, such as The MC5 and The Stooges. The album was totally ignored by commercial radio but was championed by Sydney station 2JJ (Double Jay) and became sufficiently successful in Australia to lead to a contract with Sire Records (US label, home of The Ramones), who released a different version of Radios Appear internationally. It took three years to record a follow-up, Living Eyes , and by then, the Australian punk scene had diversified and the band broke up before the LP was released.

All members went on to other bands. Younger's New Christs would be more oriented towards hardcore punk. Tek and keyboardist Pip Hoyle 's band, The Visitors, and guitarist Chris Masuak and bass guitarist Warwick Gilbert 's The Hitmen continued the Radio Birdman sound.

All six members reunited for the Big Day Out tour in 1996 and again in 1997. Since then Radio Birdman have continued to perform sporadically. In 2002 Warwick Gilbert was replaced by Jim Dickson who had previously played with the New Christs and Deniz Tek . Drummer Ron Keeely left the band in 2004, after the band's performance at the Azkena Festival in Spain, and has been replaced by Nik Reith, also a past member of the New Christs and Deniz Tek Group.