Dónal Lunny, the bouzouki man who rewired Irish music, died Friday morning in Dublin’s St James’s Hospital after a battle with cancer. He was 79.
Continue reading Dónal Lunny, 1947–2026: The Bouzouki Man Who Rewired Irish MusicTag Archives: The Radiators From Space
The Radiators From Space Call Time at the 3Arena
Ireland’s first punk band are calling time, and they’re doing it back in the room where they once opened for The Pogues. Pete Holidai says The Radiators From Space’s special-guest slot with Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter at Dublin’s 3Arena on Monday, December 7, will be the last time he and Steve Rapid ever perform under the name.
Continue reading The Radiators From Space Call Time at the 3Arena
Meryl Streek: Stories They Don’t Teach You At School Is Out
Dublin’s people’s punk poet Meryl Streek has put out his third album, Stories They Don’t Teach You At School — twelve tracks of housing fights, landlord politics, contested deaths and working-class Ireland, out now on Venn Records.
Continue reading Meryl Streek: Stories They Don’t Teach You At School Is Out
Radiators From Space: Anarchy Guests at the 3Arena
Ireland’s first punk band just got the call for the big room. The Radiators From Space are special guests when Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter hit Dublin’s 3Arena on Monday, December 7, 2026 — the Irish date on the Anarchy In The U.K. and Ireland tour marking fifty years of punk. From Television Screen through Ghostown, the late Phil Chevron’s old crew still carry the Dublin DNA that made Celtic punk possible.
Continue reading Radiators From Space: Anarchy Guests at the 3Arena
Pete Holidai: Electric Jukebox Volume One
Pete Holidai – Dublin’s original punk. Co-founder of The Radiators from Space in ’76, Ireland’s first punk snarlers, droppin’ bombs like “Television Screen” and “Enemies” that bridged raw rebellion with street-smart hooks. Through the heartbreak of the Radiators, the Trouble Pilgrims, and decades of grit, Pete has never lost his undyin’ love for 1970s glam – that glittery fuse that lit punk’s fire.
Now, in 2025, Electric Jukebox Volume One (34 minutes, 10 tracks) is a triumphant glam-punk blast, channelin’ Marc Bolan’s T. Rex boogie, David Bowie’s theatrical swagger, the New York Dolls’ sleazy strut, and Iggy Pop’s wild-man energy.
Opening like it’s 1972, “On The Jukebox In The Corner” sets the pub-stompin’ sing-along tone, while “Hot Love On My TV Screen” and “A New Revolution” echo Bolan, “Daydream Girl” floats glam-dub-psych vibes (with a nod to Bowie’s flair). Punk rippers like “Glam Rocker Punk Shocker” and “Sick and Tired of the Internet” deliver New York Dolls/Iggy snarls. Guests like Paul McLoone (The Undertones) and Tony St. Ledger (his mate from Trouble Pilgrims) add roar. The production shines without losing the jagged edge.
This is joyous, hook-filled adrenaline – proof Pete’s fire burns brighter than ever. Essential for Radiators fans or glam-punk devotees.
The Radiators from Space: Dollar for Your Dreams
At long last, Dollar for Your Dreams gets the full-length CD release we’ve been waiting for. Initially released in 1987 on cassette only, the cassette version has become hard and expensive to obtain in recent years. If you did manage to get your hands on one, what do you play it on?
The Radiators were the pioneers of Irish punk, full stop. Before U2 were playing church halls, these northside misfits were spitting out snarling anthems and giving the finger to showbands and bloated 70s rock. TV Tube Heart and Ghostown have rightly earned near-legendary cult status, but Dollar for Your Dreams, their reunion live offering, often got lost in the analogue shuffle—no more.
This one’s older, wiser, and soaked in the heartbreak and dispare of 1980s post-punk Ireland. There’s still bite—”Television Screen” punches like a knuckleduster to the jaw—but also reflection, melody, and maturity. Philip Chevron (RIP), the band’s beating heart, had by then joined The Pogues, and that influence seeps through. It’s punk with soul, politics with poetry.
For fans of Irish punk, this isn’t just a reissue—it’s a resurrection. If Dollar for Your Dreams slipped past you the first time, no excuses now. This is essential listening from one of Ireland’s most important and criminally underrated bands. A proper dose of Dublin defiance.
https://theradiatorsfromspace.bandcamp.com/album/dollar-for-your-dreams-expanded-version
Philip Chevron new music
The late legendary Philip Chevron of The Radiators from Space and The Pogues wrote a collection of songs for a musical, The Tuner.
The Tuner is the tale of Irish-American boxer Jack Rooney. Contributors to the album included Kirsty MacColl, Dubliners legend Ronnie Drew, and fellow Pogues Andrew Rankin and Spider Stacy.
The CD version of The Tuner is limited to 250 copies and is available now on pre-order from Bandcamp.
Trouble Pilgrims: Blood, Glass & Gasoline
Blood, Glass & Gasoline is the second full-length release from Dublin rockers, Trouble Pilgrims. The Pilgrims arose out of the ashes of the seminal punk band, The Radiators from Space, who disbanded after the untimely death of founding member Philip Chevron in 2013.
Trouble Pilgrims take their name from the last Radiators album of original songs, Trouble Pilgrim. Trouble Pilgrims continues on with former Rads, Steve Rapid (vocals), Pete Holidai (guitars) and Johnny Bonnie (drums) with the latterday Rad’s sound – 50’s rockabilly/surf, 60’s beat, the glam of Bowie and T-Rex and some ’77 for old times sake.
Blood, Glass & Gasoline is a great follow up album to the band’s excellent debut, Dark Shadows and Rust, that does their legacy proud.
http://www.thetroublepilgrims.com/
The Best of 2020 (and 2019)
I didn’t put out a best of 2019 list on St. Patrick’s Day 2020 and the whole world went to shite. So, in my attempt to fix the strange vortex we have been in since, here with no further ado is the Shite’n’Onions best of 2020 (and 2019)
The Top 6:
#1 The Go Set: Of Bright Futures….and Broken Pasts
#2 Greenland Whalefishers: Based on a True Story
#3 The Walker Roaders: The Walker Roaders
#4 The Real McKenzies: Beer & Loathing
#5 The Tan & Sober Gentlemen: Veracity
#6 Bodh’aktan: Ride Out The Storm
Best 30 Year Retrospective:
The Mahones: This Is All We Got To Show For It (Best Of 1990 – 2020)
Best Debut (single):
The Placks: Rebellious Son (7”)
Best Other Shite:
Flogging Molly – Swagger 20th Anniversary Edition
The Pogues – BBC Sessions 1984-1985
The Radiators: Ghostown 40th Anniversary Edition
The Radiators: Ghostown (40th anniversary edition)
This is the 40th anniversary re-issue of Ghostown, the 2nd album by Dublin’s original punk band, The Radiators (from Space). Ghostown is many things; a post-punk masterpiece, a document of Dublin as it was in 1979, the first modern Irish rock album. Not an easy album initially to get into but stick with it, it’s well worth the listening effort. The re-issue is 45 tracks on two disks with disk one the original album plus related b-sides from the albums supporting singles and disk two for the hardcore fans – various demos and outtakes. A true masterpiece.
https://www.theradiators.irish/
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