The Visitors

Almost immediately following the demise of Radio Birdman in 1978, the Visitors appeared on the scene in Sydney, picking up where their predecessors had left off. Featuring ex-Birdmen Deniz Tek on guitar, Pip Hoyle on keys, and drummer Ron Keeley, along with ex-Birdman Minister of Defense Mark Sisto on lead vocals, the Visitors continued to do what Radio Birdman had done before them -- rock, seriously. Although they only made one album before Tek went off to join the U.S. Navy (he's a retired Captain now), it is a record that stands up as one of the best of the Australian rock genre. The Visitors were a bit more Doors-y than Birdman, mostly due to having a one-guitar lineup rather than twin leads. Sisto is somewhere between Rob Younger and Jim Morrison, vocally -- not a bad place to be if you are a singer -- and the songs, well, let's just say Deniz Tek was on a roll back then. Sadly, the Visitors didn't last long (they went on until about 1981), but had they, Captain Tek would never have taken it to the vertical in an F-18. While the military is not what comes to mind when you think of great rock & roll, there was a base in the Philippines that was thumping in the '80's! ~ Geoff Ginsberg, All Music Guide