RODDY RADIATION & THE SKABILLY REBELS MERCHANDISE NOW ON SALE!!!
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**PLEASE NOTE**- Roddy Byers does not reply personally from this page.
Roderick James Byers (a.k.a. Roddy Radiation) was born 5/5/55 to a trumpet playing father and a "Movie Mad" mother, in the year of Rock'n'Roll, when Elvis and Dean were "Rebels with a Cause".
Roddy spent his first 18 years in a coal mining village just outside of Coventry in the English Midlands. At the age of 11 years, his father started Rod and his brother Chris on trombone and trumpet respectively, but by the age of 13 Roddy had discovered Rock'n'Roll, and swapped his trombone for an electric guitar.
Several school groups followed with regular gig's at the local youth club.
In the early seventies, forsaking the local art school, Roddy started work as a painter and decorator for the local council, which enabled him to buy a much needed new guitar and amp.
Roddy's early tastes in music ran to the more outrageous pop and R'n'B bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Jimi Hendrix Experience. At this time Roddy also acquired a long lasting love of Blues and early Rock'n'Roll.
Roddy adopted a "Ziggy Stardust" persona "Roddy Radiation", a nickname given to him by his brother Chris.
From the Glam Rock days, Rod discovered other more eccentric artists such as Iggy Pop, Lou Reed and the seminal proto punk group, The New York Dolls.
Roddy's first proper group based on these early influences was "The Wild Boys", formed in 1975. Short spikey hair, drainpipe jeans, and cover songs such as "No Fun" and "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" along with Roddy's early songs "1980's Teddy Boy" and a song called "Concrete Jungle".
But Coventry was not London and Rod would have to wait a few more years until a certain local nutter (Jerry Dammers) asked Roddy to punk up his new band "The Coventry Automatics" - nee "The Specials".
The Specials were the founders of the famous 2Tone records label that also helped spawn the careers of bands such as Madness, The Selecter, The Bodysnatchers and The Beat to name a few. The Specials were a driving force behind the re-emergence of Skinhead and rude boy cults in the UK and thus the 2Tone movement was born. There has been nothing seen like it since then. Roddy & The Specials notched up seven top 10 hits including two number Ones ("Too Much Too Young" & "Ghost Town") and two top 5 albums ("Specials" & "More Specials") before the famed acrimonious split in 1981. Roddy was dropped by the Chrysalis label before he re-emerged with The Tearjerkers, a band that he had began in the last months of The Specials. After a few years enjoying himself he moved onto "The Bonediggers" with their more raw hard edged rockabilly slant and then "The Raiders", more of a rock outfit. Roddy was an essential part of "The Specials 2" who reformed in the early 90s after teaming up with Desmond Dekker for the "King Of Kings" album. The group toured seriously and had a whole hearted attempt to rekindle the ska scene. They released two singles ("Hypocrite" & "Pressure Drop") and two albums ("Todays Specials" & the better "Guilty Til Proved Innocent") before they called it a day. Rod also played on "Conquering Ruler" and "Skinhead Girl" albums with three other Specials, compilations of their fave Skinhead Reggae tracks. Roddy has guested on many artists tracks over the years most recently including bands like "Too Hot" and "The Rough Kutz" two of the UK's top ska bands. Rod's current project "The Skabilly Rebels" are a Coventry based outfit, mixing their own punky brand of rockabilly with the rhythmic lilt of Ska. They are on the verge of a studio album and have toured extensively around the UK and Europe. Rod is also a member of the acoustic project "Three Men & Black" who have toured and recorded and consists of some major UK music names such as JJ Burnel (Stranglers), Jake Burns (Stiff Little Fingers), Pauline Black (The Selecter), Nick Welsh (Bad Manners, The Selecter, King Hammond, Big 5), Bruce Foxton (The Jam) and Dave Wakeling (The Beat, General Public).
Recently,Rod took to the stage with The Specials (minus Jerry Dammers) for a secret comeback gig at Bestival on the Isle Of Wight in 2008, and then the band announced they were to tour the UK on their 30th Anniversary Tour which sold out in minutes. They played a number of festivals in the summer of 2009 and embarked on a very successful tour of Australia, New Zealand and Japan before returning to the shores of the UK for another sold out Winter Tour. In 2010, the Skabilly Rebels album "Blues Attack" has been released to critcial acclaim and Rod intends to ply his trade with the Rebels when and where he can, counter balancing this with his work with The Specials. This myspace page is a mark of respect to a talented singer/songwriter who is responsible for some fine and influential music.
