Universal Radio is the debut album by New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 group Dragon

Dragon (band)

Dragon is a popular New Zealand rock band, they were formed in Auckland, New Zealand in January 1972 and relocated to Sydney, Australia in May 1975. They were previously led by singer Marc Hunter and are currently led by his brother bass player Todd Hunter...

 released in June 1974 on Vertigo Records

Vertigo Records

Vertigo Records today is a UK-based record label operated by Universal Music UK.-History:Vertigo Records was the name Philips Records chose in the late 1960s for its record sub-label to counter the progressive labels of its rivals EMI with Harvest Records and Decca Records with Deram...

 and produced

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 by Rick Shadwell. Universal Radio, along with their second album Scented Gardens for the Blind

Scented Gardens for the Blind

Scented Gardens for the Blind is the second album by New Zealand group Dragon released in March 1975 on Vertigo Records before they relocated to Australia in May. Scented Gardens for the Blind, along with their first album Universal Radio, is in the progressive rock genre—all subsequent...

are in the progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 genre—all subsequent albums are hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

/pop rock

Pop rock

Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...

.

On 2 July 2009, Aztec Music reissued Universal Radio with extensive liner notes, rare photos, and three bonus tracks. The first bonus track is a live recording from 1974 of their cover version

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...

's "Black Magic Woman

Black Magic Woman

"Black Magic Woman" is a song written by Peter Green that first appeared as a Fleetwood Mac single in various countries in 1968, subsequently appearing on the 1969 Fleetwood Mac compilation albums English Rose and The Pious Bird of Good Omen . In 1970, it became a classic hit by Santana, as sung...

", while the last two, "X-Ray Creature" and "Dinghy Days" are the A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 of Marc Hunter

Marc Hunter

Marc Alexander Hunter was a New Zealand rock and pop singer best known as the lead vocalist with Dragon, a band formed by his older brother Todd in Auckland in 1973....

's first solo single released in 1973.

Track listing

1. "Universal Radio" (Ray Goodwin, Marc Hunter
   Marc Hunter
   Marc Alexander Hunter was a New Zealand rock and pop singer best known as the lead vocalist with Dragon, a band formed by his older brother Todd in Auckland in 1973....
   
   , Todd Hunter
   Todd Hunter
   Todd Stuart Hunter is a New Zealand musician and composer known for his involvement in the band Dragon. Their best known songs are "April Sun in Cuba", "Are You Old Enough?", "Still in Love With You", and "Rain"...
   
   ) - 8:33
2. "Going Slow" (T Hunter, M Hunter, Goodwin, Robert Taylor) - 6:16
3. "Patina" (Goodwin, M Hunter, T Hunter) - 11:47
4. "Weetbix" (Goodwin, T Hunter, M Hunter) - 2:55
5. "Graves" (Goodwin, T Hunter, M Hunter) - 6:56
6. "Avalanche" (Goodwin, M Hunter, T Hunter, Ivan Thompson) - 11:08

2009 Aztec Music Reissue

7. "Black Magic Woman
   Black Magic Woman
   "Black Magic Woman" is a song written by Peter Green that first appeared as a Fleetwood Mac single in various countries in 1968, subsequently appearing on the 1969 Fleetwood Mac compilation albums English Rose and The Pious Bird of Good Omen . In 1970, it became a classic hit by Santana, as sung...
   
   " (Peter Green
   Peter Green (musician)
   Peter Green is a British blues-rock guitarist and the founder of the band Fleetwood Mac...
   
   ) - 6:38
8. "X-Ray Creature" (Graeme Collins, A Baysting) - 3:06
9. "Dinghy Days" (T Hunter) - 3:33

• Note: On all releases tracks 4–6 segue to become one long track but are separated into three.

Personnel

Dragon members

• Marc Hunter
  Marc Hunter
  Marc Alexander Hunter was a New Zealand rock and pop singer best known as the lead vocalist with Dragon, a band formed by his older brother Todd in Auckland in 1973....
  
   - lead vocals
• Todd Hunter
  Todd Hunter
  Todd Stuart Hunter is a New Zealand musician and composer known for his involvement in the band Dragon. Their best known songs are "April Sun in Cuba", "Are You Old Enough?", "Still in Love With You", and "Rain"...
  
   - bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , vocals; and flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
   on "Dinghy Days"
• Ray Goodwin - lead guitar
  Lead guitar
  Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
  
  , vocals
• Ivan Thompson - organ, piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , Moog synthesizer
  Moog synthesizer
  Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
  
  , vocals
• Neil Storey - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  

Additional musicians

• Graeme Collins - piano on "X-Ray Creature" (Collins was a founding member of Dragon but had left before Universal Radio was recorded)
• Herb Mann - lead guitar on "Dinghy Days"

Recording details

• Engineer - Tony Moan
• Producer - Rick Shadwell

Art work

• Cover art - Dick Frizzel

External links

• Dragon @ Bruce Sergent's website: New Zealand Music of the

60's, 70's and a bit of 80's.