The South African Rock Encyclopedia > Rock Legends > 1970s > Radio Rats > Discography > Radio Rats – Live At The Market Theatre 1978
Tracks
- Queue of No Return
- Law and Order*
- Mucking About in the Dungeons All Day*
- Waiting for the Boot
- Angst Inside the Met
- I’m Not Like That*
- Turn on the Gas
- Theatre of Electric Chairs
- Man After You
- Guildhall Dilemma
- Plague Café*
- Bomb Shelter Blues*
- Jiving and Dying
Recorded by David Marks from 3rd Ear.
Mastered by Dave Langemann in 2026.
* Recorded in August again (in 1978) to be included in “Into the Night We Slide“
Release information
Streaming: June 2012, Radium Wreckords (on Soundcloud)
Streaming / Download: October 2026, Radium Wreckords, under exclusive licence to Next Music.
Musicians
- Jonathan Handley: guitar
- Dave Davies: vocals
- Julian Platt: drums
- Herbie Parkin: bass
This performance was recorded on the 31st July 1978, though some posters show 18th June 1978. The June gig was actually at The Market Café according to Herbie Parkin’s Radio Rats Site.
Brian Currin, 3 October 2026
It was on the 31st of July. In August we started recording “Into the Night We Slide“.
Jonathan Handley, 3 October 2026
Gallery
Synopsis
RADIO RATS – LIVE AT THE MARKET THEATRE 1978
Dave Marks (Third Ear Music) organized a one-off gig for Radio Rats at the Market Theatre in Jo’burg, on a Monday night (31st July 1978)…a school night!
We had played the Market Café before, but not the theatre – a real stage! Roger Lucey played first – was he recorded too? Dave Marks will know.
Radio Rats were signed to Jo’burg Records and about to start recording “Into The Night We Slide” at Satbel Studios, to be engineered and produced by Greg Cutler. Greg was rehearsing the backing tracks with Radio Rats in the Palladium Cinema rehearsal room in Springs during this period, with Leonard Dickson on drums.
Julian Platt played drums on this recording, not Leonard. Julian knew all the songs well, but was leaving the band. Leonard was not ready to play live, yet. So, the band showcased songs about to be recorded, except a few of these songs never made it onto the album, while some unplanned ones did, including ZX-DAN.
ZX-DAN had been written by this time, but never performed live. Written in 12/8 time with an up-tempo swing beat, ZX-DAN was an atypical Radio Rats song. But Greg Cutler liked it and pinned it as a hit – certainly more radio-playable than “Mucking About In The Dungeons All Day!”
Anyway, here’s the showcase Radio Rats gig, warts and all. These are all the songs that we’d played weekend after weekend at sessions in Springs, sounding just the way we sounded in 1977 and 1978. Enjoy.
Radium Archiving & Preservation. Ref: Squeak!
1 October 2026
Press & Artwork
Some of these posters below show the gig date as 18th June 1978. That was actually a gig at The Market Café. The correct date for the Market Theatre performance was 31st July 1978.
Set List
