The Story Behind Life's A Gamble: Why I Finally Put… Pen to Paper (or finger to keyboard)
I have long thought about writing a book. This first emerged as a teenager. Back then it would have been a daring, racy novel, but would have most likely turned out tawdry and predictable.
Then, in my business years, I considered jotting down all the pearls of wisdom that formed my approach to management, sales and marketing, until I realised that it would barely constitute a chapter.
“My success in business really just revolved around being myself, backing myself and learning on the run.”
—Brendan Callinan, Author of Life’s A Gamble
So far as my memoirs from a life in the music business, I always thought that I had one key drawback—my memory. I have one of those ‘scratchpad’ memories, that recalls that something happened and that I was there at the time, but is scant on the finer detail. It also doesn’t help that my time with The Radiators ended late in 1990, over 35 years ago. And a lot has happened since. But it occurred to me that, in most cases, I wasn’t the only one there, and other people could potentially fill in the gaps, even if their perception of the events may differ to mine. So, I girded my loins and started to make notes on what anecdotes might actually be worth relating to a wider audience, aided and abetted by the internet, which we all know is the ultimate source of truth. I surprised myself, in the end, by how the memories came flooding back once I put pen to page, or rather, finger to keyboard.
I met some incredible musicians along the way!
I was inspired in September 2025, when I went to the launch of my friend Buzz Bidstrup’s (The Angels, GANGgajang) book, No Secrets, and read it over the following weeks.
It was a great read, so, meaning no discredit to Buzz or his literary prowess, I thought (quietly to myself at this stage), If Buzz can do it, so can I.
I’ve always been a voracious reader of biographies and autobiographies, primarily from the music and entertainment space. Those that enthralled me were not always by the artists or performers that I was necessarily ‘into’. Nikki Sixx’s tome The Dirt comes to mind. Not so much into Mötley Crüe but OMG, what a great read. How much is true, or not, I didn’t really care. Others were more personal and revealing. James Freud’s I Am the Voice Left From Drinking is one such cautionary tale, as is Duff McKagan’s It’s So Easy: And Other Lies and Anthony Kiedis’s Scar Tissue. There were also the household names whose faces and music were etched into my psyche, but whose personal journey contained so many deeper insights—Dusty Springfield, Kate Bush, David Crosby among many. And finally, the great storytellers—witty, endearing and vulnerable—Ian Hunter, Billy Thorpe, Billy Connolly. Overwhelmingly, the most enjoyable reads were those written primarily or entirely by the artists themselves.
Surely, I could draw from this rich well of inspiration to create something readable.
These are my recollections of how a music-loving, country kid followed his ambition to play, write, record and perform music for whoever wanted to listen, and turned it into a lifelong musical career.
Some of those who were there with me have added their recollections, sometimes even sketchier than mine, and these reflections are supported by online and written research, along with my own personal diaries and scrapbooks. The stories are my truth, but I can’t say that they will be everyone else’s truth. I may have got some detail wrong or even interpreted a situation or a memory differently from how others might. And, while not avoiding the difficult topics, I have not sought out to malign, defame or misrepresent anybody.
If you’re a music-loving teenager (or more likely their grandparent), stuck in a small country town somewhere, I hope you take some inspiration.
If you were, or still are a Radiators fan, I hope you enjoy the behind-the-scenes insights shared in my latest memoir. If you were there at the time, from the late ’70s to the late ’80s, I hope it brings great memories flooding back. I was truly lucky to arrive into the golden age of Australian live music—some of the greatest bands this country has ever produced, playing up to seven nights a week in pubs, clubs, concert halls and festivals right across the country.
The major newspapers published four-page lift-outs each week, dedicated to profiling and detailing hundreds of these gigs, across every Australian capital city. It was what the young people of the day did.
They went out, night after night, supporting Australian music. They bought the singles and albums, the T-shirts and other merch.
They watched Countdown, Sounds, Hey Hey It’s Saturday and a plethora of other national and local music shows. They helped create an industry that then took this music to the world.
This story is for you and everyone who loves and cares about music, of every genre, and the joy it brings. And this is only part one, up until I joined the Roland Corporation in 1992 and started my music business career. That’s a different story, no less interesting (imo), and I’ve already started writing it. I’ll be sure to keep you updated on my progress.
BC
Find out all the behind the scenes action in THE LATEST MEMOIR,
Life’s A Gamble
Join Brendan former Radiator's keyboardist and Roland executive in Life's A Gamble, where he takes readers backstage to the triumphs, mishaps and unforgettable characters behind the music. With humour and humility, he reveals the story behind one of Australia's hardest-working rock bands—far beyond the pub rock label.
