Fans of the Countdown period Dragon may be surprised to hear that they had already released two albums beforethey left New Zealand for Australia. With only the Hunter brothers - Todd on bass and Marc on vocals - lastingpast 1975, the lineupand direction of the 'classic' early line up (Todd, Marc, Neil Storey on drums, Ray Goodwinon guitar and Ivan Thompson on keyboards) was markedly different to the one who dominated the Aussie charts. Universal Radio is archetypal progressive rock - right down to the cover art Todd'sremarkable bass playingdominates, ably assisted by Goodwin's fluid guitar and Thompson's swathes of keyboards. And, vocally, withcontributions from Marc, Todd and Goodwin, there is little to suggest the latter pop style. The album was wellreceived and by the end of 1974 Dragon had become the top live attraction in New Zealand. After one furtherVertigo album (Scented Gardens For The Blind - out later this year through Aztec), Dragon made the move toAustralia and - with more lineupchanges, settled on the second stage of their careers. Universal Radio is packaged in a 6 panel digipak,with extensive liner notes from music journalist and author DavidNichols (writer of 'The GoBetweens').The 24 page booklet has many previously unpublished photographs and theCD has been digitally remastered by Gil Matthews. There are 3 bonus tracks: a rare live version of the Peter Green classic 'Black Magic Woman' and the ever rarerpreDragonMarc Hunter solo single 'XRayCreature' / 'Dinghy Days'. This is the first official CD reissue.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Universal Radio
2. Going Slow
3. Patina
4. Weetbix
5. Graves
6. Avalanche
7. Black Magic Woman (Live 1974) - Bonus Track
8. XRay Creature (1973 Marc Hunter Single A-side) - Bonus Track
9. Dinghy Days (1973 Marc Hunter Single B-side) - Bonus Track