Primitive Radio Gods is essentially the creative vehicle of Chris O’Connor (b. 7 May 1965, USA), following his departure from the I-Rails in 1991. At that time, inspired by Public Enemy’s incendiary hip-hop work, he purchased a sampler and elected to ‘go it alone’ as an artist working outside conventional rock music. However, he was temporarily frustrated in his ambitions, and instead took a job at Los Angeles International Airport as an air traffic controller, a profession for which he had trained while in the US Navy. Eventually he resolved to make one more attempt on the music industry. His debut album, Rocket, was finally released in 1996 by Sony Records UK, after he had mailed copies to almost all the major labels in the USA. It was promoted by the release of a single, ‘Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand’, which achieved regular plays on MTV. The single featured a sample of B.B. King’s ‘How Blue Can You Get’ and was also included on the soundtrack to the movie Cable Guy. For touring purposes O’Connor recalled his former I-Rails bandmates - Jeff Sparks, Tim Lauterio and Luke McAuliffe - to produce a live version of the Primitive Radio Gods. Contractual problems delayed the release of a second album for over five years.
