‘Elton John Told Me My Label Had Gone Bust’: The Rise & Fall Of Radio Freedom

Exactly 30 years ago, Australian dance/pop group Radio Freedom burst onto the ARIA chart with their debut single, I Can Feel It. Signed to Westside Records, they benefitted from an association with primetime soap E Street, which was produced by the same parent company, and the Top 10 beckoned.

But in a new episode of podcast A Journey Through Aussie Pop, Radio Freedom frontman Paul Snashall (who went by his nickname Pehl at the time) reveals that the project quickly hit a major snag – and it was Elton John who clued him into what was going on.

In early 1993, Radio Freedom were the support act on John’s The One tour of Australia. But Snashall was in a for a rude shock when he was informed by John that Radio Freedom’s record label had blocked the group from accompanying John overseas to continue in the support slot.

“I only found out what was going on [with Westside Records] at the end of the Elton John tour,” he said, explaining that things were cleared up after a couple of phone conversations with John himself. “He goes, ‘Mate, I’ve found out what’s happened. Westside’s gone broke. They’re contractually bound to Phonogram. Phonogram doesn’t have you signed on one of your contracts so they’re not going to do anything that could make any money until they’re assured it’s in their stable.’”

That wasn’t the only time John intervened to clear up an issue. Snashall revealed that during the tour, John fired a number of his road crew who had given Radio Freedom a hard time.

“He goes, ‘I’ve just sacked 70 per cent of my crew because they treated you like a support band, and I don’t believe in that. I’ve hired an all-new Australian crew. You now have access to anything you want on the mixing board, all the lights and you can come into my VIP area and hang around and do whatever you want,’” Snashall recalled. “He told them off: ‘I’m f***ing Elton John. Why do you need to sabotage the support band?’”

In the episode, Snashall also explained how Radio Freedom came together, and detailed the process of making debut single I Can Feel It and album Beyond The Peach Tree. 

Listen to A Journey Through Aussie Pop on Apple, Spotify, Amazon and all major podcast platforms or at chartbeats.com.au/aussie