One of the first major bands on the Irish punk rock scene, the Radiators fused the angry, upstart attitude of their peers with a tough, guitar-based attack and intelligent songwriting that would earn them a potent cult following both in Ireland and Great Britain. The Radiators were formed in 1976 when guitarist and singer Philip Chevron, who had been fronting a band of his own, met guitarist Pete Holidai after reading about Holidai's like-minded band Greta Garbage and the Trashcans in an Irish music paper. Chevron, Holidai, and one of Holidai's bandmates, vocalist Steve Rapid, began rehearsing together, and after the addition of bassist Mark Megaray and drummer Jimmy Crash, the new band toyed with several different names before christening themselves the Radiators from Space.

TV Tube Heart
The new group quickly began recording demo tapes of their material, and less than a week after they made their live debut opening for Eddie & the Hot Rods in Dublin on November 13, 1976, they signed with Chiswick Records, and their debut single, "Television Screen" b/w "Love Detective," was released in April 1977. The single went into the Irish Top 20, and Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy endorsed the band, but their luck took a turn for the worse when the Radiators from Space organized a punk rock festival at a college in Dublin; a fan was killed during a fight at the gig, and the publicity cost the band a number of major bookings, though they appeared on the bill at a massive open-air gig in August with Thin Lizzy, the Boomtown Rats, and Graham Parker & the Rumour. The Radiators from Space made plans to relocate to England, but Steve Rapid opted not to go, and Chevron took over as lead singer; both sang on the group's debut album, TV Tube Heart, which appeared in October 1977.