Radio Radio
"Radio Radio" is a song written by Elvis Costello and performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. The song originated as a Bruce Springsteen-inspired song called "Radio Soul" that Costello had written in 1974. In 1977, Costello reworked the song to feature a more aggressive arrangement and more direct, sarcastic lyrics that criticised the commercialism of British radio. Costello and the Attractions recorded the song around the time of his second album, This Year's Model.
For the Canadian musical group, see Radio Radio (band).
"Radio Radio" was released as a standalone single in the United Kingdom in October 1978, reaching number 29. The track was appended onto the US version of their second album, This Year's Model, released earlier that year. The song has since seen critical acclaim, being marked as one of Costello's best by many writers and appearing on several compilation albums.
Costello and the Attractions famously performed the song live on the American television show Saturday Night Live in 1977; originally scheduled to perform Costello's debut single "Less Than Zero", Costello abruptly switched songs live against the wishes of his record company and SNL, resulting in Costello being banned from the show for 11 years.
Reception[edit]
"Radio Radio" has seen critical acclaim since its release. Mark Deming of AllMusic described the song as "certainly among [Costello's] most anthemic", while Matt LeMay of Pitchfork Media called it as "easily one of the glowing highlights of the man's entire career".[17][18] Morgan Troper of PopMatters dubbed the song "one of Costello's most-discussed — and most-loved — compositions, and for good reason" and noted that "It's almost contrarian of Elvis to be railing against commercialisation and censorship in a gorgeous, entirely consumable pop song (as far as straightforward power pop songs go, this is one of Elvis' finest)".[2]
"Radio Radio" has also been named one of Costello's best songs on several rankings. Ryan Prado of Paste named it Costello's best song, writing, "Costello's punk-as-fuck dissertation on corporate radio still seethes as red-faced to this day".[19] Jim Beviglia of American Songwriter named it Costello's third best song, stating, "The song hit the nail on the head so hard that it drove that nail right through the homogenizing programming and thinly-veiled censorship that had already become standard practice at the time of the single's release in 1978".[20] Jeremy Allen of The Guardian named the song one of the ten best Elvis Costello songs, praising the song's "sharp hook", "thumping rhythm", and "Steve Nieve's trademark swirly organ".[21] Martin Chilton ranked the song number 19 on his top 40 list of best Costello songs, while Brian Hyatt of Entertainment Weekly named it one of his top 10 Costello songs.[8][22]
Cover versions and later performances[edit]
"Radio Radio" has been covered by multiple other artists, often referencing the Saturday Night Live appearance. "Weird Al" Yankovic and his band have launched into a cover of "Radio Radio" when technical difficulties, such as a server crash, forced him to stop a song midway during a live performance.[34] On 16 January 2012, indie rock musician St. Vincent performed a version of her song "Cheerleader" on Conan, before which she started with a cover of "Radio Radio" stopping seconds later and stating "I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, there's no reason to play that song."[35]
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