Turn Up the Radio (Madonna song)

"Turn Up the Radio" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Some reviewers believed that the song should have been the lead single from the album. In the United States, the song became Madonna's 43rd number-one hit on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. However, "Turn Up the Radio" had minor placements in other markets, peaking at number 175 on the UK Singles Chart.


An accompanying music video was shot in Italy, and directed by Tom Munro. It shows Madonna escaping the paparazzi on the back of a convertible. She travels throughout the city and the Italian countryside, picking up men from the roadside and having a party on the car. The video received general acclaim from critics, who commended the simplicity of the video and labeled it as Madonna's most fun video in years. The song was included on the setlist of the MDNA Tour where she performed it while playing a guitar.

Recording and composition[edit]

"Turn Up the Radio" was recorded at MSR Studios and Sarm West Studios. It was produced by both Madonna and Solveig, the latter also working on the synth arrangement, the drums and the instrumentation for the song. Tordjman assisted Solveig on the synth arrangement. Demacio "Demo" Castellon, who represented The Demolition Crew group, was responsible for recording and mixing the track. Philippe Weiss and Graham Archer assisted Castellon on the recording, and Angie Teo assisted on the mixing. Lastly Jason "Metal" Donkersgoed did the additional editing of the song.^[12] According to Solveig, "Turn Up the Radio" was his first composition which Madonna approved for the album. On the first day of recording, the singer prepared all the things she wanted to change in the song and how she wanted to have the final version. She wanted to change the top lines and the melodies from the demo sung by Williams. During recording, Solveig muted the vocals and just played the instrumentals, then Madonna sang the song. The producer added that among all the songs they recorded, "Turn Up the Radio" was the most characteristic of a Madonna track.^[13]


The song begins with a keyboard, then turned into a midtempo, 1980s-inspired dance-pop,^[14][15] electropop^[16] and Euro house^[17] number. Reminiscent of Solveig's hit single "Hello", the song has a "catchy" hook and French house-inspired chorus, inline with Madonna's 2006 single "Get Together".^[3][18] According to Brad O'Mancey from Popjustice, the music continues to grow after the keyboard introduction and then crashes loudly.^[11] John Mitchell from MTV News described that there was a "propulsive" energy in the track that felt "authentic and alive". He added that "the calculated perfectionism" of other club tracks by Madonna might appear to be chilly, but the composition of "Turn Up the Radio" instead was "effervescent" and "happy".^[15] According to the sheet music of the song published by Guitar Tabs, "Turn Up the Radio" is set in the time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 127 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of D major with Madonna's vocals ranging from C♭ to A♭. The song follows a sequence of D♭–B–A♭min–G♭ in the verses and D♭–G♭–B–E♭min during the chorus.^[19]


Lyrically, Madonna pleads the listener to stop for a moment, to get away from the world through music,^[20] with the lines going as: "I don't know how I got to this stage / Let me out of my cage cause I'm dying / Turn up the radio, turn up the radio / Don't ask me where I wanna go, we gotta turn up the radio."^[15] It also talks about the need to relax as well as the need to have fun.^[21] According to NME's Priya Elan, "the song continues [Madonna's] career-spanning themes of getting into the groove, of uniting the bourgeoisie and rebelling."^[22] O'Mancey called it an "escapist anthem" and the ability of the lyrics to leave real life behind and accept freedom.^[11]