Radio Radio

As a former GM of a small radio station, I once changed the format to Adult Alternative. This was the first song we played under the new format.

Great attack on the radio and tv. SNL was not too happy when Elvis played the start of Less than Zero then quickly switched into radio radio. Reminds you of the days when social satire and rebellion was actually clever.

This song was actually inspired by God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols, which the BBC refused to play believing that singing "God save the queen, the fascist regime, that made you a moron for potential H bomb..." was treasonous.

The fact that playing this song itself became contentious, is a beautiful kind of irony.

Now Radio Radio came out in 1979, before CNN and before MTV; when radio played a much larger role. But media censorship still exists from the overt of Red China banning any mention of the Tiananmen Square Massacre to the covert like immediately after 9/11 and the lead up the Iraq War where radio stations and MTV were told not to play anything critical of the US like Rage Against the Machine or blackflag, or Karl Rove meeting with Holywood to create more "patriotic films."

terrible music? what is wrong with you? elvis friggin rules

SNL didn't care what Elvis did on the show. It was his record label that was pissed about it. They wanted him to play Alison (not Less than Zero) but he decided to do what he wanted. That was a bigger moment in music history than many people think.

Pretty simply, this song is about corporate control of the airwaves and radio stations only playing what is acceptable to their corporate sponsors.

That's why Lorne Michaels was upset. SNL has corporate sponsors too.

Hey Julie, try listening to some real music not your Slipnot gimmic noise.

I first hear this song on a NY talk radio station where it is used as an intro by a particular host. My first interpretation of the lyrics <i>with every one of those late night stations playing songs bringing tears to me eyes I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver when the switch broke 'cause it's old They're saying things that I can hardly believe. They really think we're getting out of control. </i> was that it described someone listening to music on FM stations and then stumbling upon the AM side of the dial ("the switch broke") and suddenly hearing right-wing criticisms of society for the first time ("saying things that I can hardly believe... really think we're getting out of control.").

Actually, SNL was pissed about it as well. Story is that Producer Lorne Michaels was off camera, and as soon as Elvis went into Radio Radio, Michaels was said to give Elvis an upturned middle finger for the entire duration of the performance. If you've seen the tape, you'll notice Elvis is glaring at someone off camera for the majority of the song, and at the end he bows straight in Lorne's direction smugly. Classic stuff.

"You either shut up or get cut up, they don't wanna hear about it It's only inches on the reel-to-reel And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools Tryin' to anaesthetise the way that you feel"

This refers to the old out-dated editing method of cutting out undesirable parts of a song from the tape reel with a razor blade. In other words, nothing was allowed on the air that was remotely challenging. Seems not much has changed over the years.

What gets me about this song is it's relevance today in dealing with talk radio. Guys like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity weren't around when this song was written, yet this part of the song sums them up neatly:

"Radio is a sound salvation Radio is cleaning up the nation They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason So you had better do as you are told You better listen to the radio"

This song truly was ahead of it's time.