In the 157th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on โOn The Radioโ by Donna Summer.
The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ! Throwback Vibez ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.ย The records that grace this column are older, but that doesnโt necessarily mean that theyโre ancient โ no fossils ๐ฆด! All genres of music are welcome. In the 157th edition of Throwback Vibez ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ (2023), we recollect and reflect on ๐ต โOn The Radioโ, performed by ๐ Donna Summer.
โSomeone found a letter you wrote me on the radio / And they told the world just how you felt,โ ๐ Donna Summer sings in the first verse of her classic, ๐ต โOn The Radioโ. She continues singing, โIt must have fallen out of a hole in your own brown overcoat / They never said you name but I knew just who they meant.โ Ooh wee! โOn The Radioโ was one of 14 top-10 hits by the late, ๐ Grammy-winning, queen of disco, peaking at no. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980. ย โOn The Radioโ graces Summerโs 1979 greatest hits compilation, ๐ฟ On The Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II as well as the soundtrack to ๐ฟ Foxes. ย Initially, it seems as if the record is going to be a ballad, given the slower tempo at the start, but soon enough, Summer brings out the dancing shoes and tempo.
โOn the radio, whoa-oh-oh-oh / On the radio, whoa-oh-oh-oh.โ Indeed! Matters of the heart continue to dominate this radio-driven gem, where, in verse two, Summer asks her ex, โDonโt it kinda strike you sad when you hear our song /โฆ The only thing that I wanna hear is that you love me still.โย Furthermore, the third verse also focuses on the significance of the radio: โIf you think that love isnโt foiund on the radio / Then tune right in, you may find the love you lost.โ Woo! ย Notably, Summers penned โOn The Radioโ with a fellow legend, producer ๐ผ โ ๐ Giorgio Moroder.ย The supporting backdrop is #EVERYTHING โ warm keys, lush strings, and an epic, epic groove.ย Of course, the vocals are electric too.ย Honestly, EVERYTHING is electric when it comes to ๐ต โOn The Radioโ ๐ฏ.
๐ Donna Summer โข ๐ฟ On The Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II โข ๐ท Mercury โข ๐ 1979
ย Donna Summer, On The Radio: Throwback Vibez ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ No. 157 (2023) [๐ท: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Mercury; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via ย Pixabay]