Queen, Radio Ga Ga | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 156^th  edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Radio Ga Ga” by the iconic rock band, Queen. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 156^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Radio ”, performed by 🎙 Queen. 

“I’d sit alone and watch your light / My only friend through teenage nights,” 🎙 Freddie Mercury asserts in the first verse of 🎵 “Radio Ga Ga”.  He continues singing on the highlight from 💿 The Works, the 1984 album by 🎙 Queen: “And everything I had to know / I heard it on the radio.” Ooh wee! Back in the day, radio was a big, big deal. However, as time goes on, even in the 1980s, the way music is experienced shifted. Drummer 🎼 ✍ Roger Taylor wrote “Radio Gaga,” asserting, It deals with how important radio used to be , historically speaking before television, and how important it was to me as a kid.[1] Given the significance of radio, it makes perfect sense why Mercury goes on to sing, telling radio, “So don’t become some background noise.”

There are more lyrics that stand out in “Radio Gaga.” In the pre-chorus, Mercury touts “the power” of radio, adding, “You’ve yet to have your finest hour.” The chorus is tongue in cheek yet emphasizes the star of the show – RADIO! In the second verse, we get some of Taylor’s disdain for television in place of radio, specifically when Mercury sings, “So stick around ‘cause we might miss you / When we grow tired of all this visual.” With the songwriting conveying a respectable message, the music proves epic as always – the expectation from Queen.  By this time, we hear more synthesizers, idiomatic of the 80s, as well as drum programming. No worries though – we still get sweet guitar 🎸courtesy of 🎙️ Brian May 🤘! Vocally, Freddie Mercury remains beastly, marvelously bringing Taylor’s lyrics and melody to life.  Another classic, 🎵 “Radio Ga Ga” earned Queen another top-20 hit, peaking at no. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

[1] Clerc, B., Burrows, S., Higgitt, C., & Ratcliffe, P. (2020). Radio Ga Ga. In Queen: All the songs: The story behind every track (pp. 338–338). essay, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers.

🎙 Queen • 💿 The Works • 🏷 Hollywood • 🗓 1984

Queen, Radio Ga Gag: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 156 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Hollywood; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via  Pixabay]