Radio 📻 | 3 to 5 BOPS

Radio 📻: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 49 (2023), features musical BOPS courtesy of Esperanza Spalding, Green Day, HARDY, Jake Shears, and Jxckson. 

Ah, you know what time it is! It’s 3 to 5 BOPS time – WOO! On 3 to 5 BOPS, it’s all about brevity and sweetness… for the most part! There’s a theme/topic, 3, 4, or 5 songs, and a blurb – two paragraphs or less.  3 to 5 BOPS, hence, is a mini playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  In the 49th edition of 3 to 5 BOPS (2023), we select songs that are associated with RADIO 📻 in some form or fashion. The BOPS arrive courtesy of 🎙 Esperanza Spalding, 🎙 Green Day, 🎙 HARDY, 🎙 Jake Shears, and 🎙 Jxckson. Okay, let’s get into it!

via GIPHY

1. Jake Shears, “Radio Eyes”

💿 Last Man Dancing • 🏷 Boys Keep Swinging Inc / Mute Artists Ltd. • 📅 2023

“We’re glad you’ve made the decision to join us / You will feel rebuilt and transformed / You will have access to information that will expand what you understand as reality…” Say what?! 🎵 “Radio Eyes” arrives as the penultimate song on 💿 Last Man Dancing, the stellar sophomore album by 🎙 Jake Shears. Although it runs five-and-a-half minutes in duration, “Radio Eyes” is a worthwhile listen, nonetheless.  Notably, the intro is performed by an unlikely source: 🎙 Jane Fonda 🤯! Fonda sets the tone for a unique, otherworldly listening experience (excerpted above).  It’s fitting – dance and the extraterrestrial are a match made in heaven.  Shears, of course, delivers an alluring performance as always: “We heard only silence / The day they appeared / And built right where they landed / A city made of tears.” Oh, snap🫰!  Of course, the chorus marks the biggest moment – what you all came for!

“Radio Eyes
I can see through this dimension
Hear you in the sky
Why do I feel so alive?
Why do I feel so alive?”

Familiar personnel from Last Man Dancing oversee the sound: 🎛 Boys Noize and Ryland Blackinton.

2. HARDY, “Radio Song” (Ft. Jeremy McKinnon)

💿 the mockingbird & THE CROW • 🏷 Big Loud / Big Loud Rock • 📅 2023

🎵 “RADIO SONG” marks a notable moment from 💿 the mockingbird & THE CROW, the 2023 double LP by 🎙 HARDY (Michael Wilson Hardy).  Here the country/rock musician enlists 🎙 Jeremy McKinnon, from 🎙 A Day to Remember, for the assist.  This is clearly NOT your father’s country music. “RADIO SONG” has its country moments – the chorus – but otherwise, it is, um, its own distinct record. The appearance of McKinnon alone signals “RADIO SONG” hits different. For one, arguably, the most important, screamed lyric that he ‘sings’ is “Fuck!” There’s metalcore energy, for sure.  Furthermore, HARDY, save for the chorus, drops quasi-rapped verses, for lack of a better description.  One of the bullets he serves up: “Well if it ain’t under four minutes it ain’t gon’ be a hit / If there ain’t no steel in it they ain’t gon’ play yo shit.” That $h!† right there is cold!

Appears in 🔻:

• Awesome Songs: January 2023

3. Jxckson, “RADIO SILENCE”

💿 The Deep End (EP) • 🏷 Jxckson Music • 📅 2023

🎙 Jxckson is a prime example of a musician who grows better with time and exhibits innovative spirit – willing to try new things.  His experimental spirit pays major dividends on 🎵 “RADIO SILENCE”, an EPIC single from his EP, THE DEEP END.  Jxckson characterizes “RADIO SILENCE” as being “experimental in the sense of effects used to highlight the song and I’m not necessarily known for slow songs.” What makes “RADIO SILENCE” so great are the vocals, vocals effects, production (🎛 Boy Sim) and the production effects, and how the theme and backdrop work in tandem with one another.  Once again, Jxckson has done the day-um thang!  What is neat about “RADIO SILENCE” is the equal importance of voices and music.  Yes, the voice – the singing – is the centerpiece, but the music has an elevated role too.  “RADIO SILENCE” commences with a warm yet slightly unsetting intro, prefacing the musical and thematic experience to come.  Early on, the bouncy bass line is among many ear-catching happenings.  Of course, the tune that Jxckson sings, with a unique vocal effect, mind you, is simple but beautiful. He sings with ease, barely breaking a sweat, while retaining his playful brand of vocals. Even so, we also hear this riskiness from Jxckson given the slower tempo and embracing even more emotional vocals.  The chorus is by far the crowning achievement, with its robust sounds, and a brilliant, intentional ‘distancing’ contrast between lead and backing vocals. Notably, during the second verse, the music is more developed with additional cues and rhythm adding to the epic musical excellence that is 🎵 “RADIO SILENCE” 💪.

Appears in 🔻:

• Awesome Songs: April 2023
• Best LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈 Songs of 2023 (so far)

4. Esperanza Spalding, “Radio Song”

💿 Radio Music Society • 🏷 Heads Up International • 📅 2012

“This song will keep you grooving / (Keep that traffic movin’) / Play it to lift your spirits / (Soon as you hear it).” WOO! 🎵 “Radio Song” commences 💿 Radio Music Society, the 2012 album by 🏆 Grammy-winning jazz musician, 🎙 Esperanza Spalding, with a bang! Like BOOM 💥!  “Words are speaking to you / (As if they knew you) / Ooh, this song’s the one!” Indeed, THIS SONG IS THE ONE!!!  “Radio Song” features stellar songwriting, musical arrangement, and production, all handled by Spalding 💪.  The record begins with Spalding singing neutral “la’s” and eventually incorporating that prodigious electric bass playing into the mix 👏.  The percussive groove established is infectious while the horn riffs are decadent.  Esperanza sounds utterly amazing from a vocal perspective – angelic, classic, and jazzy – making “Radio Song” the crowning achievement of Radio Music Society. There are some terrific musicians assisting Spalding including 🎹 Leo Genovese on piano, 🎙️ Gretchen Parlato on backing vocals, and marvelous soloing by 🎷 Daniel Blake (saxophone). Rather than analyze further, “Radio Song” is best experienced by listening!

5. Green Day, “Revolution Radio”

💿 Revolution Radio • 🏷 Reprise • 📅 2016

“Scream, with your hands up in the sky / Like you want to testify / For the life that’s been deleted.” WOO! 🎵 “Revolution Radio” serves as a highlight from the 2016 🎙 Green Day album, also titled, 💿 Revolution Radio. Additionally, it’s a battle cry – an incredibly savvy call to action! “The dawn of the new airwaves for the anti-social media.” 🎙 Billie Joe Armstrong and company put their middle fingers up to the air denouncing police brutality, inequality, and social media.  Social and political issues have long been part of the band’s script. Lightning quick in tempo, “Revolution Radio” represents the punk and the punk-revivalist spirit at its best.  The centerpiece and crowning achievement are – wait for it – the chorus in all its revolutionary glory!

“We are revolution radio

Operation ‘no control’

And the headline ‘my love’s bulletproof’

Give me cherry bombs and gasoline

Debutantes in surgery

And the headline ‘legalize the truth.’”

Radio 📻: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 49 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Big Loud / Big Loud Rock, Boys Keep Swinging Inc / Mute Artists Ltd., Heads Up International, Jxckson Music, Reprise; Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz from Pexels]