'Radio Radio'
New Acoustic Cover and Lyric Video of a Classic Punk Protest Song Against Censorship
I have always loved Elvis Costello's voice. I used to get him mixed up with Tom Petty when I was a kid. Kind of like how I mixed up Mick Jagger with Ronnie Van Zant. My only exposure to punk and new wave was when L.A.’s KMET would play bands like The Clash, The Police, The Pretenders, Blondie, Talking Heads and Elvis Costello. I was too young to know the difference and had no idea they were punk or new wave.
As later lines were drawn between new wave and "rock" formats, I heard less Elvis and more Tom. But that only made me love him more. When streaming became a thing, I loaded my playlists with Elvis songs.
"Radio Radio" was one I gravitated to instantly, mainly because of the lyrical content, but also because of the vocal melody. I really love to sing it. The verse in particular is one of the best melodies I've ever heard.
It's a comment on radio censorship, when the BBC refused to play the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" even though it was #1. The UK charts famously left #1 blank that week. History repeated itself in 2021 when Robert Kennedy Jr.'s The Real Anthony Fauci hit #1 and the NY Times left it off its Bestseller List.
To me now it offers a much greater meaning and the "radio" in the song has become a symbol of "media official narrative," or "Big Brother."
The song is notable for the SNL incident where Costello bucked his label and the show's producers who wanted him to play "Less Than Zero," which he started to play, then stopped his band and they went into "Radio Radio," despite being ordered not to.
That kind of moment is rare and delightful. It adds to the thrill of it all when you imagine Elvis staring down the show’s creator/producer Lorne Michaels, who allegedly flipped him off throughout the entire performance, as he sang and played with such glorious punk attitude.
They were fittingly filling in for the Sex Pistols. (From Wikipedia: “A reference to Sex Pistols' manager Malcolm McLaren's inability to get his band visas was made by drummer Pete Thomas who, during the performance, wore a shirt with the words ‘Thanks Malc.’”) And for the Ramones, who were the second choice but refused because, as Joey later wrote "We don't substitute for anybody."
I just love the energy of the performance. It's the epitome of rock and roll. I wish I would have seen it live.
"Costello said later that the inspiration for the last-minute song change came from Jimi Hendrix's 1969 performance on the BBC television show The Lulu Show. Hendrix was scheduled to play his hit, 'Hey Joe', but stopped midway, saying 'I'm going to stop playing this rubbish.' He then began performing Cream's 'Sunshine of Your Love'—dedicating it to the recently broken-up Cream—until he was pulled from the air. Costello recalled, 'It was like watching your television go out of control.'" - Wikipedia
A similar incident occurred surrounding Nirvana’s “Rape Me” at the MTV Awards in 1992, when Kurt Cobain was ordered not to play “Rape Me.” He played the opening chords and then switched to the approved “Lithium.” I think he only did what they wanted because they threatened to fire an MTV Unplugged employee who was a friend of the band if he didn’t comply.
In around 2014 I started including “Radio Radio” in my live sets with the Discontents. I thought it'd be a good candidate for an acoustic version, mainly because I just can't get the melody out of my head.
Also, we need commentary about censorship more than ever, and no one seems to care. America has lost the plot.