Peak
16
Weeks
13
Score
1,648
Chart Year
1984
David Mallet's music video for the song features scenes from Fritz Lang's 1927 German expressionist science fiction film Metropolis and also includes footage of the band traveling through Metropolis and singing the song in a stylized re-creation of its underground machine rooms, which is interconnected with people donning gas masks and taking shelter in their homes during wartime and of one such family passing the time in various ways that include listening to the radio.[22] The video also features footage from earlier Queen promo videos.[23] At the end of the music video, the words "Thanks To Metropolis" appear. The video was filmed at Carlton TV Studios and Shepperton Studios, London, between 23/24 November 1983 and January 1984.[23] It led to a 1984 re-release of the film with a rock soundtrack.[24] Mercury's solo song "Love Kills" was used in Giorgio Moroder's restored version of the film, and in exchange Queen were granted the rights to use footage from it in their "Radio Ga Ga" video. However, Queen had to buy performance rights to the film from the communist East German government, which was the copyright holder at the time.
Queen drummer Roger Taylor wrote this song. When it charted, all four members of the group had written at least one Top 10 hit either in the US or UK. Roger Taylor wrote this as a critique of radio stations, which were becoming commercialized and playing the same songs over and over (and this was before radio was deregulated, allowing companies to own multiple stations in a market, resulting in more corporate ownership, less competition and generally bad radio). Taylor claimed that he was inspired to write this after watching MTV. He noticed that lots of kids were watching the channel instead of listening to the radio. The video is based on the 1926 movie Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang. Queen had to pay the German government to use clips of it in the video. A number of electronic devices were used on this song, including a LinnDrum drum machine and at least three synthesizers: a Roland Jupiter 8, a Fairlight CMI and an Oberheim OB-Xa. Roger Taylor also added some Simmons electronic drums. Roland VP-330 vocoder was used to create the robotic vocals. Report this ad Originally, this was "Radio Ca-Ca," which was something Roger Taylor's part-French son Felix exclaimed one day in trying to say the radio was bad ("radio, CACA!). The phrase stuck with Taylor and inspired the anti-commercial radio themes in the lyrics. Taylor liked the title, but the rest of the group objected and asked for a re-write. As a result, it went from a song condemning radio ("Ca-Ca") to praising it ("Ga Ga"). Interestingly however, even in the final recorded version, the phrase "Ca-Ca" is present - maybe as a compromise for Taylor? Queen stole the show at Live-Aid when Freddie Mercury, battling laryngitis, got everybody in Wembley Stadium singing the chorus of this song. The extras in the video got the clapping sequence right on the first try, but it took practice for the members of Queen to get it down. Director David Mallet was surprised the extras picked up the routine so easily, considering they'd never heard the song, which hadn't yet been released. >> The rock band Electric Six recorded this on their 2005 album Señor Smoke. In the video, their lead singer Dick Valentine is shown as the ghost of Freddie Mercury appearing in front of his grave, which caused controversy amongst Queen fans. Valentine was quick to stress that it was meant in tribute, not to denigrate the group - the band were massive Queen fans. >> Lady Gaga took her name from this song. Born Stefani Germanotta, she started using the moniker when she needed a stage name. Who came up with the name is a matter of dispute, as her former producer Rob Fusari claims that he originated it, while the singer says it was given to her by her co-workers in her burlesque days. When director David Mallet was coming up with the concept for the music video, he wanted to stray from the usual performance pieces full of guitar solos and drum fills. "And even [guitarist] Brian May agreed to that," Mallet told the documentary series Video Killed the Radio Star. Freddie Mercury suggested the Metropolis concept, but Mallet wanted to make sure the band still played a key role in the clip. "So we built that funny car and them flying through the air, and used the wide shots from Metropolis ... All I was trying to do is find some way of fitting Metropolis into a different setting, and I thought, what if we make the whole video a period - wartime, for instance, or semi-wartime, and it would tie it all together. And it did." Some critics feel the choreography in the hand-clapping scene is a reference to Nazis, an idea that Mallet dismisses: "It didn't really have any bearing on Nazi rallies at all." Roger Taylor added: "That section was meant to sort of portray the mind control of the workers in the movie Metropolis." An extended version was released as a 12" single at the same time. After presenting Steve Wright in the Afternoon for 23 years on BBC 2, DJ Steve Wright signed off on September 30, 2022 with "Radio Ga Ga" and its final lyrics: "You had your time, you had the power, you've yet to have your finest hour."
I'd sit alone and watch your light My only friend through teenage nights And everything I had to know I heard it on my radio You gave them all those old time stars Through wars of worlds invaded by Mars You made 'em laugh, you made 'em cry You made us feel like we could fly So don't become some background noise A backdrop for the girls and boys Who just don't know or just don't care And just complain when you're not there You had your time, you had the power You've yet to have your finest hour Radio, everybody! All we hear is radio ga ga Radio goo goo Radio ga ga All we hear is radio ga ga Radio blah blah Radio, what's new? Radio, someone still loves you We watch the shows, we watch the stars On videos for hours and hours We hardly need to use our ears How music changes through the years Let's hope you never leave, old friend Like all good things, on you we depend So stick around 'cause we might miss you When we grow tired of all this visual Had your time, you had the power You've yet to have your finest hour Radio All we hear is radio ga ga Radio goo goo Radio ga ga All we hear is radio ga ga Radio goo goo Radio ga ga All we hear is radio ga ga Radio blah blah Radio, what's new? Radio, someone still loves you Loves You
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 18, 1984 | 65 | 61 |
| 2 | Feb 25, 1984 | 43 | 83 |
| 3 | Mar 3, 1984 | 38 | 88 |
| 4 | Mar 10, 1984 | 35 | 91 |
| 5 | Mar 17, 1984 | 28 | 98 |
| 6 | Mar 24, 1984 | 25 | 101 |
| 7 | Mar 31, 1984 | 19 | 107 |
| 8 | Apr 7, 1984 | 16 | 110 |
| 9 | Apr 14, 1984 | 18 | 108 |
| 10 | Apr 21, 1984 | 35 | 91 |
| 11 | Apr 28, 1984 | 55 | 71 |
| 12 | May 5, 1984 | 82 | 44 |
| 13 | May 12, 1984 | 96 | 30 |