Radio Ga Ga

This article is about the Queen song. For the Norwegian comic strip, see Radio Gaga. For the Australian radio station, see Radio Gaga (radio station).

"Radio Ga Ga"
UK single picture sleeve
Single by Queen
from the album The Works
A-side"Radio Ga Ga" (extended version)[2]
B-side"Radio Ga Ga" (instrumental)[2]
Released23 January 1984 [1]
Genre
Length
  • 5:48 (7" album version)
  • 4:23 (USA radio edit)
  • 6:53 (12" extended version)
  • 6:01 (12" instrumental version)
Label
Songwriter(s)Roger Taylor
Producer(s)
Queen singles chronology
"Back Chat"
(1982) 		"Radio Ga Ga"
(1984) 		"I Want to Break Free"
(1984)
Music video
"Radio Ga Ga" on YouTube

"Radio Ga Ga" is a 1984 song performed and recorded by the British rock band Queen, written by their drummer Roger Taylor. It was released as a single with "I Go Crazy" by Brian May as the B-side. It was included as the opening track on the album The Works and is also featured on the band's compilation albums Greatest Hits II and Classic Queen.[6]

The song, which makes a nostalgic defence of the radio format, was a worldwide success for the band, reaching number one in 19 countries, number two on the UK Singles Chart and the Australian Kent Music Report and number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's final original single to reach the US top 40 in Freddie Mercury's lifetime on that chart (not counting their live performance with George Michael on "Somebody to Love" at #30 whereas their follow-up singles would give them frequent top 40 appearances on the Mainstream Rock chart).[7][8][9][10] The band performed the song at every concert from 1984 to their last concert with lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1986, including their performance at Live Aid in 1985.[11][12][13][14]

The music video for the song uses footage from the 1927 silent science fiction film Metropolis. It received heavy rotation on music channels and was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award in 1984.[15]

  1. ^ "Queen UK Singles Discography 1984-1991". ultimatequeen.co.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Queen UK Singles Discography (1984–1991)". Ultimate Queen. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  3. ^ Stereo Review. Vol. 49. CBS Publications. 1984. p. 76. Radio Gaga (the single), a skillful merger of contemporary synth-pop and old-time Brill Building panache
  4. ^ a b "'The Works': Giving Their All In The 80s, Queen Dominated The Stadiums". udiscovermusic.com. 27 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b Furniss, Matters (2012). Queen – Uncensored on the Record. Coda Books Ltd. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-9085-3884-0.
  6. ^ "Classic Queen by Queen". MTV. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  7. ^ "10 things you may not know about Queen's biggest 80s hits". BBC. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  8. ^ Lazell, Barry (1989). Rock movers & shakers. Billboard Publications, Inc. p. 404. ISBN 978-0-8230-7608-6.
  9. ^ "Queen Biography for 1984". QueenZone.com. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Queen". Billboard.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Stanford, Peter (24 September 2011). "Queen: their finest moment at Live Aid". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  13. ^ "Queen live on tour: The Works 1985". Queen Concerts. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  14. ^ "Queen live on tour: Magic tour". Queen Concerts. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  15. ^ Giles, Jeff (14 September 2015). "That Time Classic Rock Cleaned Up at the First-Ever MTV Video Music Awards". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 26 May 2018.