I’m not usually a Costello fan, but this is a great song. It has one the greatest synth riffs in the history of such things. I know the song has something to do with censorship of radio in the Uk, but I wanna know if there was any specific incident to make ole Elvis write this tune. Also, what song was he supposed to do on SNL before he broke into this song?
I recall reading that the story behind Costello’s unplanned change of program had to do with his treatment by SNL’s cast and staff during the week before the show. Originally, the Sex Pistols had been booked to make their American debut on the show but couldn’t make it due to green card problems. Costello was brought in as a replacment much to the chagrin of the people at SNL who proceeded to bust his chops all during the rehearsal. (Supposedly, SNL writer Ann Beatts, after taking a look at Costello, was inspired to create the nerdy teenage characters played by Bill Murray and Gilda Radner.) However, when the show aired, Costello decided to get back at everybody by suddenly switching to “Radio, Radio” after doing the opening for “Less Than Zero”. This almost gave the NBC censors collective heart attacks because they did not have a chance to review the song’s lyrics before air time.
As for the song “Radio, Radio” itself, I think it had less to do with a censorship than with radio being programmed, packaged, and formatted into blandness. Sad to say, but “Radio, Radio” was written back in 1977 and–if anything–the problem is far worse now with Clear Channel and its rigid (and shrinking) playlist of songs and artists.
That’s not a synth, btw, but an electric organ.
Ironically, “Radio Radio” is a much more censor-friendly song than “Less Than Zero.” “Less Than Zero” contains the word “swastika,” not to mention vague hints of incest (“Oswald and his sister are doing it again…”) Whereas there’s nothing that might be deemed offensive in “Radio Radio,” except to NBC executives (“Radio is the hands of such a lot of fools trying to aenethetize the way that you feel”).
As Costello pointed out in the original broadcast, “Less than Zero” didn’t mean as much in the US as it did in the UK. (“Oswald” was a reference to British fascist leader Oswald Mosley.) Sadly, “Radio Radio” applied on both sides of the Atlantic.
An irresistable thread. I’m a big fan of EC and for some reason I feel compelled to add ELO 
I don’t know the backstory of “Radio Radio”. It’s not about censorship a-la The Clash’s banned (to this day I believe on BBC) “God Save The Queen”
It’s a song in tribute to the past of radio, and lament for its future. Radio lost it’s edge in the late 70’s.
In the future they’ll wonder what the deal with "talking wireless’ was all about. Count them lucky if they have EC’s catalog on some Sony-riffic medium.
Wonderful radio
Marvelous radio
Wonderful radio
Radio, radio…
Ack. No sooner had I hit ‘Submit Reply’ than I asked myself if I’d just attributed The Sex Pistol’s ‘God Save The Queen’ to The Clash. Yup, I had. I suck.
:now back to the beeb:
Minor nitpick: As I recall, the reason the Pistols didn’t make the show was that they broke up the week or so before.
I read once that the censors were screaming in the control booth to go to commercial but Lorne Michaels told the engineers not to do anything. His quote was along the lines of, “I had no idea what was going to happen, but I had a feeling it was going to be great.”
Wasn’t that the same show that was hosted by a 70-something year old grandmother as part of a “I Want to Host SNL” contest?
IIRC, it was hosted by a senator that was advocating censorship. They didn’t want to piss him off, so they didn’t let EC do Radio Radio.
Maybe I am thinking of RATM’s SNL experience…
To be precise, I believe it is called a “Farfisa Organ”, and was rescued from obscurity by Steve Naive of “The Attractions”, Elvis’ once and future backup band. The Squeeze actually recorded a song in tribute to this fine instrument, called “The Farfisa Beat”, IIRC.
Also, in a nod to Corbomite and Mr. Blue Sky, can I add that Elvis C. and ELO are my two absolute favorite musical acts? What does that say about me? (please don’t answer that) Amazing thread coincidence, indeed…Timmy
The show originally aired Dec 17, 1977, and was hosted by Mrs. Miskell Spellman, a grandmother who had won the “Anybody can host SNL” contest.
Surely the NBC Network censors were jittery about the song because the National Broadcasting Company still had (and still has, for all I know), radio stations in large US markets?
Not exactly in keeping with the corporate image!
Which SNL anniversary show was it that the Beastie Boys “re-created” the “Radio Radio” incident, with EC himself coming out and joining in? Very cool moment.
EC says:
"The following night we made our U.S. television debut on Saturday Night Live. The Sex Pistols had been scheduled for the show only to cancel after an alleged oversight regarding work permits. Needless to say the expected viewing figures for the debut of U.K. punk outrage were in our favour.
We arrived at NBC with the intention of playing a couple of songs from our live set. Maybe something got lost in translation, but none of the humour seemed nearly as “dangerous” or funny as they seemed to think it was, or perhaps they were just having a bad show. The record company interference certainly didn’t help my mood.
We were getting pressure to perform a number from My Aim is True. I honestly believed that the words of “Less than Zero” would be utterly obscure to American viewers. Taking a cue from an impromptu performance by Jimi Hendrix on a late '60s B.B.C. television show, I stopped this tune after a few bars and counted off an unreleased song, “Radio, Radio”. I believed that we were just acting in the spirit of the third word of the show’s title, but it was quickly apparent that the producer did not agree. He stood behind the camera making obscene and threatening gestures in my direction. When the number was over, we were chased out of the building and told that we would “never work on American television again”. Indeed, we did not make another U.S. television appearance until 1980. Although this clip from SNL went on to be rerun on numerous occasions, I was not allowed back on the show until 1989. However, I was forgiven in time to be invited to re-create the moment, with the Beastie Boys as my backing band, for the show’s 25th anniversary special."
I saw EC and the Imposters on 12 and 13 July. He did the song both nights. He played for about 2 and a half hours each night. On the Saturday night he did about a dozen songs that were different from the previous night’s set. He and the band were bloody great.