Monday January 11, 2021 “Radio, Radio” Elvis Costello

Growing up an only child had its benefits and its pitfalls. Not having any siblings I frequently found myself spending a lot of time with my good friend, the radio.  Even back then I loved the music that was delivered by my radio brothers, the colorful DJ characters...Big Dan Ingramm, B. Mitchell Reid, Murray the K.

 So let’s spend a few days musically celebrating the medium and what better place to start than with Elvis Costello who must have had his own fascination with the radio because he wrote a song and named it twice in the title, “Radio, Radio”.

 Famously Elvis Costello & the Attractions performed this song live on SNL but they had started a different song which Costello stopped at the beginning to break into “Radio, Radio”.  Because this was not part of the SNL plan and perhaps because this song is critical of radio stations and NBC owned many,  Costello was banned from performing on SNL, at least for a while.  That was back when his image was the angry young man and of course right now his image is more of the rich and successful older man.

 Born Declan McManus, Costello picked up the guitar at age fifteen while attending Catholic school and then went on to advance his musical ambitions by becoming a computer operator for a cosmetics firm.  In 1977 he was arrested for performing outside the Hilton Hotel where there was a conference for executives from Columbia Records.  Shortly after the incident he was signed to the label.

 Interestingly Costello’s first album/CD “My Aim Is True” was recorded with the band Clover not the Attractions and Clover would later evolve into the band Huey Lewis & the News.

 Stay safe and well...and remember when the radio was the only way to find music, there was no song of the day back then.

I was tuning in the shine on the late night dial

Doing anything my radio advised

With every one of those late night stations

Playing songs bringing tears to my eyes

I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver

When the switch broke 'cause it's old

They're saying things that I can hardly believe

They really think we're getting out of control

 Radio is a sound salvation

Radio is cleaning up the nation

They say you better listen to the voice of reason

But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason

So you had better do as you are told

You better listen to the radio

 I wanna bite the hand that feeds me

I wanna bite that hand so badly

I want to make them wish they'd never seen me

 Some of my friends sit around every evening

And they worry about the times ahead

But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference

And the promise of an early bed

You either shut up or get cut up, they don't wanna hear about it

It's only inches on the reel-to-reel

And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools

Tryin' to anesthetize the way that you feel

 Radio is a sound salvation

Radio is cleaning up the nation

They say you better listen to the voice of reason

But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason

So you had better do as you are told

You better listen to the radio

 Wonderful radio

Marvelous radio

Wonderful radio

Radio, radio

Radio, radio

Radio, radio

Radio, radio

Radio, radio

Radio, radio

Radio, radio

Radio, radio