Songs that mention the Radio

Joy Division: 'Transmission'

"Radio, live transmission.
Radio, live transmission.

Listen to the silence, let it ring on.
Eyes, dark grey lenses frightened of the sun.
We would have a fine time living in the night,
Left to blind destruction,
Waiting for our sight.

And we would go on as though nothing was wrong.
And hide from these days we remained all alone.
Staying in the same place, just staying out the time.
Touching from a distance,
Further all the time.

Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio...

Well I could call out when the going gets tough.
The things that we've learnt are no longer enough.
No language, just sound, that's all we need know,
To synchronise love to the beat of the show.

And we could dance.

Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio.
Dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, to the radio..."

 

Leo Kottke does a version of Rings where he sings "I got Mel Blanc on the radio".

I think every person that covers that song changes the line to their own liking.

 

Regina Spektor - On The Radio

 

Electric Light Orchestra - "Mr. Radio"

 

Far Away Eyes
By The Rolling Stones
I was driving home early Sunday morning through Bakersfield
Listening to gospel music on the colored radio station
And the preacher said, "You know you always have the Lord by your side"
And I was so pleased to be informed of this that I ran
Twenty red lights in his honor
Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord

I had an arrangement to meet a girl, and I was kind of late
And I thought by the time I got there she'd be off
She'd be off with the nearest truck driver she could find
Much to my surprise, there she was sittin' in the corner
A little bleary, worse for wear and tear
Was a girl with far away eyes

So if you're down on your luck
And you can't harmonize
Find a girl with far away eyes
And if you're downright disgusted
And life ain't worth a dime
Get a girl with far away eyes

Well the preacher kept right on saying that all I had to do was send
Ten dollars to the church of the Sacred Bleeding Heart Of Jesus
Located somewhere in Los Angeles, California
And next week they'd say my prayer on the radio
And all my dreams would come true
So I did, the next week, I got a prayer with a girl
Well, you know what kind of eyes she got, well I'll tell ya

So if you're down on your luck
I know you all sympathize
Find a girl with far away eyes
And if you're downright disgusted
And life ain't worth a dime
Get a girl with far away eyes

So if you're down on your luck
I know you all sympathize
Find a girl with far away eyes

 

Redd Kross - Elephant Flares
"Hear some BTO playing on the radio, turn it up and go!"

 

Nanci Griffith - Listen To The Radio

 

Eric Carmen:

Turn the radio up for that sweet sound
Hold me close, never let me go
Keep this feelin' alive, make me lose control

 

My favourite driving song:

Tom Petty Runnin' Down a Dream

It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down
I had the radio on, I was drivin'
Trees flew by, me and Del were singin' little Runaway
I was flyin'

 

Van Morrison "Brown Eyed Girl":

Whatever happened
To Tuesday and so slow
Going down the old mine
With a transistor radio
Standing in the sunlight laughing,
Hiding behind a rainbow's wall,
Slipping and sliding
All along the water fall, with you
My brown eyed girl,
You're my brown eyed girl.

 

He is obsessed with the radio!

 

Beach Boys-"That's Why God Made The Radio"

 

The Doors:

"The Wasp (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)"

I wanna tell you 'bout Texas Radio and the Big Beat
Comes out of the Virginia swamps
Cool and slow with plenty of precision
With a back beat narrow and hard to master

Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance
Others, mean and rueful of the Western dream
I love the friends I have gathered together on this thin raft
We have constructed pyramids in honor of our escaping
This is the land where the Pharaoh died

The Negroes in the forest brightly feathered
They are saying, "Forget the night.
Live with us in forests of azure.
Out here on the perimeter there are no stars
Out here we is stoned - immaculate."

Listen to this, and I'll tell you 'bout the heartache
I'll tell you 'bout the heartache and the lose of God
I'll tell you 'bout the hopeless night
The meager food for souls forgot
I'll tell you 'bout the maiden with wrought iron soul

I'll tell you this
No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn

I'll tell you 'bout Texas Radio and the Big Beat
Soft drivin', slow and mad, like some new language

Now, listen to this, and I'll tell you 'bout the Texas
I'll tell you 'bout the Texas Radio
I'll tell you 'bout the hopeless night
Wandering the Western dream
Tell you 'bout the maiden with wrought iron soul

 

Thunderstorms and Neon Signs (Wayne Hancock)

 

Under the influence of a fantastic amount of TRENDY CHEMICAL AMUSEMENT AID, they proceed to perform lewd acts, rip each other off for small personal possessions, and dance with depraved abandon in the vicinity of a six-foot pile of transistor radios (each one tuned to a different station).

Frank Zappa - The Adventures of Greggery Peccary

 

U2's "God, Part II" from Rattle and Hum

 

One of the first 45's I ever bought (funded by delivering newspapers!)...

Reunion: "Life is A Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)"

Oh, and Starship's "We Built This City" (yuk!) and Golden Earring's "Radar Love"

 

Roger Water's Radio Kaos album, but in this case specifically "Radio Waves."

 

And another one!

"Hey Mr. DJ"

Listen Mr. DJ
Won't you play me something slow
Play me the songs
For the lonely ones
Play me something
That I know

Hey Mr. DJ
I'm in a sad mood tonight
Play me something just for me and my baby
Won't you make everything alright

I'm gonna turn it way down low
Leave it on all night long
Till the morning comes
Like my lover my friend until the end
And that special someone

Hey Mr. DJ
Play me Rainbow 66
'Cos I'm drifting like a ship out on the fog
And I just don't know what's coming next

Gonna turn it way down low
Leave it on all night long
Until the morning comes
For my lover my friend until the end
And that special someone

Hey Mr. DJ
Play me Rainbow 66
'Cos I'm drifting like a ship out on the sea
And I just don't know what's coming next

Well, Mr. DJ
I'm in a sad mood tonight
Play me something for me and my darling
Want you to make everything
Alright

La, ta. ta, ta, tata...

 

The theme song to WKRP in Cincinnati.

 

Spliff - "Sweet as Radio"

 

OK, now I think you're just making them up...

 

Excellent suggestion - now bathe in the excellence of this TV performance of "Transmission" :-

 

I guess the Hey Mr DJ one doesn't include the word "radio"...but, obviously, that's what the song is about! The Guess Who "Clap for the Wolfman" is another like that.

 

One of the all time greats.