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Radio Ga Ga is a song by Queen. It was written by Roger Taylor for the band's 1984 album The Works. It was also released as a single with I Go Crazy on the B-side.

History[]

Composition[]

The song was composed on keyboards after Roger Taylor heard his son Felix (three years old at the time) saying "radio ca ca”, when hearing a bad song on the radio in Los Angeles. He wrote it in Los Angeles and locked himself in the studio with a Roland Jupiter 8 and a drum machine. Afterward, John Deacon came up with a suitable bass line. Freddie Mercury reconstructed the track, both musically and lyrically. It was still credited to Taylor since Mercury was an arranger rather than a co-writer. Fred Mandel, their session keyboardist, put together an addictive track with piano, synth and a temporary bass part. Brian May used a glass slide for his guitar solo. Taylor sang all the backing vocals and used a Vocoder throughout the song. Most of the song is made out of electronic instruments, especially synthesizers.

Trivia[]

The song references two important radio broadcasts: Orson Welles' 1938 broadcast of HG Wells's "The War of the Worlds" in the lyric "through wars of worlds/invaded by Mars", and Winston Churchill's 18 June 1940 "This was their finest hour" speech in the House of Commons, in the lyric "You've yet to have your finest hour".

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