Queen Revisit 'Radio Ga Ga' On The Greatest Live

09-15-2023

(HR) This week's episode of Queen The Greatest Live focuses on their classic hit "Radio Ga Ga". There are few better examples of band and audience in total harmony than Roger Taylor's classic 1984 single "Radio Ga Ga." Across borders and language barriers, everyone in the stadium knows exactly what to do - and the result is one of the most life-affirming moments of unity that rock 'n' roll has to offer.

The Queen audience are a rhythm section in their own right - and as we see in the latest episode of Queen The Greatest Live, when it comes to stadium-shaking handclaps, Radio Ga Ga is a match for even the mighty "We Will Rock You."
As one of Queen's defining hits of the '80s, "Radio Ga Ga" was written by Roger Taylor, who worked for three days straight in the studio with a synth and drum machine to craft this ode to the golden age of the airwaves. "That's part of what the song's about, really," the drummer told the UK's Breakfast Time presenter Frank Bough as the song hit UK#2 in 1984. "The fact that music videos seem to be taking over almost from the aural side - the visual side seems to be almost more important."

While the verse felt at once triumphant and wistful, it was "Radio Ga Ga's" chorus - inviting an almost Pavlovian double-handclap - that gave Queen yet another crowd-participation flashpoint. Yet it took Freddie Mercury to recognize the song's anthem potential. "I think Roger was thinking about it as just another track," reflected the singer, who finished off "Radio Ga Ga." "But I instantly felt there was something in there, a really good, strong, saleable commodity."
As ever, Freddie was proved emphatically right, with "Radio Ga Ga's" human percussion ringing out at every Queen show from its release until the original lineup stepped back from the road in the late-'80s. And if you were never lucky enough to be in that sea of hands, catch the atmosphere with this week's electrifying archive footage from the band's history-making Hungary's Népstadion concert on the 1986 Magic Tour.