Matt Knight’s 4:20 HIT of the Day – Queen “Radio Ga Ga”

The "4:20 HIT of the Day" is a song I think will give you some good vibes, 'spark up' nostalgia or just remind you about a tune you might love but just haven't heard in a while. Today's HIT is one of the first videos I can remember seeing on TV. Queen's "Radio Ga Ga" was released as a single from the album "The Works" and subsequent music video in January 1984. I'd just turned six years old when I saw it on "Friday Night Videos." My older cousin recorded music videos every week and when babysitting me, he'd bring them over and watch them while watching me. There was something about the clapping along, the flying car, the black & white turning to color and the chorus of the song that just connected with me. Plus, any song that professes its love for radio is a winner with me! 18 months later in the summer of 1985, Queen would perform "Radio Ga Ga" at Live Aid and it further entrenched them as one of my favorite bands when over 70,000 people were clapping along with their arms up. Freddie Mercury OWNED that crowd in 20 short minutes and it would be a staple of the entire weekend of shows. "Radio Ga Ga" was a commentary on television overtaking radio's popularity and how one would listen to radio in the past for a favorite comedy, drama, or science fiction program. It also addressed the advent of the music video and MTV, which was then competing with radio as an important medium for promoting records. At the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards the video for "Radio Ga Ga" would receive a Best Art Direction nomination. Roger Taylor was quoted: "That's part of what the song's about, really. The fact that music videos seem to be taking over almost from the aural side, the visual side seems to be almost more important. The song was a worldwide success for the band, reaching number one in 19 countries, #2 on the UK Singles Chart and #16 on the US Billboard Hot 100. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azdwsXLmrHE [ss-signup design_id="251773"]