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 in terms of audience participation.
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 legendary “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 No. 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.”
It was “Radio Ga Ga”’s chorus – inviting an almost Pavlovian double-handclap – that gave Queen yet another crowd-participation flashpoint.
“I think Roger was thinking about it as just another track,” reflected Mercury, who finished off "Radio Ga Ga." “But I instantly felt there was something in there, a really good, strong, saleable commodity.”
Catch the atmosphere created by the song with this week’s archival footage from the band’s history-making Hungary’s Népstadion concert on the 1986 Magic Tour.
Pick up your copy of Queen’s best-selling “Greatest Hits” here.
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