RADIO NOWHERE

Album's version

I was tryin' to find my way home
But all I heard was a drone
Bouncing off a satellite
Crushin' the last lone American night

This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?

I was spinnin' 'round a dead dial
Just another lost number in a file
Dancin' down a dark hole
Just searchin' for a world with some soul

This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
Is there anybody alive out there?

I just want to hear some rhythm
I just want to hear some rhythm
I just want to hear some rhythm
I just want to hear some rhythm

I want a thousand guitars
I want pounding drums
I want a million different voices speaking in tongues

This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
Is there anybody alive out there?

[Instrumental]

I was driving through the misty rain
Yeah searchin' for a mystery train
Boppin' through the wild blue
Tryin' to make a connection with you

This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
This is radio nowhere, is there anybody alive out there?
Is there anybody alive out there?

I just want to feel some rhythm (I just want to)
I just want to feel some rhythm (I just want to)
I just want to feel your rhythm (I just want to)
I just want to feel your rhythm (I just want to)
I just want to feel your rhythm (I just want to)
I just want to feel your rhythm (I just want to)
I just want to feel your rhythm (I just want to)
I just want to feel your rhythm (I just want to)

Page last updated: 15 Mar 2008

Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, RADIO NOWHERE is from Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band's album Magic which was released on 02 Oct 2007 on Columbia Records. The song is the album opener and the lead single. The track clocks at 3:20.

Studio Recording

In late 2006, Bruce Springsteen invited producer Brendan O'Brien up to his New Jersey house to play him a batch of new songs he had been working on. "We literally sat in his living room, he hands me a book of lyrics and he played me the songs on the guitar," O'Brien told Rolling Stone. He said that the version of RADIO NOWHERE recorded for Magic changed very little from the version Springsteen played him at his house the previous year. "It's a pretty straight-ahead rocker," O'Brien described it. "The most straightforward song I've heard him do in years." Manager Jon Landau told Rolling Stone that the track "has a real anthemic quality to it. If it doesn't get you out of your seat, I don't know what will."

The song was recorded during the Magic recording sessions which took place between March and May 2007 at Southern Tracks Studios, Atlanta, GA.

Lyrics

Springsteen's 1990s twang reasserts itself in the first verses of the down-mixed vocal line. RADIO NOWHERE's lyrical themes address alienation and a desire for musical and social connection, a theme similar to some of his previous work. See the opening verse.

Springsteen's lyrics appear to intentionally and repeatedly allude to his previous songs, an important artistic tradition in poetry and songwriting, continuing and reconnecting the artist's chosen themes they wish to emphasize. The lyric "I was driving through the misty rain" is likely a reference to DOWNBOUND TRAIN with the lyric "I feel her kiss in the misty rain" snd the lyric "Dancing down a dark hole" likely refers to DANCING IN THE DARK.

In addition, the line "is there anybody alive out there?", while not a previous Springsteen lyric, has been a staple exhortation of his live show. He has been yelling it out for years -- notably during the 1999-2000 Reunion Tour -- as the show enters its final stretch and he wants to rally the crowd one more time. It is also arguably the central question running through his entire body of work, reflecting the primal importance that he gives to the connective power of rock and roll.

Release Date and Reception

Six days prior to its official release, RADIO NOWHERE leaked on the internet on 22 Aug 2007, to satellite radio the following day and to regular radio the day after that.

New York's 95.5 WPLJ, with co-hosts Scott Shannon and Todd Pettengill, gave commuters a surprise double-shot of RADIO NOWHERE on the morning of 24 Aug 2007. WPLJ's Programming VP Tom Cuddy told Backstreets that "the response by listeners was overwhelming. Our request lines lit up like a Christmas tree! Fans loved it... it's three minutes and 16 seconds of straight-ahead rock 'n' roll with a terrific Clarence solo!" He continues: "We received a call from Sony Music this morning after we played it the first time, requesting that we stop. However, we told him we promised fans we'd play it one more time -- which we did."

Later in the day, classic rocker Q104.3 in New York City reportedly played the song several times in a row. The song was also played twice in the afternoon of that day by 93.3 WNCD in Youngstown, OH. After being contacted by a Columbia Records representative, they stopped playing it. On 26 Aug 2007, Little Steven also played RADIO NOWHERE on his Underground Garage radio show.

The official release for radio was set for Tuesday 28 Aug 2007 and RADIO NOWHERE received some of its biggest promotion and early airplay from a huge Springsteen fan, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, sports talk host on WFAN in New York, who could not stop raving about it. In fact, callers frequently open their conversations with Russo by chanting Springsteen's "Is there anyone alive out there?" line from the song.

On 28 Aug 2007, the song was released as a free limited-timespan digital single, available for download at the iTunes store. Sony BMG created the site "www.radionowheredownload.com" at this time, which also offered the single free for Springsteen's fan base in Europe (for whom iTunes is not always an option), making it available for free well in advance of the commercial release of the album.

Despite all this initial drama, the song was not a chart success in the USA, failing to reach the Billboard Hot 100. The song charted significantly higher in European countries.

Nevertheless, it earned a degree of mind share in the mass media. For example, it was used during the broadcast of the final game of the 2007 World Series as the background music for the production credits and underneath a montage of all the major plays of the series. In addition, RADIO NOWHERE is being used very frequently in American sports arenas during halts in play. In a similar vein, ESPN Radio's The Mike Tirico Show features RADIO NOWHERE as the show's opening theme.

At the MTV Europe Music Awards 2007 which took place on 01 Nov 2007 in Munich, Germany, when asked by Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl which song he wished he had written, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe cited "Radio Nowhere".

Music Video

The music video for RADIO NOWHERE, directed by Thom Zimny, was premiered on 04 Sep 2007 on Amazon.com. It consists mostly of Springsteen and the E Street Band playing the song in a darkened studio, interspersed with filmed Manhattan street scenes and a few shots of a recent promotional photograph of Springsteen being torn. Of the E Streeters, Patti Scialfa, Steve Van Zandt, Max Weinberg, and Nils Lofgren get the most face time in the video; quasi-member Soozie Tyrell is absent altogether.

Magic

Magic is Springsteen's 23rd album (and 15th studio album). It was released on 02 Oct 2007 on Columbia Records. The album was officially announced, along with its track listing, on 16 Aug 2007. The album is produced by Brendan O'Brien and was recorded between March and May 2007 at Southern Tracks Studios, Atlanta, GA.

Magic was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album but failed to win. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, becoming Springsteen's eighth number one album in the U.S. and selling about 335,000 copies in its first week. In addition to the U.S., Magic peaked at number one in 10 European countries.

The album features 11 new Springsteen compositions plus a bonus hidden track and clocks at 50:48.

Track list:

1. RADIO NOWHERE
2. YOU'LL BE COMIN' DOWN
3. LIVIN' IN THE FUTURE
4. YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY
5. GYPSY BIKER
6. GIRLS IN THEIR SUMMER CLOTHES
7. I'LL WORK FOR YOUR LOVE
8. MAGIC
9. LAST TO DIE
10. LONG WALK HOME
11. DEVIL'S ARCADE

Hidden track:

13. TERRY'S SONG

The album is also available as a vinyl record.

Live Performances

Private rehearsals for the Magic Tour took place in September 2007 at the Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ. Out of the seven know private rehearsal sessions, RADIO NOWHERE was confirmed to be practiced on five (10, 12, 13, 18, and 21 Sep 2007). The song was then opener for all three public rehearsal shows for the tour:

• 24 Sep 2007 at the Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
• 25 Sep 2007 at the Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
• 28 Sep 2007 at Continental Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

In the morning of 28 Sep 2007, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band played at Rockefella Plaza, New York City, NY, for the Today show. RADIO NOWHERE was played during both a 6:00 a.m. soundcheck and the 8:30 a.m. main set.

The Magic Tour kicked off on 02 Oct 2007, and RADIO NOWHERE was didn't miss any of the tour's shows. It was always show opener during the 2007 part of tour, except on the 06 Oct 2007 show in Philadelphia when it was preceded by NIGHT.

On 30 Oct 2007, the Magic Tour stop was at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA. As 27 years since his first of two Halloween shows at this very venue (31 Oct 1980 and 31 Oct 1984), he once again came on stage in a coffin. A half-dozen crew members dressed as zombies served as pallbearers, Bruce's hand rose up to take his guitar, the coffin tipped forward and off he went into RADIO NOWHERE. The video clip was made available for download at BruceSpringsteen.net.

Since 2002, Springsteen has been played private benefit shows for schools and colleges that his kids attended — Rumson Country Day School of Rumson, NJ, and Ranney School of Tinton Falls, NJ, and Boston College of Chestnut Hill, MA. RADIO NOWHERE was performed at one of these fundraisers, on 23 Jan 2010 at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, backed by Bobby Bandiera and his band.

[Click here to display/hide detailed 2010 private benefit shows performances list]

Grammy Awards

RADIO NOWHERE was awarded Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song at the Grammy Awards of 2008. The primary ceremony took place on 10 Feb 2008 at Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA, and was televised in the United States on CBS; however, most of the awards (included the ones Springsteen won) were handed out during a pre-telecast portion of the show held at the Los Angeles Convention Center and broadcast on XM Satellite Radio. Springsteen did not attend either ceremonies.

Tommy Tutone's Song

The opening guitar riff and chord progression are so reminiscent of Tommy Tutone's 1982 hit 867-5309/JENNY that Tommy Tutone lead singer Tommy Heath told the Chicago Tribune that "everybody's calling me about it," and that, "I think it's close enough that if I wanted to [take legal action], I could work with it." "I don't really get into that sort of thing," he added, "but the kids do need braces so maybe I will." Most musical plagiarism cases hinge on borrowed melodies, while these two songs' similarities lie more in the chord changes and beat.

Heath never took action, and there's really no ground for any case. The chord progression used in RADIO NOWHERE may be the same as the Tommy Tutone's song, but it is in a completely different key and the lick played at the beginning of 867-5309/JENNY is different than the one played at the beginning of RADIO NOWHERE. The Em-C-G-D has been used in countless other pop rock songs.

Official Releases

In addition to the Magic album, RADIO NOWHERE was also officially released on several promotional singles:

• US 1-track promotional CDR (Columbia; COL 88697 17050 2), which comes in a slimline jewel case with colour insert.
  
  
  
  
• A very rare Dutch 1-track promotional CDR (SONY/BMG; no catalogue number), which comes in a slimline jewel case with colour insert.
  
  
  
  
• A Spanish 1-track promotional CDR (no catalogue number), which comes in a 6-pages 8"x8" fold-out booklet with text in Spanish.
  
  
  
  
• A UK 1-track promotional CDR (Columbia; no catalogue number), which comes in clear plastic sleeve with info sticker and separate loose title inlay.
  
  
  
  
• A very rare Japanese 1-track CDR (SONY/BMG; no catalogue number), which comes in slimline jewel case with unique black-and-white picture insert.
  
  

Track Credits

Written by Bruce Springsteen
Produced by Brendan O'Brien

Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar
Max Weinberg: drums
Garry Tallent: bass guitar
Clarence Clemons: saxophone, background vocals
Steven Van Zandt: background vocals
Patti Scialfa: background vocals
Nils Lofgren: guitar

References

Scans and info for some of the above singles are taken from the Lost In The Flood website. Some of the info on this page are taken from Wikipedia and Backstreets.com.