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MetaQuiz: Songs on the Radio About...The Radio!

The questions here revolve around songs that are about the subject of radio. Most of the time I'll provide the lyrics and you identify the artist. But sometimes I'll provide the artist and you have to identify the song that references the radio.

A multiple-choice quiz by Billkozy. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
Billkozy

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
394,497

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
282

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. His song "Radio Silence" starts out:
"Signal fading, listen to what I'm saying
Testing, testing
This better be worth all of the breath I'm wasting
Maintaining radio silence from now on."

But it was stopping mid-song through "Less Than Zero" and launching unexpectedly into his song "Radio Radio" that got him banned from "Saturday Night Live" in 1977. Who is he? Hint

K. Flay

Frank Zappa

Elvis Costello

James Blake

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. "Oh flip oh gosh oh golly gee /
We really shocked the local rock disc jock /
Oh crumbs oh boy oh sugar me /
The poor bloke nearly went right off his block /
We only told him what we did and didn't like /
And then we used that word and he jumped on the mike /
You can't say that on the radio."

These are the opening lyrics to the 1980 punk song "You Can't Say Crap On The Radio" recorded by whom?
Hint

Little Feat

Little River Band

Little Richard

Stiff Little Fingers

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. In his song "Payola Blues" who do we hear sing:
"Listen to me Mr. D.J., /
hear what I've got to say /
If a man is making music, /
they ought to let his record play. /
Payola blues /
No matter where I go /
I never hear my record on the radio."?
Hint

Neil Finn

Neil Sedaka

Neil Young

Neil Diamond

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. "All my comrades puttin in soldier work /
We rollin dirty wit it, fully dedicated /
So real that the radio'll never play it /
But that's cool, the enemy supposed to hate it."

This ditty comes from the 2002 recording "Turn Off The Radio" by what hip-hop duo? Hint

Dead Kennedys

Dead or Alive

The Grateful Dead

Dead Prez

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. We're all familiar with the Donna Summer hit "On the Radio":
"Someone found a letter you wrote me /
On the radio /
And they told the world just how you felt."

But there are eight other songs, all different from each other, but all with the same title of Ms. Summer's song, "On the Radio." Which two are bogus though? Which artists did NOT ever record a song called "On the Radio"?
Hint

Tina Turner and Poni Hoax

Loretta Lynn and Eurythmics

The Concretes, and Cheap Trick

Regina Spektor and EmmyLou Harris

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. "Back Street Boys /
Boys to Men /
I never want to hear that crap again /
there's nothing good on the radio."

This is from the 2002 song "Nothing Good on the Radio" by a punk rock group with the same name as what Jim Jarmusch film?
Hint

Mystery Train

Coffee and Cigarettes

Down by Law

Broken Flowers

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. "Only black radio station in the city /
Programmed by a sucker in a suit /
Slick back hair he don't even live here /
Raps the number one pick so I draft it /
I don't care about all the other demographics."

This observation comes from the 1991 recording "How To Kill A Radio Consultant" by what hip-hop group whose members included Flava Flav and Chuck D?
Hint

A Tribe Called Quest

Public Enemy

Wu Tang Clan

Run DMC

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. And from the album "Heartbeat Radio" comes this song with the same title:
"Tell me what's the deal with the static /
FM has become automatic /
I wanna know did the DJ drown /
In a sea of reverb and compression, oh /
Wait til you hear the refrain /
On my heartbeat radio."

Who is this Norwegian singer/songwriter guitarist?
Hint

Tim Christensen

Jens Lekman

Sondre Lerche

Alexi Laiho

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. Helen Reddy sang:
"You live your life in the songs you hear /
On the rock and roll radio /
And when a young girl doesn't have any friends /
That's a really nice place to go."

What was this 1974 big hit of hers that went all the way to Number One?
Hint

I Am Woman

Delta Dawn

Angie Baby

Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. The song is "The End of Radio":
"It's the end of radio /
the last announcer plays the last record /
the last watt leaves the transmitter /
circles the globe in search of a listener /
can you hear me now?"

Who is the band?
Hint

Paint

Vaseline

Shellac

Varnish

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. His song "Radio Silence" starts out: "Signal fading, listen to what I'm saying Testing, testing This better be worth all of the breath I'm wasting Maintaining radio silence from now on." But it was stopping mid-song through "Less Than Zero" and launching unexpectedly into his song "Radio Radio" that got him banned from "Saturday Night Live" in 1977. Who is he?

Answer: Elvis Costello

It was December 17, 1977; Elvis and his band, the Attractions, were supposed to play "Less Than Zero" on "Saturday Night Live". And they started to play it, but then Costello stopped, calling out to his band "Stop! Stop!", and he started playing "Radio Radio" instead.

The song is highly critical of commercialization in music and the radio. NBC and SNL's producer Lorne Michaels had forbidden Costello to play it, so when he did he was banned from the show by Michaels. Predictably, Costello's popularity rose rapidly.

The ban was lifted years later, in 1989.

2. "Oh flip oh gosh oh golly gee / We really shocked the local rock disc jock / Oh crumbs oh boy oh sugar me / The poor bloke nearly went right off his block / We only told him what we did and didn't like / And then we used that word and he jumped on the mike / You can't say that on the radio." These are the opening lyrics to the 1980 punk song "You Can't Say Crap On The Radio" recorded by whom?

Answer: Stiff Little Fingers

They formed in 1977 and are from Belfast, Northern Ireland. "You Can't Say Crap on the Radio" is the B-side of their single release of "Straw Dogs." It charted number 44 on the British charts.

3. In his song "Payola Blues" who do we hear sing: "Listen to me Mr. D.J., / hear what I've got to say / If a man is making music, / they ought to let his record play. / Payola blues / No matter where I go / I never hear my record on the radio."?

Answer: Neil Young

The term "payola" is a combination of "pay" and "ola", which was commonly used suffix for various product names (Crayola, Motorola, Shinola, etc.). So it's a snarky sort of description for the illegal practice of record companies bribing radio stations to play certain records.

4. "All my comrades puttin in soldier work / We rollin dirty wit it, fully dedicated / So real that the radio'll never play it / But that's cool, the enemy supposed to hate it." This ditty comes from the 2002 recording "Turn Off The Radio" by what hip-hop duo?

Answer: Dead Prez

stic.man and M-1 are the stage names of the duo that formed in New York City in 1996. Much of their activism has been called confrontational, and much of their focus has been as the recording suggests, against corporate influence over record labels and other facets of the media.

There is, by the way another song called "Turn Off the Radio" and it's by a group called A Day To Remember, a rock band founded in Florida in 2003. An excerpt from their "Turn Off the Radio":
Turn off the radio,
Till they've got somethin' real to say.
Turn off the radio,
To clear my mind and let me think.
I need an answer, I've got the questions,
Can't anyone out there just relate?
Turn off the radio,
Turn off the radio.

But wait! That's not all! There is also a song called "Turn Off the Radio" by Ice Cube! And it goes:
"Turn on the radio take a listen
What you're missing
Personally I'm sick of the ass-kissing
What I'm kicking to you won't get rotation
Nowhere in the nation
Program directors and DJ's ignored me"

5. We're all familiar with the Donna Summer hit "On the Radio": "Someone found a letter you wrote me / On the radio / And they told the world just how you felt." But there are eight other songs, all different from each other, but all with the same title of Ms. Summer's song, "On the Radio." Which two are bogus though? Which artists did NOT ever record a song called "On the Radio"?

Answer: Loretta Lynn and Eurythmics

Hard to believe there are that many songs titled "On the Radio"? Oh there are so many more than even those nine mentioned already in this question. Other artists who have recorded songs titled "On the Radio" include Nelly Furtado, Selena, Hurt, Sweetbox, Bosson, Army of Freshmen, Martine McCutcheon, and at least a dozen others.

However, Loretta Lynn and the Eurythmics are not among the recording artists who have songs by that title.

6. "Back Street Boys / Boys to Men / I never want to hear that crap again / there's nothing good on the radio." This is from the 2002 song "Nothing Good on the Radio" by a punk rock group with the same name as what Jim Jarmusch film?

Answer: Down by Law

Down by Law was formed in Los Angeles in 1989. They've had many changes in personnel since then, but frontman/guitarist Dave Smalley is still with the band, he being the only remaining founding member.

7. "Only black radio station in the city / Programmed by a sucker in a suit / Slick back hair he don't even live here / Raps the number one pick so I draft it / I don't care about all the other demographics." This observation comes from the 1991 recording "How To Kill A Radio Consultant" by what hip-hop group whose members included Flava Flav and Chuck D?

Answer: Public Enemy

Other members of this group formed in New York's Long Island in 1986 include Professor Griff, DJ Lord, Sammy Sam, Khari Wynn, Sister Souljah, Terminator X, and the S1W group. Chuck D, the group's leader, attended Adelphi University on Long Island, and was a DJ at the campus radio station, WBAU. The group was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

8. And from the album "Heartbeat Radio" comes this song with the same title: "Tell me what's the deal with the static / FM has become automatic / I wanna know did the DJ drown / In a sea of reverb and compression, oh / Wait til you hear the refrain / On my heartbeat radio." Who is this Norwegian singer/songwriter guitarist?

Answer: Sondre Lerche

Lerche released "Heartbeat Radio" in 2009 and the Los Angeles Times wrote glowingly, "No matter what genre he's working in - fuzzy garage rock, breezy vocal jazz, acoustic folk-pop - this young Norwegian singer-songwriter crafts catchier choruses than many musicians who've been working twice as long as he has."

9. Helen Reddy sang: "You live your life in the songs you hear / On the rock and roll radio / And when a young girl doesn't have any friends / That's a really nice place to go." What was this 1974 big hit of hers that went all the way to Number One?

Answer: Angie Baby

Alan O'Day actually wrote the song which became a number one hit for Helen Reddy. O'Day also wrote "Rock and Roll Heaven" a big hit for the Righteous Brothers. According to Ms. Reddy, "Angie Baby" was the only song she never had to lobby the radio stations to take a chance on and play.

The lyrics have invited speculation over the years, and Mr. O'Day told Billboard magazine: "['Lady Madonna'] just killed me. I thought, well, I'm gonna write a song about somebody who's growing up with the radio playing in the background of their life, with this rock and roll time we live in... there are songs for all of our emotions, and the radio really speaks for us in a way that nothing else does."

10. The song is "The End of Radio": "It's the end of radio / the last announcer plays the last record / the last watt leaves the transmitter / circles the globe in search of a listener / can you hear me now?" Who is the band?

Answer: Shellac

This song comes from Shellac's 2007 album, "Excellent Italian Greyhound" the band's fourth album. Shellac is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1992. They are a trio whose members are Steve Albini, Bob Weston and Todd Trainer.

Source: Author Billkozy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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