Devil's Radio

"Devil's Radio"

Cover to promotional single release
Song by George Harrison
from the album Cloud Nine
Released 2 November 1987 (1987-11-02)
Recorded 1987
Genre Rock
Length 3:52
Label Dark Horse
Songwriter(s) George Harrison
Producer(s) Jeff Lynne, George Harrison

"Devil's Radio" is a song written by George Harrison that was first released on Harrison's 1987 album Cloud Nine. It was not released commercially as a single, but a promotional single was released and the song reached #4 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.

Lyrics and music

"Devil's Radio" was inspired by a church billboard Harrison had seen stating "Gossip: The Devil's Radio...Don't Be a Broadcaster."[1][2] The song's theme is an attack on gossip, trivia and cynical talk radio which spreads inaccuracies and falsehoods.[3][4] The song uses metaphors such as "vultures," "weeds," "pollution" and "industrial waste" to drive home the point of gossip's effects.[1][3] The theme was a personal one to Harrison, as he had felt victimized by gossip and by the media attention he received as an ex-Beatle, which inhibited his ability to live a normal life.[1][3][5] This point is driven home by the line "You wonder why I don't hang out much/I wonder how you can't see."[3][5]

"Devil's Radio" begins with a repeated recitation of the word "Gossip" before launching in the verses describing the evils of gossip.[3] Chip Madinger and Mark Easter wrote that the music was inspired by the Eurhythmics, making it one of the few songs in which Harrison was influenced by contemporary musical trends.[2] Harrison biographer Simon Leng described the music accompaniment as Harrison's most aggressive since "Wah-Wah" in 1971 and described the style of the music as rockabilly.[5] Leng compared the opening of "Devil's Radio" to songs of Chuck Berry and particularly praised Harrison's vocal and the counterpoint provided by Eric Clapton, who played guitar on the song along with Harrison.[5] The other musicians who performed on the song were Elton John on piano, Jeff Lynne on bass guitar and keyboards, Ringo Starr on drums and Ray Cooper on percussion.[5]

Several commentators have noted resemblances between "Devil's Radio" and songs written by others. Beatles' author Andrew Grant Jackson points out a similarity in theme and tone with Don Henley's 1982 hit "Dirty Laundry."[1] Music lecturer Ian Inglis suggests a resemblance between the line ""You wonder why I don't hang out much" and the rhetorical devices Bob Dylan uses in "Desolation Row" where Dylan asks "You asked how I was doing/Was that some kind of joke?"[3] Leng notes a similarity with the theme of a different Bob Dylan song, "Restless Farewell," in which Dylan complains of the damage caused by gossip and rumors.[5] However, Leng also states that Harrison's approach differs from Dylan's by being more direct, whereas Dylan's approach is more allegorical.[5]

Reception

Although not released commercially as a single, "Devil's Radio" reached #4 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.[6] Inglis described the song as "a fiery dose of contemporary rock 'n' roll at its most compelling" and saw it as an inspiration for some of the songs on Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever and Into the Great Wide Open which, like "Devil's Radio," were produced by Lynne.[3] Mat Snow praised Lynne's production for bringing out the "wry, loving humor of George's singing," even though Harrison's voice often struggles with up–tempo songs like this.[7]

Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it one of the "best moments" on Cloud Nine.[8] Madinger and Easter reacted similarly.[2] Harrison biographer Elliot Huntley called it one of Cloud Nine's "most instantly accessible tracks" and expressed surprise that it wasn't released as a commercial single, stating that it's honky tonk piano and Beatle-like backing vocals made it a natural album-oriented rock radio track.[9] Copley News reviewer Divina Infusino described the song as "biting commentary."[4] Santa Cruz Sentinel critic Paul Wagner considered the song to be "among the best two-guitar rock ever recorded."[10]

A live version of "Devil's Radio" was included on Harrison's live album Live in Japan in 1992.[11] This version was recorded during Harrison's 1991 Japanese tour with Clapton.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Jackson, Andrew Grant (2012). Still the Greatest: The Essential Songs of the Beatles' Solo Careers. Scarecrow Press. pp. 208–209. ISBN 9780810882225.
  2. 1 2 3 Madinger, C. & Easter, M. (2000). Eight Arms to Hold You. 44.1 Productions. p. 471. ISBN 0-615-11724-4.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Inglis, Ian (2010). The Words and Music of George Harrison. ABC-CLIO. p. 91. ISBN 9780313375330.
  4. 1 2 Infusino, Divina (November 21, 1987). "Quiet Beatle? Harrison reflects on his life and music". Hazleton Standard-Speaker. p. 9. Retrieved 2017-06-18 – via newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Leng, Simon (2006). While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Hal Leonard. pp. 251–252. ISBN 9781423406099.
  6. ↑ "Album Rock Tracks". Billboard Magazine. December 26, 1987. p. 17. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
  7. ↑ Snow, Mat (2013). Beatles Solo: The Illustrated Chronicles of John, Paul, George, and Ringo after the Beatles. MBI Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 9781627880749.
  8. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Cloud Nine". Allmusic. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
  9. ↑ Huntley, Elliot (2004). Mystical One: George Harrison : After the Break-up of the Beatles. Guernica. p. 205, 209. ISBN 9781550711974.
  10. ↑ Wagner, Paul (November 27, 1987). "Hot Platters of Christmas Wax". Santa Cruz Sentinel. p. 74. Retrieved 2017-06-18 – via newspapers.com.
  11. 1 2 "Live in Japan". Allmusic. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
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