"AM Radio" is a song by American rock band Everclear from their fourth album, '' Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile'' (2000). The song was released as the second single from the album on August 22, 2000, and failed to enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number one on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart.

Content

The song's lyrics deal with

Art Alexakis Arthur Paul "Art" Alexakis (born April 12, 1962) is an American musician best known as the singer-songwriter and guitarist of the rock band Everclear. He has been a member of several notable bands, in addition to his own work as a songwriter f ...

' memories of growing up during the 1970s— specifically mentioning the years 1970, 1972, 1975, and 1977—while listening to his favorite music on

AM radio AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transm ...

, which Alexakis describes in the outro chant as: ''"We like pop, we like soul, we like rock, but we never liked disco."'' The song begins with a 1970s vintage

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

radio station KHJ and samples

Jean Knight Jean Knight (née Caliste; born January 26, 1943)Official records state that Jean Caliste, aged 16, married in June 1954, indicating a birth year of 1938. is an American R&B and soul singer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Launching her profession ...

's song "

Mr. Big Stuff "Mr. Big Stuff" is a song by American singer Jean Knight. The song was released in 1971 as a single from Knight's debut album of the same title, and became a big hit, reaching No. 2 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was certified double plat ...

". It also contains a short sample of "

Those Were the Days Those Were the Days may refer to: Music Albums * ''Those Were the Days'' (Johnny Mathis album) (1968) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Cream album) (1997) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Dolly Parton album) (2005) * '' Those Were the Days – The Best of L ...

", the theme song of the American sitcom ''All in the Family''. However, certain versions of the song, including the version on later pressings of ''Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile'' omit the sample. The lyrics make reference to several items of 1970s nostalgia: the

Ford Pinto The Ford Pinto is a subcompact car that was manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company in North America from 1971 until 1980 model years. The Pinto was the first subcompact vehicle produced by Ford in North America. The Pinto was marketed ...

8-track tape The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, wh ...

s, the classic television shows ''

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African ...

'' and ''

Chico and the Man ''Chico and the Man'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC for four seasons from September 13, 1974, to July 21, 1978. It stars Jack Albertson as Ed Brown (the Man), the cantankerous owner of a run-down garage in an East Los ...

'', and the band

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

(in 1977, the song's characters would have been listening to the album '' Presence''). The song was used as a tribute to AM Radio Top 40 by John Records Landecker to open his Memorial Day show on the 2008

WLS (AM) WLS (890 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Cumulus Media, through licensee Radio License Holdings LLC, the station airs a talk radio format. WLS has its radio studios in the NBC Tower on North Columbus Drive i ...

"Big 89 Rewind". WLS in Chicago was one of the leading AM giants in Top 40 radio from the 1960s to August 23, 1989, when it dropped music for all talk.

Music video

Directed by Alexakis, the music video starts off with a radio announcer reading the recorded programming disclaimer (the voice of KHJ newsman Art Kevin) from the KHJ sample, without the jingle. It then shows the band, along with some extra brass players, performing in front of a giant screen. At first, the screen shows a bunch of

smileys A smiley, sometimes referred to as a smiley face, is a basic ideogram that represents a smiling face. Since the 1950s it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram, or as a form of communication, such a ...

. As the first verse begins, the screen starts showing TV programs (i.e., ''

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family with six children. The show aired for five seasons and, afte ...

'', ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, it ...

'', ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

'', ''

H.R. Pufnstuf ''H.R. Pufnstuf'' is a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-sized-puppet program (not including their previous work with the Hanna-Barbera program ''The Ba ...

'', ''

Sigmund and the Sea Monsters ''Sigmund and the Sea Monsters'' is an American children's television series that ran from September 8, 1973 to October 18, 1975, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft and aired on Saturday mornings. It was syndicated by itself from December 1975 to J ...

'', ''

Adam-12 ''Adam-12'' is an American television police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed as they patrol the stre ...

'', ''

Land of the Lost Land of the Lost may refer to: * Land of the Lost (1974 TV series), ''Land of the Lost'' (1974 TV series), the original 1974 children's television series * Land of the Lost (1991 TV series), ''Land of the Lost'' (1991 TV series), the 1991 remake of ...

'') with Art Alexakis' face edited onto some of the characters to make them sing with the song, or other well-known people, events and styles from the 1970s (i.e.,

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

resigning,

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

platform shoes Platform shoes are shoes, boots, or sandals with an obvious thick sole, usually in the range of . Platform shoes may also be high heels, in which case the heel is raised significantly higher than the ball of the foot. Extreme heights, of bot ...

). A few scenes actually have members of Everclear doing 1970s things (i.e., posing in leisure suits, getting high in a

Volkswagen Bus Volkswagen Bus or Volkswagen Van is a type of vehicle produced by Volkswagen/Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. There have been a number of notable versions of it produced. Volkswagen Bus light commercial vehicles Six generations of Volkswagen Transp ...

). Art Alexakis is wearing a Portland Trail Blazers jersey in honor of that city's professional basketball team. Greg Eklund is wearing a Los Angeles Lakers jersey. Camp Chaos Entertainment also created an

animated cartoon Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...

version of the music video in SWF format.

Track listings

UK CD single # "AM Radio" (radio remix) # "Southern Girls" # "

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

" (live from

Woodstock '99 Woodstock '99 (also called Woodstock 1999) was a music festival held from July 22 to July 25, 1999, in Rome, New York. After Woodstock '94, it was the second large-scale music festival that attempted to emulate the original 1969 Woodstock fe ...

) Australian CD single # "AM Radio" (radio remix) – 3:52 # "I'm on Your Time" – 3:22 # "Santa Monica" (live from Woodstock '99) – 5:18

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2000 singles 2000 songs Capitol Records singles Everclear (band) songs Song recordings produced by Neal Avron Songs about radio Songs written by Art Alexakis Songs written by Craig Montoya Songs written by Greg Eklund