"Guerrilla Radio" is a song by American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...
and the lead single from their 1999 album ''
The Battle of Los Angeles
The Battle of Los Angeles, also known as the Great Los Angeles Air Raid, is the name given by contemporary sources to a rumored attack on the continental United States by Imperial Japan and the subsequent anti-aircraft artillery barrage which ...
''. It became the band's only
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
song, charting at #69. The band won the
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards until 2011.
The academy recognized hard rock music artists for the first time at the 31st Grammy Awards (1989). The category was ori ...
for this song. The song was featured in mountain biking film, “Strength in Numbers”. “Guerrilla Radio" was also featured on the soundtracks for video games such as ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the second installment in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series of sports games and was released for the PlayStation in 2000, with subs ...
'', ''
Madden NFL 10
''Madden NFL 10'' is an American football video game based on the National Football League that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. The 21st installment of the ''Madden NFL'' series, it is the first game to feature two players o ...
'' and ''
Guitar Hero Live
''Guitar Hero Live'' is a 2015 music rhythm video game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the seventh main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xb ...
'', as well as being a downloadable track for the ''
Rock Band
A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...
'' series.
History
"Guerrilla Radio" was performed live on the ''
Late Show with David Letterman
The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
'' in 1999. During the commercial break, "
Bulls on Parade" was played and was re-joined in progress while the credits were playing. Letterman joked that "he hoped they (Rage Against the Machine) weren't neglecting their school work". The performance was controversial due to
Zack de la Rocha
Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. Through both Rage Against ...
giving the middle finger on live TV and wearing a "Free
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook; April 24, 1954) is an American political activist and journalist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. While on death r ...
" T-shirt.
On January 28, 2000, documentary film maker
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...
convinced campaigning politician
Alan Keyes
Alan Lee Keyes (born August 7, 1950) is an American politician, political activist, author, and perennial candidate who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 1985 to 1987. A member of the Repub ...
to mosh in a truck with young teenagers listening to "Guerrilla Radio". Keyes, who was campaigning for the Republican nomination at the
Iowa caucuses
The Iowa caucuses are biennial electoral events for members of the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections in most other U.S. states, where registered voters go to polling places to cast ballots, ...
, agreed to join in the mosh for the endorsement of Moore's
satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
television show
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
, ''
The Awful Truth
''The Awful Truth'' is a 1937 American screwball comedy film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant. Based on the 1923 play ''The Awful Truth'' by Arthur Richman, the film recounts how a distrustful rich couple begins d ...
''.
The song was covered by lounge/comedy group
Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine
Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine (or simply Richard Cheese) is a cover band and comedy act, performing popular songs in a lounge/swing style. Lounge singer Richard Cheese is a character created and portrayed by Los Angeles-based act ...
, whose band name also spoofs Rage. In April 2007,
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...
covered it live.
In July 2007, the song's video for "Guerrilla Radio" was ranked #45 on
MuchMusic
Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults.
MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...
's 50 Most Controversial Videos for extreme amounts of profanity. Though, it appeared in
RTPN
RTP3 (''RTP três'') is a Portuguese free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). It is the company's all-news television channel, and is known for its 24-hour rollin ...
adverts in the summer of 2006, as an instrumental song.
This song is featured on the album ''
Body of War: Songs that Inspired an Iraq War Veteran''.
"Guerrilla Radio" made its live debut on September 11, 1999, at the Oxford Zodiac in England.
The song is one of 31 music files in the ''
Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum
In the case of ''Sony BMG Music Entertainment et al. v. Tenenbaum'', record label Sony BMG, along with Warner Bros. Records, Atlantic Records, Arista Records, and UMG Recordings, accused Joel Tenenbaum of illegally downloading and sharing files ...
'' case, which resulted in finding the individual file-sharer liable for copyright infringement in July 2009, demanding an award of
$22,500 a song.
In December 2009, Guerilla Radio was placed #54 on Channel V's Top 1000 Noughties Music Videos of the decade, Countdown.
"Guerrilla Radio" is played at
Los Angeles FC
Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...
home matches when the team scores a goal. It was also on the soundtrack and opening sequence for the video game ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the second installment in the '' Tony Hawk's'' series of sports games and was released for the PlayStation in 2000, with subs ...
'', and returned to the soundtrack when the re-mastered ''
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...
'' was released in 2020. In Japan,
Fuji Television
JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba
today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially b ...
used it as the theme song for its broadcasts of
Pride Fighting Championships
PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...
.
Music video
The promo was shot by production company Squeak Pictures in
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' ...
in October 1999 and directed by Honey, i.e., the husband-and-wife directorial team of Laura Kelly and
Nicholas Brooks. The video which, among others, touches upon the exploitation of garment workers, parodies the popular late '90s
Gap commercials directed by Pedro Romhanyi.
These ads featured attractive young people singing songs while against a white backdrop, wearing Gap clothing. The phrase "everybody in denial" was a play on "everybody in khaki" which was a Gap TV ad campaign at the time.
The video begins with bland, generic,
elevator music
Elevator music (also known as Muzak, piped music, or lift music) is a type of background music played in rooms where many people come together (that is, with no intention whatsoever to listen to music), and during telephone calls when placed on ...
being played. There are shots of sweatshop workers (UNITE! union members playing themselves) at their tables, against a white backdrop. Shortly, the phrase "everybody in denial" is flashed on screen. The band is then seen standing against a white background, calmly playing their instruments. As the song picks up, pictures are seen of a man putting money from the workers in his pockets, taking a girl away from her mother, and the band playing live in a dark, strobe-lit room.
Track listing
;CD single
#"Guerrilla Radio"
#"Without a Face (Live Version)"
;UK limited edition maxi single, part one
#"Guerrilla Radio"
#"
No Shelter
"No Shelter" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, released in 1998 on the ''Godzilla'' soundtrack. It can also be found as a bonus track on the Australian and Japanese release of ''The Battle of Los Angeles'' in 1999. The song ...
"
#"
The Ghost of Tom Joad
''The Ghost of Tom Joad'' is the eleventh studio album, and the second acoustic album, by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, released on November 21, 1995, by Columbia Records. It reached the Top Ten in two countries, and the Top Twenty ...
"
;UK limited edition maxi single, part two
#"Guerrilla Radio" (Radio Edit)
#"
Fuck tha Police
"Fuck tha Police" is a protest song by American hip hop group N.W.A that appears on the 1988 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' as well as on the ''N.W.A's Greatest Hits'' compilation. The lyrics protest police brutality and racial profilin ...
" (Live) (
N.W.A
N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...
cover)
#"
Freedom
Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...
" (Live)
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
External links
Axis of JusticeTom Morello and
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian (born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American singer, musician, songwriter, political activist and entrepreneur. He is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal ...
's Activist Website "
Axis Of Justice
Axis of Justice is a non-profit organization co-founded by Serj Tankian and Tom Morello. Its purpose is to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots progressivism to fight for social justice together.
Formation
In a 2007 intervi ...
"
{{authority control
1999 singles
Rage Against the Machine songs
Protest songs
Song recordings produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer)
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
1998 songs
Songs written by Tom Morello
Songs written by Brad Wilk
Songs written by Tim Commerford
Songs written by Zack de la Rocha
Songs against capitalism
Epic Records singles