"Satellite" is a song by American rock band

The Hooters The Hooters are an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band combines elements of rock, reggae, ska, and folk music to create its sound. The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid-1980 ...

, which was released in 1987 as the second single from their third studio album '' One Way Home''. The song was written by

Rob Hyman Robert Andrew Hyman (born April 24, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, keyboard and accordion player, producer, arranger and recording studio owner, best known for being a founding member of the rock band The Hooters. Early life Hyman st ...

Eric Bazilian Eric M. Bazilian (born July 21, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. Bazilian is a founding member of the rock band The Hooters. He wrote " One of Us", a song first recorded by Joan Osborne in 19 ...

and

Rick Chertoff Richard E. Chertoff (born March 29, 1950 in New York, NY) is an American five-time Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize ...

, and produced by Chertoff. "Satellite" reached No. 61 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

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 ...

and No. 22 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Background

"Satellite" takes a satirical look at

Televangelism Televangelism ( tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning "ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are ministers, whether official or self-proc ...

. Hyman told

Simon Mayo Simon Andrew Hicks Mayo (born 21 September 1958) is an English radio presenter and author who worked for BBC Radio from 1982 until 2022. Mayo has presented across three BBC stations for extended periods. From 1986 to 2001 he worked for Radio ...

for the ''

Reading Evening Post The ''Reading Post'' (until 2009, the ''Reading Evening Post'') was an English local newspaper covering Reading, Berkshire and surrounding areas. The title page of the paper featured the Maiwand Lion, a famous local landmark at Forbury Gardens. Th ...

'' in 1987: "They're a strange combination of religious concepts and satellite technology both up there in the heavens. It's all very political because to get your programmes on the satellite you need influence, money and power. The programmes are supposed to be non profit making but recent exposés have uncovered loads of financial scandals. Our song is very timely!"

Music video

The song's music video was directed by David Hogan and produced by Daniel Stewart for Limelight Productions. It achieved active rotation on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Critical reception

On its release, ''Billboard'' described the song as a "traditionally styled rock number". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' considered the song a "driving pop/rock" track that "should continue" the band's success in the Top 40 and on AOR radio. ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' wrote, "Captivating and epic piece of rock with folk overtones through an accordion and a

Big Country Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981. The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s, although it has retained a cult following for many years since. The band's music incorporated Scot ...

type of lick." In a review of ''One Way Home'',

David Fricke David Fricke is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 years. I ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' described the song as a "powerful pop KO of TV pulpit pounders", with its "core riff" being "a metallic jig figure – sort of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

meets

John Barleycorn "John Barleycorn" is an English and Scottish folk song listed as number 164 in the Roud Folk Song Index. John Barleycorn, the song's protagonist, is a personification of barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it: beer and whisky. ...

– fattened up with iron-fist guitar chords and '' Close Encounters'' synth effects".

Track listing

;7" single #"Satellite" - 3:50 #"One Way Home" - 5:33 ;7" single (US promo) #"Satellite" (LV) - 4:18 #"Satellite" (SV) - 3:50 ;12" and CD single #"Satellite" - 4:18 #"One Way Home" - 5:33 #"All You Zombies" - 5:58

Personnel

The Hooters *

- lead vocals, guitar *

- keyboards, accordion, melodica * Andy King - bass guitar, backing vocals *

John Lilley John Lilley (born March 3, 1954) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, guitar teacher and landscape gardener, best known for being a member of rock band The Hooters. Early life John Lilley learned to play the guitar at nine years old a ...

- guitar *

David Uosikkinen David Uosikkinen (born February 11, 1956) is an American drummer and Internet content manager, best known for being a member of rock band The Hooters. Early life Born in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, U.S., Uosikkinen grew up in Levittown, Penns ...

- drums Production *

- producer * Rob Hyman, Eric Bazilian - co-producers * Dave Thoener, Rod O'Brien,

Phil Nicolo The Butcher Bros. is an American music production team made up of brothers Phil and Joe Nicolo, originally based out of Philadelphia in the mid-to-late '80s. Together and individually, the brothers have produced albums for a wide variety of ban ...

- engineers * Teddy Trewhella, Frank Pekoc, Joe Henehan - assistant engineers *

George Marino George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

- mastering

Charts

References

{{The Hooters 1987 songs 1987 singles American pop rock songs The Hooters songs Columbia Records singles CBS Records singles Parodies of televangelism Satirical songs Songs written by Rob Hyman Songs written by Eric Bazilian Songs written by Rick Chertoff Song recordings produced by Rick Chertoff