"Turn Up the Radio" is a song by American

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam r ...

band

Autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...

. Released as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from the band's 1984 debut album, '' Sign In Please,'' the song peaked at number 29 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 ...

on March 16, 1985 and number 17 on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

on January 26, 1985. The song also received a significant amount of

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

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 ...

. Due to the song being the band's only major hit, Autograph is often recognized as a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

. The unexpected success of the single boosted the sales for its parent album, with the album being certified gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on April 1, 1985.

Background

Lead guitarist Steve Lynch described "Turn Up the Radio" as "a last minute song that RCA didn't even want on the album because they thought it had no commercial value." However, the band firmly insisted and were granted its inclusion. According to Lynch, Autograph didn't expect great commercial success for the song or the band in general because of their disillusionment with the music industry.Autograph Guitarist / Guitar Teacher Steve Lynch
FullinBloom.com. Retrieved on 7-01-11. Lynch also reflected that, although the song was never a personal favorite, he always appreciated its strong

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, commercial appeal, and "lyrics that were right for the times." A demo version of the song appears on the band's "odds and ends" collection entitled '' Missing Pieces'' (and its reissue '' More Missing Pieces'') wherein it has a slightly different chorus. The demo version, along with the song's "alternate electric" and "acoustic" versions, also appears on the band's ''The Anthology'' album which is a merge of the three albums ''Missing Pieces'', ''More Missing Pieces'', and ''Buzz''.

Music video

The song's music video gained significant airplay in the early days of MTV. Set in a 1980s technological future, the video opens with the band walking into a theater hall through an automated door. A

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-like cyborg figure points, saying "sign in please", a direct reference to the album on which the song appears. In a blatant instance of

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...

, a ray of light reveals a

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Sharpwriter

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, which had been released earlier that year. Using the pencil, the band members provide their signatures next to their names (listed along with their respective musical instruments) on a paper during which the pencil's name is prominently featured. Drummer Keni Richards first writes an X, which sets off an error alarm; he then erases the X, provides a proper signature (not shown), and sticks the pencil in his hair. As the cyborg illuminates the stage lights and reflects them, the band is then seen performing the song to a crowd. In the final chorus, Autograph boards a

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a prof ...

resembling a

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by its gull-wing doors wherein lead vocalist Steve Plunkett throws the pencil to one of the female fans before leaving. As all the band members are aboard, the limousine's doors are closed by the cyborg, which then proceeds to drive them out of the venue. The video ends with a shot of the cyborg's head. The product placement was the band's manager's idea: she thought that the band's name and the album title ''Sign In Please'' presented a natural opportunity for a promotional deal with a pen-and-pencil company. In exchange for the prominent appearance of the pencil, the company helped fund the video — which was the band's first, and "a much more expensive video than the average new band" according to Plunkett — and also provided other financial support. As of 2023, the music video currently has over 21 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Personnel

Autograph

* Steve Plunkett - lead vocals, rhythm guitar * Steve Lynch - lead guitar * Steve Isham - keyboards * Randy Rand - bass * Keni Richards - drums

Reception and legacy

The song was ranked No. 93 on VH1's Top 100 Hard Rock Songs and was named an AMG Track Pick by

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. In 1985, ''Guitar Player'' magazine awarded Steve Lynch "Guitar Solo of the Year" for his work on "Turn Up the Radio." The song's video was placed on New York Times list of the 15 Essential Hair-Metal Videos. The song is featured in the soundtrack of the 2002 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' on the game's fictional VRock radio station. The song plays during the fight with Konstantin Brayko in 2010 video game ''

Alpha Protocol ''Alpha Protocol'' is a 2010 action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Sega. The player assumes control of agent Michael Thorton, a new recruit at a clandestine United States agency called Alpha Protocol, whic ...

''. The song is included in the soundtrack of 2021 video game ''

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''. The song was featured in the opening credits of the movie ''

Hot Tub Time Machine ''Hot Tub Time Machine'' is a 2010 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Steve Pink and starring John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Crispin Glover, Lizzy Caplan, and Chevy Chase. The film was released on March 26, ...

'' which has become a cult classic and consequently gave the song a second life.

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turn Up The Radio 1984 debut singles Songs about radio Autograph (American band) songs 1984 songs RCA Records singles Songs about rock music