"Guerrilla Radio" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Rage Against the Machine | ||||
from the album The Battle of Los Angeles | ||||
Released | October 12, 1999 | |||
Recorded | September 1, 1998 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:26 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Brendan O'Brien | |||
Rage Against the Machine singles chronology | ||||
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Limited Edition Part 2 (UK) | ||||
"Guerrilla Radio" is a song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine and the lead single from their 1999 album The Battle of Los Angeles . It became the band's only Billboard Hot 100 song, charting at #69. The band won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance 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 , Madden NFL 10 and Guitar Hero Live , as well as being a downloadable track for the Rock Band series.
"Guerrilla Radio" was performed live on the Late Show with David Letterman 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 giving the middle finger on live TV and wearing a "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal" T-shirt.
On January 28, 2000, documentary film maker Michael Moore convinced campaigning politician Alan Keyes to mosh in a truck with young teenagers listening to "Guerrilla Radio". Keyes, who was campaigning for the Republican nomination at the Iowa caucuses, agreed to join in the mosh for the endorsement of Moore's satirical television show, The Awful Truth . [1]
The song was covered by lounge/comedy group Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine, whose band name also spoofs Rage. In April 2007, Alanis Morissette covered it live. [2]
In July 2007, the song's video for "Guerrilla Radio" was ranked #45 on MuchMusic's 50 Most Controversial Videos for extreme amounts of profanity. However,, it appeared in RTPNadverts 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 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, Guerrilla 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 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 , and returned to the soundtrack when the re-mastered Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 was released in 2020. In Japan, Fuji Television used it as the theme song for its broadcasts of Pride Fighting Championships.
The promo was shot by production company Squeak Pictures in Los Angeles 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. [3] 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 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.
Chart (1999–2000) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [4] | 57 |
Norway (VG-lista) [5] | 17 |
Scotland (OCC) [6] | 23 |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [7] | 9 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [8] | 42 |
UK Singles (OCC) [9] | 32 |
UK Rock & Metal (OCC) [10] | 1 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [11] | 69 |
US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [12] | 6 |
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [13] | 11 |
Chart (2001) | Position |
---|---|
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan) [14] | 177 |
Chart | Position |
---|---|
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan) [15] | 185 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [16] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. She is known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting. Morissette began her music career in Canada in the early 1990s with two dance-pop albums. In 1995, she released Jagged Little Pill, an alternative rock-oriented album with elements of post-grunge. This album sold more than 33 million copies globally, propelling her to become a cultural phenomenon. It earned her the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1996 and was adapted into a rock musical of the same name in 2017. The musical earned fifteen Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical. Additionally, the album was listed in Rolling Stone's 2003 and 2020 editions of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" guide. The lead single, "You Oughta Know", was also included at #103 in their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Jagged Little Pill is the third studio album by Canadian-American singer Alanis Morissette, released on June 13, 1995, through Maverick and her first album to be released worldwide. It marked a stylistic departure from the dance-pop sound of her first two albums, Alanis (1991) and Now Is the Time (1992). Morissette began work on the album after moving from her hometown Ottawa to Los Angeles, where she met producer Glen Ballard. Morissette and Ballard had an instant connection and began co-writing and experimenting with sounds. The experimentation resulted in an alternative rock album that takes influence from post-grunge and pop rock, and features guitars, keyboards, drum machines, and harmonica. The lyrics touch upon themes of aggression and unsuccessful relationships, while Ballard introduced a pop sensibility to Morissette's angst. The title of the album is taken from a line in the first verse of the song "You Learn".
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"You Oughta Know" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, released as the lead single from her third studio album, Jagged Little Pill (1995), on July 6, 1995. After releasing two studio albums, Morissette left MCA Records Canada and was introduced to manager Scott Welch. Morissette began working on new music after moving from her hometown of Ottawa to Toronto, but made little progress. In Los Angeles, she met producer Glen Ballard, with whom she wrote songs including "You Oughta Know".
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"You Learn" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette from her third studio album, Jagged Little Pill (1995). It was written by Morissette and Glen Ballard, the album's producer. Maverick and Warner Bros. Records released the song as the album's fourth single. The lyrics state that valuable lessons are learned from poor decisions. The album title is taken from this song's line "Swallow it down ".
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The discography of Rage Against the Machine, an American rock band, consists of four studio albums, two live albums, one compilation album, one demo album, 17 singles, four video albums and 15 music videos. Formed in Los Angeles, California in 1991 by vocalist Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk, the band signed to Epic Records and released its self-titled debut album in 1992. The album reached number 45 on the United States Billboard 200 and was certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of three million units. Rage Against the Machine singles "Killing in the Name", "Bullet in the Head" and "Bombtrack" charted in the United Kingdom and several other regions.
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