| "Happy Idiot" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by TV on the Radio | ||||
| from the album Seeds | ||||
| Released | September 2, 2014 | |||
| Studio | Sonic Ranch | |||
| Length | 3:03 | |||
| Label | Harvest | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Daniel Ledinsky, Erik Hassle | |||
| Producer(s) | Dave Sitek | |||
| TV on the Radio singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Happy Idiot" is the first single from American indie rock band TV on the Radio's fifth studio album Seeds .
TV on the Radio's lead singer Tunde Adebimpe clarified to Music Feeds that Happy Idiot's lyrics were about distancing from the shock of an event and placing oneself in danger. [1]
In an interview with Rolling Stone, guitarist Dave Sitek explained the step by step process of "Happy Idiot". Sitek started creating the song at Sonic Ranch by arranging the musical instruments. After songwriters Daniel Ledinsky and Erik Hassle created the melody, the rest of TV on the Radio added their contributions to complete the song. [2]
Critics both praised and panned the music style in "Happy Idiot". Slate Magazine likened the song's new wave style to a combination of The Police and Joy Division. [3] However, Beat Magazine opined that the usage of hi-hats did not add anything to "Happy Idiot", and called the song "nothing more, nothing less, nothing revelatory", [4] while Spin Magazine called the song "a typically straining post-punk exercise". [5]
On October 3, 2014, TV on the Radio released a music video for "Happy Idiot" referencing Speed Racer. In the music video directed by Danny Jelinek, Paul Reubens plays a racecar driver that is hallucinating about a girl played by Karen Gillan. [6]
In a statement by Tunde Adebimpe, Adebimpe said that he came up with the idea for the music video and approached Funny or Die, who accepted the idea. He also highlighted that Paul Reubens was a big influence on him, and that he was excited to work with Karen Gillan. [7]
| Chart (2014–2015) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders) [8] | 89 |
| Canada Rock ( Billboard ) [9] | 49 |
| Iceland (RÚV) [10] | 17 |
| Mexico Ingles Airplay ( Billboard ) [11] | 41 |
| US Adult Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [12] | 20 |
| US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [13] | 27 |
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [14] | 42 |
| US Rock Airplay ( Billboard ) [15] | 42 |
Paul Reubens is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children's entertainer. He is known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s, and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor. In 1982, Reubens began appearing in a show about a character he had been developing for years. The show was called The Pee-wee Herman Show, and ran for five sold-out months; HBO also produced a successful special about it. Pee-wee became an instant cult figure and, for the next decade, Reubens was completely committed to his character, doing all of his public appearances and interviews as Pee-wee. His feature film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), directed by Tim Burton, was a financial and critical success, and soon developed into a cult film. Its sequel, Big Top Pee-wee (1988), was less successful. Between 1986 and 1990, Reubens starred as Pee-wee in the CBS Saturday-morning children's program Pee-wee's Playhouse.
Alternative Airplay is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played songs on alternative and modern rock radio stations. Introduced as Modern Rock Tracks, the chart served as a companion to the Mainstream Rock chart, and its creation was prompted by the explosion of alternative music on American radio in the late 1980s. During the first several years of the chart, it regularly featured music that did not receive commercial radio airplay anywhere but on a few modern rock and college rock radio stations. This included many electronic and post-punk artists. Gradually, as alternative rock became more mainstream, alternative and mainstream rock radio stations began playing many of the same songs. By the late 2000s, the genres became more fully differentiated with only limited crossover. The Alternative Airplay chart features more alternative rock, indie pop, and pop punk artists while the Mainstream Rock chart leans towards more guitar-tinged blues rock, hard rock, and heavy metal.
Karen Lee Orzolek is a South Korean-born American singer, musician, and songwriter. She is the lead vocalist for the indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
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David Andrew Sitek is an American musician and record producer, known for his work with his band TV on the Radio. He has also worked with bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Foals, Celebration, Little Dragon, Beady Eye, and Weezer, and produced free jazz-influenced remixes of songs by artists such as Beck and Nine Inch Nails, and has contributed a solo track to the Red Hot Organization Dark Was the Night charity compilation. He is also a photographer and painter.
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This article contains a comprehensive discography of the American rock band TV on the Radio.
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