| "Radio Nowhere" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byBruce Springsteen | ||||
| from the albumMagic | ||||
| Released | August 28, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | March–April 2007 | |||
| Genre | Rock[1] | |||
| Length | 3:20 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bruce Springsteen | |||
| Producer(s) | Brendan O'Brien | |||
| Bruce Springsteen singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| Radio Nowhere on Youtube.com | ||||
"Radio Nowhere" is the first single released fromBruce Springsteen's 2007 studio albumMagic. It was awardedBest Solo Rock Vocal Performance andBest Rock Song at theGrammy Awards of 2008.
The song is an up-tempo,electric guitar-driven,modern rocker that featuresE Street Band membersMax Weinberg on drums,Garry Tallent on bass guitar,Clarence Clemons on saxophone,Steven Van Zandt, Clemons andPatti Scialfa on background vocals, andNils Lofgren on a guitar part underneath Clemons's sax solo.
"Radio Nowhere" was made available as a free, limited-timespan download "exclusively" from theiTunes Store starting on August 28, 2007[2] (although it was also available from Guardian Unlimited[3][4]). The site also offered a pre-order of the new album.Sony BMG created a site, www.radionowheredownload.com, which offered the single for free for Springsteen's fan base in Europe in advance of the commercial release of the album.
Despite heavy promotion, the song was not a chart success in theUnited States. It failed to enter theBillboard Hot 100, although it reached number 2 on theTriple-A chart. The song performed significantly better in European countries, proving most successful inNorway andIreland where it peaked at number 2 in both countries.
"Radio Nowhere" was included on Springsteen's 2009Greatest Hits compilation.
Themusic video for "Radio Nowhere", directed byThom Zimny, was released onAmazon.com on September 4, 2007. It consists mostly of Springsteen and the E Street Band playing the song in a darkened studio, interspersed with filmedManhattan street scenes and a few shots of a recent promotional photograph of Springsteen being torn.
"Radio Nowhere" was the set opener for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's 2007–2008Magic Tour during the first leg. It subsequently shifted to being the second song played, with various other choices ahead of it, but overall it was performed in every show of that tour but one.
On the 2009Working on a Dream Tour, "Radio Nowhere" was the only song fromMagic that was regularly performed. Its position on the setlist was often moved around to match the segment of the concert where 18-year-oldJay Weinberg substituted for his father on drums.
"Radio Nowhere" features a set of guitar riffs and chord progression at the beginning that many fans considered particularly similar to "867-5309/Jenny", written byAlex Call andJim Keller, lead guitarist forTommy Tutone, although the lyrics and the tone of the two songs are quite different.
Tommy Tutone lead singerTommy Heath was quoted as saying: "Everybody's calling me about it,"[5] and that, "I think it's close enough that if I wanted to [take legal action], I could work with it."[5] Heath later clarified that he did not intend to take action and that he felt "really honored at a similarity, if any".[6] Both songs were released onColumbia Records.
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Hot 100 (Billboard)[7] | 55 |
| Germany (Media Control Charts)[8] | 90 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[9] | 24 |
| Italy (Top Digital Download) | 25 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[10] | 2 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[11] | 60 |
| Switzerland (Singles Chart)[12] | 87 |
| UK Singles Chart[13] | 96 |
| USBubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[14] | 2 |
| USTriple A (Billboard)[15] | 2 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[16] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
