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Radioactivity (song)

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"Radioactivity"
Single by Kraftwerk
from the album Radio-Activity
B-side"Antenna"
ReleasedMay 1976 (1976-05)
StudioKling Klang Studio
Genre
Length3:18 (radio edit)
6:42 (album version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Ralf Hütter
  • Florian Schneider
Kraftwerk singles chronology
"Autobahn"
(1975) 		"Radioactivity"
(1976) 		"Trans-Europe Express"
(1977)

"Radioactivity" (German: Radioaktivität) is a song by the German electronic music band Kraftwerk. It was released in May 1976 as the lead and only single from their fifth studio album, Radio-Activity (1975).[1]

The song was a commercial success in France, but was not as successful in other countries as Kraftwerk's previous hit single "Autobahn". The song features an insistent Minimoog bass line with chords played on the distinctive "choir" disc of the Vako Orchestron.[1] It also featured Morse code signal and mentioned Marie Curie in the lyrics.[2][3]

"Radioactivity" is widely regarded as one of Kraftwerk's best songs. In 2020, Billboard and The Guardian ranked the song number five and number two, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Kraftwerk songs.[4][5]

"Radioactivity"
A 22-second sample of the original recording of "Radioactivity" featuring the Morse code signal and one iteration of the main theme of the song.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Charts

Chart (1976) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[6] 21
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[7] 6

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[8] Gold 500,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

1991 re-release

"Radioactivity"
Single by Kraftwerk
from the album The Mix
ReleasedOctober 1991 (1991-10)
GenreSynth-pop
Length6:53
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Ralf Hütter
  • Florian Schneider
Kraftwerk singles chronology
"The Robots"
(1991) 		"Radioactivity"
(1991) 		"Expo 2000"
(1999)

"Radioactivity" was re-issued in 1991 as a single from Kraftwerk's remix album The Mix, featuring remixes by François Kevorkian and William Orbit. The song now has brand-new lyrics compared to the old version, in effect turning it into an anti-nuclear protest song, with references to Harrisburg, Chernobyl, Hiroshima, and Sellafield.[5][9]

On March 11, 2011, an accident occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. Two weeks later, anti-nuclear demonstrations were held calling for the immediate closure of all nuclear power plants. A year later, Kraftwerk performed the song at the No Nukes 2012 event in Japan with Fukushima introduced to the repetitive singing introduced in the 1991 version (switching with Hiroshima). In addition, the song had an entire section sung in Japanese. This version would be included on the 2017 live album 3D The Catalogue.[9]

Track listing

7-inch single

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Radioactivity (François Kevorkian 7" Remix)"4:08
Side two
No.TitleLength
2."Radioactivity (William Orbit 7" Remix)"3:49

12-inch single

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Radioactivity (François Kevorkian Remix)"7:26
2."Radioactivity (LP Version)"6:53
Side two
No.TitleLength
3."Radioactivity (William Orbit Hardcore Mix)"6:13
4."Radioactivity (William Orbit Remix)"7:23

CD single

No.TitleLength
1."Radioactivity (François Kevorkian 7" Remix)"4:10
2."Radioactivity (François Kevorkian 12" Remix)"7:26
3."Radioactivity (William Orbit 12" Remix)"7:24

Cassette single

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Radioactivity (François Kevorkian 7" Remix)" 
2."Radioactivity (William Orbit 7" Remix)" 
Side two
No.TitleLength
3."Radioactivity (François Kevorkian 7" Remix)" 
4."Radioactivity (William Orbit 7" Remix)" 

Charts

Chart (1991) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[10] 43
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[11] 21

The song appeared in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's works Chinese Roulette and Berlin Alexanderplatz,[12] The song, as did other songs from Radio-Activity, appeared in the Brazilian telenovela Saramandaia.[13]

Fatboy Slim covered "Radioactivity" for the closing track of his compilation album Late Night Tales: Fatboy Slim. It featured vocals contributed by a woman from Norman Cook favorite record store.[14] The song was released in October 8, 2007 as a limited edition 7-inch single, and their B-side is "Everything Is Everything" written by Bootsy Collins.

An extended version of this song played appeared in the final episode of American Horror Story: NYC during a surreal sequence where numerous gay men are seen succumbing to the early days of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980's.

References

  1. ^ a b "Kraftwerk Radioactivity - Moog Minimoog Synthesizer & Roland Vocoder VP-330". MATRIXSYNTH. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  2. ^ Pareles, Jon (7 May 2020). "Florian Schneider's 10 Essential Songs, in Kraftwerk and Beyond". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  3. ^ Langlois, André (13 August 2022). "10 ace tunes for this year's All Points East". Hackney Gazette. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  4. ^ Zlatopolsky, Ashley (6 May 2020). "Kraftwerk's 10 Best Songs: Staff Picks". Billboard. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  5. ^ a b Simpson, Dave (7 May 2020). "Kraftwerk: their 30 greatest songs, ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Kraftwerk – Radioactivity" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
  7. ^ "Kraftwerk – Radioactivity" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  8. ^ "French single certifications – Kraftwerk – Radioactivity" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  9. ^ a b "Kraftwerk, the Greens, and Ever-Changing Radioactivity". AICGS. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  11. ^ "Kraftwerk Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard.
  12. ^ "Storia del rock - Kraut-rock - La rinascita della Germania :: Gli Speciali di OndaRock". OndaRock (in Italian). 1 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  13. ^ Schott, Ricardo (15 June 2018). "Aquela visitinha do Kraftwerk a Saramandaia". POP FANTASMA (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  14. ^ John Bush. "LateNightTales - Fatboy Slim". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
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