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Radioactive (The Firm song)

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Wikipedia article




'"Radioactive"' is a song by English rock band The Firm. It was the first single released from their eponymous debut album 'The Firm', where it was the fifth track. It was written by Paul Rodgers. Rodgers still performs this song during his solo sets and it appears on the 2007 'Paul Rodgers: Live In Glasgow' DVD.

Background



A compact and straightforward rock song from the 1980s, structured with Tony Franklin's fretless bass hook at the beginning, combined with Jimmy Page's guitar scratch on the third line in the verse, Rodgers' reverbed vocal, and followed by a wah pedal inflected guitar solo. Chris Slade plays a steady drum beat throughout. On live performances, the song was introduced with a drum solo from Slade, leading into Franklin's opening bass line. Page utilized his brown 1960s Fender Telecaster guitar featuring a Parsons and White B-string bender on tour with this song.

Their self-titled album, appearing on Atlantic Records, cracked the 'Billboard' Top 20 on the strength of this single. Jimmy Page broke with the past and participated in the recording for the music video and single, the first time he had done both since the late 1960s. Page can be seen miming to the recording with his famous red doubleneck 1971 Gibson EDS-1275 guitar. In March 1985, MTV began heavily promoting the video, although the track was a modest seller, reaching #28 in America and topping the Top Rock Tracks chart for one week. "Radioactive" was also released as a 12" single and limited edition picture disc.

Formats and track listings





'1985 7" single' (US: Atlantic 7-89586, UK: Atlantic A-9586)

*A. "Radioactive" (Rodgers) 2:49

*B. "Together" (Page, Rodgers) 3:54

'1985 12" special mix edition' (US: Atlantic 86896, UK: Atlantic A-9586T)

*A. "Radioactive (Special Mix)" (Rodgers) 5:52

*B1. "City Sirens (Live)" (Page, Edwards) 4:27

*B2. "Live in Peace (Live)" (Rodgers) 5:10

'1985 12" single' (UK: Atlantic A-9586TE)

*A1. "Radioactive" (Rodgers) 2:49

*A2. "Together" (Page, Rodgers) 3:54

*B1. "City Sirens (Live)" (Page, Edwards) 2:01

*B2. "Live in Peace (Live)" (Rodgers) 5:05

'1986 7" single reissue' (US: Atlantic Oldies Series 7-84966)

*A. "Radioactive" (Rodgers) 2:49

*B. "All the King's Horses" (Rodgers) 3:16

Chart positions



{|class="wikitable sortable"

!Chart (1985)

!align="center"|Peak
position

|-

| Canadian 'RPM' Top 100

|align="center"|75

|-

| UK Singles Chart

|align="center"|76

|-

| US 'Billboard' Hot 100

|align="center"|28

|-

| US 'Billboard' Top Rock Tracks

|align="center"|1

|-

| US 'Radio & Records' Top 40 Singles

|align="center"|27

|-

| US 'Cash Box' Top 100 Singles

|align="center"|28

|-

|}

Personnel



*Paul Rodgers lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, production

*Jimmy Page acoustic and electric guitars, production

*Tony Franklin bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals

*Chris Slade drums and percussion

See also



*List of 'Billboard' Mainstream Rock number-one songs of the 1980s

References



Category:1985 debut singles

Category:1985 songs

Category:Atlantic Records singles

Category:The Firm (rock band) songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Jimmy Page

Category:Songs written by Paul Rodgers

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