GMVW # 6: "Biting the Hand That Feeds You"

Gem Music Video of the Week # 6: Biting the Hand That Feeds You

Song:  Radio, Radio by Elvis Costello

(Songwriter: Elvis Costello)

February 14, 2008

When I first saw Elvis Costello in a video, I wasn't sure what to make of him.  The anger fit, but it was pouty.  Then there was that revenge of the nerds look.  I was only a few years out of junior high school.  This was a bit hard to swallow.  Lucky for me I was young and able to get over this first impression.  It was not long before I was:

>  Wearing out the grooves to the "My Aim is True" album

>  Plowing my way to the stage at a scorching hot, open festival seating, Cape Cod Coliseum show (likely shedding 10 pounds in the process)

> Dubbing 'Less than Zero' the theme song during a great road trip with the Canadian crew (Ottawa to Vermont to Franklin to Cape Cod to NY City to Pennsylvania back to Ottawa) ** this was at the same time Dad, Fred & Joe went to Texas to see Flutie and BC in the Cotton Bowl

"Radio, Radio", Gem Music Video of the Week, is likely about the restrictive nature of state-owned BBC Radio in Elvis' home country, England.  It certainly could not have been about stations like 104.1 WBCN in Boston, which at the time was very independent, creative and spontaneous.  The song does relate to what eventually became of WBCN and many other stations around the country, which were bought out by mega-radio conglomerate corporation, Clear Channel.  I never thought Rock and Roll could be neutered.... but it was!  At least on the radio it was.  It may never fully recover, even with the advent of digital radio, which thus far fractures it's audience into format-centric factions.  As far as I'm concerned, the best radio stations out there, though few and far between, remain the small independently owned ones.

Enjoy the great vitriol!

"I want to bite the hand that feeds me

 I want to bite that hand so badly

 I want to make them wish they'd never seen me"

Gem Music Video: Radio, Radio

http://www.spike.com/video-clips/0fp6im/elvis-costello-radio-radio

- Pete

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About the Video: This is the actual made-for MTV style music video of this song (starts out with a miniature Elvis in front of a juke box)

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Best Feedback: Fred

Pete....truly another gem.  I think Elvis was one of the first albums that made me feel as though I was graduating from Beatles and Stones

Have a good one

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Also: Becca

Hey Pete,

Elvis was one of my first two albums ever owned...Jimmy gave them to me for Christmas (My Aim is True and you'll gag to this next one...."Player"). He knew I liked the song Red Shoes but I don't think either one of us had heard any other cuts at that point. I used to sing it at soccer practice in high school and as I recall, nobody on the team had ever heard of Elvis. It's amazing how quickly a musician can take off.

- Bec