On the radio, the radio

July 18, 2007 4:14 PM

Looking for a song with the refrain, "On the raa-dee-oh, the raa-de-oh."

I know very little about this song. The refrain is a chorus of women's voices, two or three, heavily Autotuned; the last line of the chorus ends "on the radio, the radio." I can't recall where I heard it, but it stuck in my head like an earworm.

If you've ever heard the female part in Morningwood's "Nth Degree" it sounds just like that bubblegum pop sound - could've been produced by the same engineer.

They actually sing "on the radio" in that song. However, in that song each syllable of "radio" is an eighth note; in the song I'm thinking of the first syllable is stretched into a quarter note, the word "radio" is repeated once, and this ends the refrain.

Google lyrics searches have been useful to rule out Nelly Furtado, Regina Spektor, and Donna Summers; I listened to all three of those songs and none are it. I couldn't find a copy of Martine McCutcheon's cover of the Donna Summer tune but I can't imagine it's what I'm thinking of. I'm not actually 100% certain it's not a different Morningwood song, but since all the Morningwood songs I've ever heard are on my iTunes, and none of them are it, it seems doubtful.

posted by ikkyu2 to media & arts (23 comments total)

It's by a band called Selecter. The name of the song is "On the Radio"
posted by vacapinta at 4:17 PM on July 18, 2007

Oh, re-reading your question, I could be wrong. Here's a Youtube video of the song I mentioned.
posted by vacapinta at 4:22 PM on July 18, 2007

The New Pornographers. "Mass Romantic." Youtube here.
posted by keef at 4:27 PM on July 18, 2007

That's not it, vacapinta! But it's entertaining.
posted by ikkyu2 at 4:28 PM on July 18, 2007

Nicely done, keef. Thank you!
posted by ikkyu2 at 4:29 PM on July 18, 2007

Oh boy, it's on a mix CD occhiblu made for me. I'm in trouble now.
posted by ikkyu2 at 4:30 PM on July 18, 2007

And you heard it on a mix I made for you!
posted by occhiblu at 4:30 PM on July 18, 2007

Jinx.
posted by occhiblu at 4:30 PM on July 18, 2007

Martine. It's what I first thought of.
posted by fire&wings at 4:31 PM on July 18, 2007

Thanks, fire&wings, I haven't scrubbed my eyeballs with steel wool for a good long while. Now I have an excuse.
posted by ikkyu2 at 4:45 PM on July 18, 2007

I thought of Donna Summer but maybe you're thinking of something more recent...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7-qMrJ0Kn8
posted by MiffyCLB at 4:53 PM on July 18, 2007

If that's The New Pornographers, I doubt it's autotuned.
posted by Tuwa at 5:24 PM on July 18, 2007

For any future Askers, Pitty Sing also did a song with "on the radio" in the chorus. It's called Radio.
posted by Aloysius Bear at 5:31 PM on July 18, 2007

Hah, Aloysuis, I was just listening to Pitty Sing's "Radio" to see if it might fit the bill.
posted by schoolgirl report at 5:56 PM on July 18, 2007

Since the question's been answered, I'll just throw in there that I was gonna volunteer "AM Radio" (which has a profoundly disturbing music video).
posted by WCityMike at 6:09 PM on July 18, 2007

Yeah, the New Pornographers' vocals are sometimes overdubbed, but I really doubt they're autotuned. They just can sing.
posted by Sterling Hoyt at 6:49 PM on July 18, 2007

When I think about Jackie Wilson or the Platters and then I think about modern, Top 40 music that's really horrible, it makes me mad.
*Loves Nikko Case more than ever.*
posted by kirkaracha at 8:16 PM on July 18, 2007

Can't spell her name right, though. I blame beer.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:17 PM on July 18, 2007

ikkyu2 obviously already has it, but for anyone else who's interested, there's an MP3 on their record company's website here. As for that production technique on the vocals, the term you're looking for is "multitracked".
posted by jjg at 9:30 PM on July 18, 2007

It doesn't sound autotuned to me. I was conflating my memory of it with the Morningwood song, which is definitely autotuned.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:45 PM on July 18, 2007

That's Neko Case singing with the pornos. She sure as hell doesn't autotune. Check out some of her solo stuff, she's great.
posted by PercussivePaul at 11:34 PM on July 18, 2007

oh wow, I was at that show in the youtube video! and Neko Case had been replaced by some other girl (Kathryn Calder), because she'd split off go to tour her solo album. Neko's on the original recording, though.
posted by PercussivePaul at 11:38 PM on July 18, 2007

Neko Case was always listed as being a guest on the New Pornographers albums, I believe. She's got her own (amazing career) and does these albums with the New Pornographers for kicks. Awesome kicks. They've got Kathryn now so that they can actually tour. Plus she's sounds a lot like Neko.

It would be a sin to autotune Neko Case. She just sounds like that all the time. Amazing voice. Check out her latest album "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood".
posted by Jupiter Jones at 9:08 AM on July 19, 2007