Radioactivity (song)
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2008-05-15T19:09:37Z
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{{Infobox Single <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs -->
| Name = Radioactivity
| Cover =
| Cover size =
| Caption =
| Artist = [[Kraftwerk]]
| from Album = [[Radio-Activity]]
| A-side =
| B-side = "Antenne" <small>(Germany)</small><br>"Antenna" <small>(UK)</small>
| Released = 1976
| Format = 7" single
| Recorded =
| Genre = [[Electronic music]], [[Krautrock]]
| Length = 3:18 <small>(single edit)</small><br>6:44 <small>(album version)</small>
| Label = Kling Klang/EMI <small>1C 006 82119 (Germany)</small><br>Capitol <small>CL15853 (UK)</small>
| Writer = [[Ralf Hütter]], [[Florian Schneider]], [[Emil Schult]]
| Producer = Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider
| Certification =
| Chart position =
| Last single = "[[Comet Melody 2]]"<br>(1975)
| This single = "Radioactivity"<br>(1976)
| Next single = "[[Trans-Europe Express (song)|Trans-Europe Express]]"<br>(1977)
| Misc =
}}
"'''Radioactivity'''" (original German language title: "Radioaktivität") is a song written by [[Ralf Hütter]], [[Florian Schneider]] and [[Emil Schult]], and recorded by [[electronic music|electronic]] band [[Kraftwerk]] as the title track of their 1975 album ''[[Radioactivity (album)|Radio-Activity]]''.
The song was released as a single in most European territories and the US, and was a number one hit in [[France]]. It was re-recorded for ''[[The Mix]]'' album in 1991.
"Radioactivity" has remained a regular part of Kraftwerk's live sets over the years. On its original performances in 1976, the band tried out an experimental light-beam operated "percussion cage", where [[Wolfgang Flür]] attempted to trigger electronic drum sounds by interrupting light beams using arm gestures. This system was temperamental and frequently failed.
The original recording features an insistent [[Minimoog]] bass line (playing [[eighth notes]]), with chords played on the distinctive "choir" disc of the [[Orchestron|Vako Orchestron]]. [[Morse code]] signals are also present.
Lyrically, the 1975 version of the song plays upon the meaning of its title, with the line "Discovered by [[Marie Curie|Madame Curie]]" juxtaposed with "Tune in to the melody". While the original does not offer a value judgement on the safety of radioactivity, the 1991 version drops all references to radio and incorporates additional lyrics with a pointed [[anti-nuclear]] theme, remaking the central lyrical hook as "stop radioactivity" and also referring to "contaminated population" and mentioning by name [[Chernobyl]], [[Three Mile Island|Harrisburg]], [[Sellafield]] and [[Hiroshima]]. The band performed it at the "Stop Sellafield" concert in 1992. It was further remixed, for subsequent single release, by [[William Orbit]] and [[François Kevorkian]].
In 2007 [[Fatboy Slim]] released "[[Radioactivity (Fatboy Slim song)|Radioactivity]]", a single from his compilation album ''[[Late Night Tales: Fatboy Slim]]'', which is a cover of the original Kraftwerk song.
{{Kraftwerk}}
{{1970s-single-stub}}
[[Category:Kraftwerk songs]]
[[Category:1975 singles]]
[[it:Radioactivity]]