In the past, I have taken some shots at the songwriting ability of Roger Taylor, mainly because of his bad solo albums, but also because his songs never quite seemed to mesh with the other Queen songs, topic-wise. In the middle of what seems to be an album inspired solely by fantasy novels, there's a song about leaving home. (Seriously, why is The Loser In The End on Queen II? It wouldn't be Queen II without it, but it's the only song on the album without whimsy. There are no queens, kings, fairies, and not one single ogre. Did he have to fill some sort of reality quota for the band? Why is it on there?) But Queen made it work.
Most of his songs are like that, just random oddities that only fit in because of the combined talents of the band. Some of his stuff is just wonderful, like Tenement Funster and Drowse, and then there are the ones I am not so crazy about, like Fun It and Sheer Heart Attack. (I know, I know. Sheer Heart Attack rocks and I should love it and hug it and call it George. But I just can't. I have it filed in the, "I like it okay," category.)
And then there is Radio Ga Ga.
Radio Ga Ga is the biggest Queen single ever written by Roger, but people like to brush it off. What? Why? Because Roger got the idea when his three year old made a comment about "radio poo poo"? So what! Radio Ga Ga is just as important as any another Queen single! It may rank second only to Bohemian Rhapsody as far as Queen singles go. I'm not saying it is the second best, I am saying it is the second most important, because it proved just how big Queen was.
Radio Ga Ga is not perfect by any means. The main problem is the fact that it is very keyboard heavy, and there is not much room for Brian May to work his magic. The spots that he does occupy are, of course, wonderful, but there just aren't that many of them in Radio Ga Ga. There is also that synth-drum sound that doesn't rock so hard, but that's okay too. There are other things going on that make the song special.
Radio Ga Ga on its own is a great song. The lyrics are good, Freddie's vocals are spot-on crystal clear, and the vocal melody is flawless. The chorus is catchy (although not Clapper friendly) and fun to sing.
Radio Ga Ga with the video gets a little better. For a portion of the video, the members of Queen are in some sort of Jetsons-type vehicle, flying about a futuristic city. Roger is driving (flying, whatever) and Freddie is the navigator, while John and Brian are the curly haired passengers. All Freddie has to do is point, and Roger drops into a turn. Teamwork! I don't know where they are going. They could just be on a futuristic joy ride, I couldn't tell you for sure. Maybe they are traveling to the second half of the video, where they finish up the song by standing in front of a crowd, wearing ugly futuristic (eighties-style) outfits while leading the crowd in the fists-in-the-air/clap-clap combo that is easily the most memorable part of the video.
However, Radio Ga Ga at Live Aid is the very best of all. If you can watch that footage without getting goosebumps, well sir or madam, I have nothing more to say to you. It is widely accepted that Queen was the best band at Live Aid, (ask Bob Geldof, he'll agree!) and I think that Radio Ga Ga is the reason for the success. Sure, no one knew how to connect with a crowd like Queen, and they did play the mega-hits, and but please give Radio Ga Ga the credit it deserves.
Answer me this: Is there anything more breathtaking than seeing an entire sold-out stadium doing the fists-in-the-air/clap-clap combo from the video? Wembley contained 72,000 people who all knew the drill. That day, Queen brought the concept of crowd participation to an astonishing new level, all thanks to Radio Ga Ga.
It's not the best song that Roger ever wrote, and it's not the best song that Queen ever recorded, but that doesn't really matter. The Live Aid clip proves that Queen was an unparalleled live act and far more influential than they are credited for, and it's all thanks to Roger. When Roger Taylor writes a hit, he does it up right. In fact, Radio Ga Ga is so good you can even forgive Roger for writing Don't Lose Your Head.