"Turn Up the Radio" is a song recorded by American recording artist Madonna for her twelfth studio album, MDNA (2012). It was written by Madonna, Martin Solveig, Michael Tordjman and Jade Williams, and produced by Madonna and Solveig. The song was released as the fourth and final single from the album on June 29, 2012. The single was also released as a digital EP, and included a remix featuring the group Far East Movement. "Turn Up the Radio" is a dance-pop, electropop and Euro house song with a French house-inspired chorus.

"Turn Up the Radio" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Some reviewers believed that the song should have been the lead single from the album. In the United States, the song became Madonna's 43rd number-one hit on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. However, "Turn Up the Radio" had minor placements in other markets, peaking at number 175 on the UK Singles Chart.

An accompanying music video was shot in Italy, and directed by Tom Munro. It shows Madonna escaping the paparazzi on the back of a convertible. She travels throughout the city and the Italian countryside, picking up men from the roadside and having a party on the car. The video received general acclaim from critics, who commended the simplicity of the video and labeled it as Madonna's most fun video in years. The song was included on the setlist of the MDNA Tour where she performed it while playing a guitar.

Background and release

In December 2010, Madonna posted a message on her Facebook page, expressing willingness to record new music. She also stated that she was "on the lookut for the maddest, sickest, most badass people to collaborate with." One of the collaborators was French DJ and producer Martin Solveig, who was invited to a writing session by Madonna in London in July 2011. Originally, Madonna wanted to work with Solveig on one song, but eventually it turned into three tracks—"Give Me All Your Luvin'", "I Don't Give A" and "Turn Up the Radio". In an interview with Billboard, Solveig explained that Madonna had ample amount of time to delve into the project, and after working on one song, they continued recording. Solveig described the sessions as fun and labeled them a "privileged time".

"Turn Up the Radio" was written by Madonna, Solveig, Michael Tordjman and British singer Jade Williams, best known as Sunday Girl. The existence of the song was first reported by a Madonna fan website in December 2011. It was recorded for Solveig's fifth studio album, Smash (2011), featuring lead vocals by Williams. However, the song was shelved in favor of their other collaboration called "Let's Not Play Games". Despite the track not appearing on Solveig's album, he still played the song live.

On April 11, 2012, Madonna's manager Guy Oseary responded to a Madonna fan on Twitter, who was asking for the song to be a single from MDNA. He replied saying the song "is feeling like the next single." The cover art was released on Madonna's official website on July 13, 2012. Before the single was released, Smirnoff released a seven-track digital remix EP titled MDNA: Nightlife Edition Remix EP in the UK to promote the album. It included three remixes of "Turn Up the Radio" by Leo Zero, Richard Vission and Marco V. The mixes by Zero and Vission were also included on the MDNA: Nightlife Edition of the album which was exclusively sold in the U.S. The single remix was released on August 3, 2012 in Australia and New Zealand, and August 5, 2012 in the United Kingdom. The EP included remixes by Offer Nissim, Martin Solveig and R3hab. Madonna also collaborated with group Far East Movement, who featured on the Laidback Luke remix of the single. The song was serviced to contemporary hit radio in the United States by Interscope on September 25, 2012.

Recording and composition

"Turn Up the Radio" was recorded at MSR Studios and Sarm West Studios. It was produced by both Madonna and Solveig, the latter also working on the synth arrangement, the drums and the instrumentation for the song. Tordjman assisted Solveig on the synth arrangement. Demacio "Demo" Castellon, who represented The Demolition Crew group, was responsible for recording and mixing the track. Philippe Weiss and Graham Archer assisted Castellon on the recording, and Angie Teo assisted on the mixing. Lastly Jason "Metal" Donkersgoed did the additional editing of the song. According to Solveig, "Turn Up the Radio" was his first composition which Madonna approved for the album. On the first day of recording, the singer prepared all the things she wanted to change in the song and how she wanted to have the final version. She wanted to change the top lines and the melodies from the demo sung by Williams. During recording, Solveig muted the vocals and just played the instrumentals, then Madonna sang the song. The producer added that among all the songs they recorded, "Turn Up the Radio" was the most characteristic of a Madonna track.

The song begins with a keyboard, then turned into a midtempo, 1980s-inspired dance-pop, electropop and Euro house number. Reminiscent of Solveig's hit single "Hello", the song has a "catchy" hook and French house-inspired chorus, inline with Madonna's 2006 single "Get Together". According to Brad O'Mancey from Popjustice, the music continues to grow after the keyboard introduction and then crashes loudly. John Mitchell from MTV News described that there was a "propulsive" energy in the track that felt "authentic and alive". He added that "the calculated perfectionism" of other club tracks by Madonna might appear to be chilly, but the composition of "Turn Up the Radio" instead was "effervescent" and "happy". According to the sheet music of the song published by Guitar Tabs, "Turn Up the Radio" is set in the time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 127 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of D major with Madonna's vocals ranging from C to A. The song follows a sequence of D–B–Amin–G in the verses and D–G–B–Emin during the chorus.

Lyrically, Madonna pleads the listener to stop for a moment, to get away from the world through music, with the lines going as: "I don't know how I got to this stage / Let me out of my cage cause I'm dying / Turn up the radio, turn up the radio / Don't ask me where I wanna go, we gotta turn up the radio." It also talks about the need to relax as well as the need to have fun. According to NMEs Priya Elan, "the song continues [Madonna's] career-spanning themes of getting into the groove, of uniting the bourgeoisie and rebelling." O'Mancey called it an "escapist anthem" and the ability of the lyrics to leave real life behind and accept freedom.

Critical reception

The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, who believed that it would have been a stronger choice as the lead single from MDNA. In a pre-release screening of MDNA, Matthew Todd from Attitude magazine praised the track, writing: "It may sound trite but there's urgency in its simplicity. It transforms into the album's most pounding moment, reaching a climax that threatens to blow the speakers." Todd added that some listeners might find the track "generic", and the song has characteristic elements of a Madonna release, and would be embraced by fans as a "dancefloor filler that will shake the clubs and would happily find a slot on the next series of Glee." Mitchell called it "a big, anthemic dance-pop wonder with glittery synths and fun lyrics." He also referred to the song as "the best thing [Madonna has] done since 'Hung Up'", and the most "mass accessible" track on MDNA. Enio Chiola from PopMatters found the song to be "complementing" the darker and edgier tracks on MDNA, but concluded that such tracks were few on the album. Chicago Tribune journalist Greg Kot found the song to be the one excelling in the first half of MDNA. Bernard Zuel of The Sydney Morning Herald called it a "compelling piece of hands-in-the-air dance" song, but wished Madonna would have included more of such tracks in MDNA. Michael Cragg from The Guardian appreciated the opening composition of the song, describing it as "a timely breather from the throbbing bass and feels more carefree and instinctive than what has gone before".

Keith Caulfield from Billboard called it one of the best tracks of the album, and wrote that "while the lyrics aren't provocative or necessarily new, it's still a peppy little tune that would sound great "on the radio." Laurence Green from musicOMH, also praised the track, writing that "the song repositions Madonna as the American Queen triumphant with the aid of a properly classic 'Madge melody' that echoes her '80s greats." Nick Levine, writing for The National, praised the composition and its similarity to "Get Together". In another review of the album for BBC News, Levine listed "Turn Up the Radio" as one of the thrilling tracks of MDNA, saying that the drop was like "an open manhole". Robert Copsey from Digital Spy noted that although there were few cliches with the lyrics, the production of the song was strong, and reminiscent of Daft Punk's music. Nitush Abebe from New York magazine called the song as one of the standouts on MDNA, along with "I'm a Sinner" and "I'm Addicted". Genevieve Koski from The A.V. Club felt that the lyrics were lazy and although the song had a "great hook", it is pulled down "by a pile of clichés [of] what could have been one of the album’s strongest tracks."

Slant Magazines Paul Schrodt wrote: "One of MDNA s many disparate attempts at pop relevance, 'Turn Up the Radio' is an innocuous but pleasurable enough anthem. The lyrics, aping 'Music' without the ironic wit, praise the restorative power of blasting tunes on a drive and forgetting your problems. In the end, though, Madonna isn’t able to put a distinctive stamp on the track, succumbing to producer Martin Solveig’s relentless beats and supersized bass". In a review of MDNA, Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph praised the track's dance-friendly nature, but called the lyrics banal. Aidin Vaziri of the San Francisco Chronicle also gave a mixed review, stating, "Madonna might actually be turning reflective...on the head-hammering 'Turn Up the Radio', when she sings, 'It was time I opened my eyes/ I'm leaving the past behind.' Is it about her doomed relationship with Guy Ritchie? Who knows? Who cares?". Matthew Parpetua from Pitchfork criticized Solveig's "unimaginative arrangements". Sian Rowe from NME found the track to be "flat", this view was also shared by Alex Macpherson from Fact magazine. Robert Leedham from Drowned in Sound called the song "mediocre", describing it as "synth-flavoured filler of the garden variety".

Jon Pareles from The New York Times called it shallow, effective club fodder, describing it as containing "blippy stereo-hopping synthesizers and generic title". Writing for the Houston Press, Nathan Smith opined it was "a much nicer, more danceable appropriation of French house by the singer, without a hint of the silly drumline crap and ill-advised rapping of 'Give Me All Your Luvin''". While ranking Madonna's singles in honor of her 60th birthday, Jude Rogers from The Guardian placed the track at number 41, calling it "bright, glossy and fun" and "proof that [Madonna] can still do classically simple pop singles nearly four decades into her career". Similarly, writing for Entertainment Weekly, Chuck Arnold listed "Turn Up the Radio" as the singer's 57th best single. He called it a "perfect intersection between EDM and classic Madonna". Writing for Gay Star News, Joe Morgan called it "the best song [Madonna] has released in the past few years. The production, with its blowing stereos and thrilling beats, is a work of art. In a perfect world, MDNAs output would have had this as the lead single".

Chart performance