The Firm – Radioactive (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1985

“Radioactive” is a song by English rock band The Firm. It was the first single released from their eponymous début album The Firm, where it was the fifth track. It was written by Paul Rodgers.

A compact and straightforward rock song from the 1980s, structured with Tony Franklin’s fretless bass hook at the beginning, combined with Jimmy Page’s guitar scratch on the third line in the verse, Rodgers’ reverbed vocal, and followed by a wah pedal inflected guitar solo. Chris Slade plays a steady drumbeat throughout. On live performances, the song was introduced with a drum solo from Slade, leading into Franklin’s opening bass line. Page utilized his brown 1960s Fender Telecaster guitar featuring a Parsons and White B-string bender on tour with this song.

Their self-titled album, appearing on Atlantic Records, cracked the Billboard Top 20 on the strength of this single. Jimmy Page broke with the past and participated in the recording for the music video and single, the first time he had done both since the late 1960s. Page can be seen miming to the recording with his famous red double-neck 1971 Gibson EDS-1275 guitar. In March 1985, MTV began heavily promoting the video, although the track was a modest seller, reaching #28 in America and topping the Top Rock Tracks chart for one week. “Radioactive” was also released as a 12″ single and limited edition picture disc.

Paul Rodgers still performs this song during his solo sets and it appears on the 2007 Paul Rodgers: Live In Glasgow DVD.

SIDE A:
Radioactive (Special Remix) 5:53

SIDE B:
City Sirens*
Live In Peace* 10:00

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1985 Radioactive U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #28
1985 Radioactive U.S. Billboard Top Rock Tracks #1

 

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Atlantic ‎– A 9586(T)
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK
Released: 1985
Genre: Rock
Style: Classic Rock, Hard Rock

CREDITS:
Producer – Jimmy Page, Paul Rodgers
Written-By – Rodgers*

NOTES:
To preserve the integrity of the original vinyl I left side b as one continuous live track.

“City Sirens” & “Live In Peace” were recorded live at Hammersmith Odeon, London on December 9th, 1984.

“City Sirens” was originally recorded by Jimmy Page on the soundtrack album “Death Wish II”

“Live In Peace” was originally recorded by Paul Rodgers on his solo album “Cut Loose”

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck 
Phono Pre-amp:
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube:
Tung-Sol 12AX7 TubeGold Pins
Soundcard:
Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
Record Cleaning:
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans:
Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2, ocenaudio
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

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negative1
negative1
June 3, 2018 4:10 pm

hi paul, very interesting choice, i thought i was the only one that remembered this song, and had the remix 12 inch. it was a one off for me, and i don’t remember any more tracks from them, and didn’t get the album. thanks for doing the preservation of it, so now i don’t need to rip my own version either. sometimes i feel like it’s my collection, since i find a lot of my items coming up. great job as always, and thanks again for your great choice and selection. maybe i should just send you all my records… Read more »

SyrinxTemple
SyrinxTemple
June 2, 2018 3:16 pm

I have always LOVED this remix. I much prefer it to the album version. Thanks so much for making this available. I still own the vinyl, but it’s nice to have it in digital form.

Al
Al
June 2, 2018 7:36 am

Thanks a lot for this special mix and the two live tracks !

Retro Hound
Retro Hound
June 2, 2018 7:34 am

Thanks DjPaulT!

Denis
Denis
June 1, 2018 5:57 pm

Thank you, Paul!
A good ending to “pop” and “rock” week.
This week for the site debuted: “Roxette”, “Bon Jovi” and “The Firm”.
And also a girl with a male name “Nikita”. :-))))

David
David
June 1, 2018 5:03 pm

Thanks Paul! I like this mix better than the album version.

Grant
Grant
June 1, 2018 4:08 pm

Thanks so much!

CL
CL
June 1, 2018 12:13 pm

🙂 🙂 Thanks again Paul!!!

Jeff
Jeff
June 1, 2018 11:47 am

Where I work, The Firm’s album is played frequently. I’m particularly looking forward to the “Special Remix” too. Thanks Paul for these great records from my past. They’re awesome.

Have a nice weekend and I hope things are going alright at home for Jeremy and his Mom.

Jeff

Eddie
Eddie
June 1, 2018 11:01 am

One of my favorite songs with the Zeppelin influence. (JP) Thank you!