Released 12 September 1987 Recorded 1986 | Format 7", 12" Genre Progressive rock | |
B-side "The Tide Is Turning"
"Money" (Live)
"Get Back to Radio (Demo)" Length 4:45 (Album Version)
4:06 (Single Version) | ||
"Sunset Strip" is a song written by Roger Waters for his second studio album, Radio K.A.O.S. It was placed as the fifth track on the record. It was also released as the album's second single, in September 1987.
Background
Billy uses a wheelchair and is thought to be mentally a vegetable. However, Billy is highly intelligent and gifted, and can hear radio waves in his head. He begins to explore the cordless phone, recognizing its similarity to a radio. He experiments with a phone that his brother Benny, now in jail, hid in his wheelchair after vandalizing and robbing a store. and is able to access computers and speech synthesizers, he learns to speak through them. He calls a radio station in Los Angeles named "Radio KAOS" and tells them of his life story. "Sunset Strip" is about Billy's sister-in-law, Molly not being able to cope and sending him to L.A. to live with his uncle Dave.