Released April 25, 2012 Length 3:19 | Recorded 2011-2012 | |
B-side "That's Why God Made the Radio" (Instrumental) Format Digital download, 7" vinyl Genre Baroque pop, sunshine pop | ||
"That's Why God Made the Radio" is a song written by Joe Thomas, Brian Wilson, Jim Peterik, and Larry Millas for the American rock band The Beach Boys. It was the first new single from the band in 20 years and was included on the band's 29th studio album, That's Why God Made the Radio. The album was recorded to coincide with the band's 50th anniversary, which featured a reunion tour of the surviving co-founders. According to the song's co-writer Peterik:
Contents
[Brian and I] were at an Italian restaurant and we were talking about radio and how great songs used to sound through the AM radio coming through your oval speaker on your Plymouth Valiant and I said, "Man, that was the best sound of all," and Brian said, "Yeah, that's why God made the radio." Of course, I wrote that down. He didn't realize how brilliant it was, or maybe he did, but that's when we wrote that song.
Commercial performance
"That's Why God Made the Radio" made its national radio debut April 25, 2012 on ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning. It was released to the bands YouTube channel later that same day, with accompanying lyrics. In addition, the song has been released and is now available as a single in digital outlets such as iTunes and Amazon.
Reception
Rolling Stone named the song the 30th best song of 2012.