Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me) - Reunion (1974) 8/11/22

In the early '70s, songwriters Paul DiFranco and Norman Dolph put together a group called Reunion which had ZERO success...until they called in Joey Levine in 1974.

Joey had been the singer/songwriter responsible for a number of late '60s bubblegum classics, including "Chewy Chewy" and "Yummy Yummy Yummy."

Paul and Norman showed Joey a song they'd been working on called "Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)," and Joey immediately saw the lyrical possibilities.

He jotted down the names of dozens of songs, artists, disc jockeys, record labels, record producers, and even dance crazes...arranged them in a somewhat random order that rhymed (sort of)...and without rehearsing, rattled them off over the music track. (He felt rehearsing would take away from the fun.)

A chorus was added extolling the virtues of listening to your favorite radio station... and near the end of the song, they added a few bars from several classic '60s tunes.

The result of this weird mix...was a "Great Song of 1974," and pretty much the last true bubblegum song to make the Top 10. In fact, it reached #2 in Canada and #8 on Billboard's Hot 100.

Radio listeners would repeatedly request the song in an effort to catch all the references...and even DJs (like myself) would try to memorize the list in order.

Personally, I got about halfway through before I gave up, but I can still recite the opening section from memory today!

Several major market radio stations made custom versions of the song, adding local references--including the names of their DJ's...and in 1983, singer/actress Tracy Ullman recorded a cover version. Be sure to check all three links below!

"Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)" by Reunion, featuring Joey Levine: a "Great--and Fun--Song of 1974!"

Tracy Ullman (1983):

WCFL Radio (Chicago) version: