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Song · The Ramones

“We Want The Airwaves” by The Ramones

From the album Pleasant Dreams (1981)

“We Want The Airwaves” by The Ramones appears on 19 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1981 and 2021. It was first released in 1981 on the album Pleasant Dreams. Its best result is #9 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #9 alternative song of 1981 and #1,246 alternative song of all time.

19countdowns

4stations

#9best position

0#1 finishes

1top 10 finishes

1981–2021years charted

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Ramones - We Want The Airwaves (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (Ramones). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

Joey Ramone wrote and sang "We Want the Airwaves", and on the Ramones' 1981 album Pleasant Dreams it comes out swinging, with a title that doubles as a picket sign. Johnny Ramone's guitar buzzes, Dee Dee Ramone's bass pumps and Marky Ramone keeps the drums at a gallop, but there's gloss on it too.

Graham Gouldman produced it, and he stacked the backing vocals himself alongside Russell Mael, Ian Wilson and the band, with Dick Emerson adding keyboards and Dave Hassell percussion. It's the Ramones with a radio-ready shine, still snarling underneath.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

#998 of the '80s

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1981	9	KROQ Los Angeles, CA	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981	106

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1988	391	KROQ	KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988)	496
1999	1321	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	1321	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	1324	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	1323	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2002	418	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)	2002
2003	1308	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2003	217	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)	2044
2004	1308	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	1308	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2007	1229	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	1166	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	1134	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2010	1015	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	990	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	1003	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	1029	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2021	605	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s	909

Also listed as: We Want the Airwaves.

Charting alongside it in 1981

Best songs of 1981 →

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