Album: Fishbone EP
Year: 1985
This song is really mostly a trifle, but the video had a shout-out to KFSR, so how could I not include it?
Musically, “? (Modern Industry)” doesn’t amount to much more than a weird hybrid of reggae and the new wave that was dominating the radio stations that this song name-checked.
And boy did it name-check a lot of radio stations:
WBRU, KABE, WFLY, Cool 92
KAX, KOKE, KRO
WAMX, yes, wow
KJZ ! The KUSF, check 94, KFRC
So while you could be excused for thinking that it was a cheap ploy to get some airplay on those radio stations — like when Billy Idol did a bunch of versions of “Hot in The City” where he yells the name of a different city in each version. “FRESNO!!”
But while it’s wacky on the surface — the guys in Fishbone intone the radio stations, both real and imaginary, in a plethora of voices ranging from stoned surfer dude to flat-out Mark Mothersbaugh — “? (Modern Industry)” has some points to make about the radio and the role it plays in peoples lives.
These are the voices of modern industry
This is the music that brings us together
These are the buttons that start the emotion
Continue the motion, the motion, the motion…
This is the music behind the machine
These are the voices of modern industry
These are the voices
These are the voices…
So “? (Modern Industry)” kind of gets to have it both ways: the music and voices signify as satire, the words seem sincere. Which is true?
Probably both.
Official Video for “? (Modern Industry)”