This is one of my mom’s favourite songs so I’ve been listening to it throughout my whole life. However, I now have a new perspective on this song because a few years ago I went to school with a girl named Angela but she was known as “Angie” and she developed schizoaffective disorder which is like a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar. Sadly, she had to quit school and lost a lot of her friends. Also, due to her mental illnesses, she developed a severe phobia of leaving her house and spent her days in her room just watching TV and listening to music. As much as I still like this song, it always also scares me and sends chills down my spine since I know a real person whose real life story really aligns with these lyrics!
I'm 58 but never heard this until a few moments ago while listening to an old Art Bell broadcast. This was a bumper song. I recognized it as Helen Reddy but wanted to be sure. I looked here and found it. Sure enough, it was her. Never saw her with long hair before. I like it. The lyrics are wild. And I've got a new favorite for a few days.
Wow it is so real it brings tears to my eyes after hearing it again after so many years ago.It reminds me of a close family member to a tee.Helen Reddy is a true bard.
I remember hearing this as a kid, and never paying attention to the lyrics. I listened to it today for the fiirst time in decades, and damn, what a sinister tune ! Great eerie lyrics that could only have come about in the 70's.
I had almost forgotten about this song. I was about 9 years old when it was getting radio airplay. My interpretation: Angie isn't crazy but she does have paranormal talents. She also lives in her own head because that's the way she was and combined with her talents made it difficult for her to fit in. So boy comes visiting and she's in danger but she turns the situation around. Instead of him taking advantage of her, she places him in her favorite medium, the radio. I don't even think she realizes she's doing it - perhaps she's not smart enough to grasp the difference between the "real" world and the one she created. At a more abstract level, it's about women who won't let themselves be submissive, won't let themselves be overcome, as is often expected. You see, Angie didn't think like the rest of the world. So instead of doing what was expected, she did what was best for her.
Kathryn Haught I just heard this song in the grocery store today. I was a bit too young to understand the song when it came out originally. The words are creepy. I haven’t heard this song in decades.
Kathryn, I like your take. She has paranormal abilities. As she turned the volume down, he got smaller with the sound! Maybe the writer had just seen the Twilight Zone episode with the kid who 's mind was so powerful, his thoughts manifested physically. Thanks! I knew there was a reason I was drawn to play it tonight. Creepy yet insightful, good job! I was 13. P.S. Daddy says "Tell the radio goodnight", like maybe somebody, like Mom, was already in there. Ooooo!
Wow Kathryn, I like this. I loved this song back in the day and there are some good suggestions here about the song leading to paranormal activity! GOD BLESS!!! (just saw where Ms.Helen passed.)
I look at radios with a bit of suspicion now.......... From the eerie musical intro to the mystical lyrics, this song mesmerizes me and gives me goose bumps at the same time.
This song came out when I was just starting high school and I think for all young teenage girls, the need to not feel awkward and be accepted by your peers and the opposite sex is a complicated issue most teenagers had to deal with. With a song like this or even a movie like "Carrie" by Steven King, it was like a warning to never underestimate the weird, awkwardly quiet, shy girl. Whether you were among the popular crowd or a loner, songs in those days, seemed the only thing you could relate to. It was also a means of escaping the realities of the world.....even for a few brief minutes.
I used to work at a fast food restaurant that had a jukebox, and this song was on it. I played it over and over again! Kind of a strange song, but I love it!
Ive listened to this song a thousand Times im 65 i REALLY never appreciated what a really good song this is the lyrics are really fk good you learn something new every day no matter your age
Always liked the song because of Helen Reddy's delivery....never paid attention to the lyrics until now.....a bit strange....even back then....wow.....erie story telling at it best!
I agree, but I thought it was very clean compared to what she meant. If you have ever been through this kind of situation over and over again. I think you might see that really dark side. :/ .
@@lilnip67 It seems possible that -- poor 'Angie' (along with the 'boy next door') -- suffered from Mind-Fragmentation -- caused by the Ritualistic-Abuse that she (and he) experienced as another tragic 'MKULTRA'-Victim. .
@@lilnip67 the way I see it, it’s a reference to the fact that some guys, if they are perverted an predatory by nature, will deliberately try to take advantage of girls or women that appear to be mentally handicapped in some way.
First of all, R.I.P Helen Reddy. Wow such an amazing vocal talented lady. You stood up for us ladies and I for one salute you. Your songs have touched my heart and I'm 50yrs old now and only just learned to appreciate fine true music. God bless you and your family.
I hadn't heard this since probably since it was out but still remembered it. Had to listen again. I was around 15 or so when this out on the radio & im 66 now. Just another random early 70's song i remembered & wanted to hear Seems i remember her having a variety show for a little while not long after her big hit "I am Woman"
Helen Reddy, the Australian singer whose hits included the 1972 chart-topping feminist anthem “I Am Woman”, passed away on September 29th, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA. She was 78 years old... Between 1971 and 1981 the Melbourne, Australian native had twenty-one records make the Top 100 chart, six made the Top 10 with half of them reaching #1, "I Am Woman" for 1 week in 1972, "Delta Dawn" for 1 week in 1973, and "Angie Baby" for 1 week in 1974... Besides her three #1 records, her three other Top 10 records were "Leave My Alone (Ruby Red Dress)" {#3 in 1973}, "You and Me Against the World" {#9 in 1974}, and "Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady" {#8 in 1975}... May she R.I.P.
@Maria Draper - I had this song on my mind this morning.....Wow! This is a very high fidelity rendition with the lyrics displayed! - Better than my old 45! Helen looks like a teenager. Thanx Maria!
I remembered when this came out...like Helen's other songs...She was definitely a Sistah I walked with. Maria...you did a excellent job w/Helen's song & loved that you have the photo of her at the age she entered into the entertainment business. Helen would be blessed to see this tribute you made to her, Maria...Thank You Sistah...!
Thank you so much for sharing this and wow, I am blown away. I heard this song on top of the pops when i was about 18 in 1998. I sang the chorus now and then over the years, but never did learn the lyrics.....until now....a story in a song about an insane girl, her radio and the disappearing pervy boy next door..Angie. I wish we could have met. Your my kind of crazy.
Recently, we fostered kittens. One of them got the name of Angie because she's just a little odd. She may look like one of her siblings but she is most certainly not a normal cat. It's especially funny since she has such generic markings. So, we have our own little Angie Baby. No. She's staying. We love her. *^_^*
A #1 hit for Helen Reddy in December 1974. It also hit #1 on the Cash Box charts and the Adult Contemporary charts, along with the Canadian AC charts. It went to #3 in Canada, #5 in Ireland and the United Kingdom, #8 in New Zealand, and #13 in Australia. It was the last #1 song of 1974. We say goodbye to 1974 and welcome in 1975. What will the music scene be like in the new year? Stay tuned.
It would start out with Angie in her room listening to the radio. Then someone at school would tell her parents that she can't go there anymore because she's crazy. And, because of that, she wouldn't have any friends. So she somehow gives her radio the power to make anyone, except for her and her family members, become part of the radio. (The song doesn't say why she has friends when she listens to her radio.) Then one night, there would be a scene of a dark room (Angie's room) with the radio, which would have a strange glow. Then someone would come into the room, intending to hurt Angie. But then he would become a victim of the radio. Then people would wonder what happened to that person, not knowing about the bewitched radio. After that, more and more people would become victims of the radio. I'm pretty sure it would end with someone (probably one of her parents) finding a connection between the radio and the disappearances of people, and they'd do something to the radio.
This song was popular when I arrived on Okinawa in 1974, as a front man for a band before and After I went into the Marine Corps, I always listened to the words of songs; I thought the story this one told was interesting. it was well recorded too.
I was 12 or so when I heard this song here in Mexico! I loved her voice (Helen's) and the music as well, even though I didn't understand its lyrics!! 😊
This song definitely fit the 70s. The 70s music was known mainly for disco and guitar rock. But there was many strange, eerie songs from that decade such as they're coming to take me a away, Vincent, taxi, dust in the wind, time in a bottle, Edmund Fitzgerald, seasons in the sun, killing me softly, aquarius, wishing you were here, love is blue, and classical gas to name a few. Between the music and horror movies, the 70s was a weird and creepy decade.
I would also add, "Seasons in the Sun". I recently learned that it's an old song about a young man dying from some disease, but, depressed as I was in 1974, I thought it was about someone about to commit suicide. Apparently, so did a number of radio djs.
Dan Koss The creepiness and weirdness which were present in 1970s entertainment was infinitely preferable to the grotesque, violent, yowling and nightmarish circus that America has become---a world where mass shootings at schools and churches, concerts, etc. are now a mundane fact of life; where bigotry of all kinds is endorsed by government, clergy, and your next door neighbors, where little eight year old boys are encouraged by their own parents to engage in transvestism, and where a person can actually be sued for accidentally passing flatulence in an elevator or wherever. It's as though the USA has become a vast, particularly bizarre real life Twilight Zone episode.
But it was the best. As a teen growing up in the 70's from parents that grew up from the 50's. The world was becoming a darker place, and it was just the beginning...........
On this day in 1974 {December 22nd} "Angie Baby" by Helen Reddy peaked at #1 {for 1 week} on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; it had entered the chart on October 13th and spent 17 weeks on the Top 100... On December 1st it also reached #1 {for 1 week} on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Tracks chart... It peaked at #3 in Canada, but in her native Australia is only reached #13... She had three #1 records on the Top 100, and all three included 'females' in the title; the other two were "I Am Woman" {for 1 week in 1972} and "Delta Dawn" {for 1 week in 1973}... Ms. Reddy celebrated her 72nd birthday two months ago on October 25th...
I had forgotten that she sang "delta Dawn"? Her version was great but I liked Tanya Tucker's better. I attended one of Tanya's concerts when she was 14 or 15 years old and sang every song with her. Of course, I had no mike, so I couldn't be heard; luckily! It was in a small auditorium and my seat was close to her. I'm sure she couldn't hear me but she might have read my lips because at the end, she looked right at me and gave me a big smile.
