Radio Stations in GTA Vice City

Various radio stations can be received on radios in most vehicles in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. They act as the game's soundtrack and can also be heard in the Audio menu, while the game is paused. Many of the songs appear on cutscenes, and some songs are programmed to be played on certain parts of a mission; for example, 's "" starts to play when the player enters their first vehicle at the start of the game. Emergency vehicles feature instead a police radio, especially recorded for the game which was a departure from previous games in the series.

The arrangement of the soundtrack of GTA Vice City was a big move on the part of Rockstar Games: unlike previous games in the series, which relied to a great extent in original creations, GTA Vice City has an overwhelming majority of licensed content, with just 5 original songs.

Most radio stations play a mixture of music, DJ chat, and spoof advertising. The stations each reflect one style of music intended to evoke the atmosphere of the time. The bulk of the soundtrack is made of contemporary 1980s music by an overwhelming majority; however, the soundtrack also features a few songs from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Several of the stations also reappear in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, which is a direct prequel to the game.

An extensive 7-CD Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Official Soundtrack Box Set was released containing music from the game's radio stations, while a shorter Greatest Hits compilation CD was also released.

On 6 December 2012, GTA Vice City was released on iOS and Android to celebrate the game's 10th anniversary. However, over the years, song licenses expired, and therefore some songs were removed from these versions of the game. The same songs are missing from the game re-releases as a PS2 Classic on PS3, PS4 and PS5, as well as The Definitive Edition.

There are 10 in-game radio stations, with 1 custom station modified by the player. The songs are listed in the same order as they appear in the game manual. Authors of the original songs are listed aside the song title in superscript. Please select a station to jump to its section.

* - This song is missing from the iOS, Android, PS2 Classics (PS3, PS4 and PS5), and the Definitive editions.

Wildstyle
Wildstyle is hosted by Mr. Magic and plays hip hop and electro.
 * - "Pump Me Up" (1980)
 * - "One for the Treble" (1984)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" (1983)
 * - "" (1983) *
 * and The - "" (1983) *
 * - "Get It Girl" (1986)
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "Bassline" (1985)
 * - "The Smurf" (1982) *
 * - "Magic's Wand" (1982)
 * - "" (1980)
 * - "" (1982)
 * - "" (1980)
 * - "Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)" (1982)

Flash FM
Flash FM is hosted by Toni, and plays pop.
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "" (1982)
 * - "" (1982) *
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "" (1985)
 * - "" (1985)
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1979)
 * - "" (1981)
 * - "" (1986)
 * - "" (1985)
 * - "" (1982)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1983) (PS2 and the Definitive Edition only)

K-Chat
K-Chat is a celebrity talk station hosted by Amy Sheckenhausen.

The following persons are interviewed:
 * Jezz Torrent
 * Michaela Carapadis
 * Pat "Mr. Zoo" Flannerdy
 * Gethsemanee Starhawk Moonmaker
 * BJ Smith
 * Claude Maginot
 * Thor

Fever 105
Fever 105 is hosted by Oliver "Ladykiller" Biscuit and plays disco, soul, funk and R&B.
 * - "" (1979)
 * - "Act Like You Know" (1982)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "I'll Be Good" (1985)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1981)
 * - "" (1982) *
 * - "" (1977)
 * - "Behind the Groove" (1980)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1974)
 * - "" (1982)

V-Rock
V-Rock is hosted by Lazlow and plays hard rock and heavy metal.
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1985)
 * - "" (1983) *
 * Love Fist - "Dangerous Bastard" (Allan Walker)
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "" (1981)
 * - "God Blessed Video" (1985)
 * - "Cumin' Atcha Live" (1986)
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "" (1986)
 * - "" (1985)
 * - "" (1986)
 * - "" (1982)
 * Love Fist - "Fist Fury" (Allan Walker)
 * - "" (1986)

VCPR
Vice City Public Radio, abbreviated as VCPR, is a public talk station. It has only one program, called Pressing Issues, which is hosted by Maurice Chavez. The two station supervisors, Jonathan Freeloader and Michelle Montanius, appeal listeners for money funding during breaks. Each segment focuses on a particular issue, with Chavez chairing a discussion on the issue between several guests with different backgrounds, points of view or approaches.

Three such issues are broadcast within the game. They are:
 * Morality (guests: Pastor Richards, Jan Brown, Barry Stark)
 * Perception and Positive Thinking (guests: Konstantinos Smith, Jeremy Robard, Jenny Louise Crab)
 * Public Safety (guests: Alex Shrub, Callum Crayshaw, John F. Hickory)

Radio Espantoso
Radio Espantoso is a Spanish-language radio station hosted by Pepe and plays Latin jazz, mambo, son, salsa and Latin funk.

Translations for the titles, at the side, in superscript.
 * - "A Gozar Con Mi Combo" (Let's Rejoice With My Combo) (1994)
 * Alpha Banditos - "The Bull is Wrong" (Stuart Ross)
 * Tres Apenas Como Eso - "Yo Te Miré" (I Saw You) (Craig Conner)
 * - "Latin Flute" (1973)
 * - "Mama Papa Tú" (Mom, Dad, You) (1969)
 * Mongo Santamaría - "Me and You Baby (Picao y Tostao)" (Chopped and Toasted) (1969)
 * and his - "Mambo Mucho Mambo" (Mambo Lots of Mambo) (1952)
 * Unaesta - "La Vida Es Una Lenteja" (Life Is A Lentil) (Craig Conner)
 * - "Expansions" (1975)
 * - "Añunga Ñunga" (1980) (Incorrectly credited in the manual as "Aguanile") *
 * Deodato - "Super Strut" (1973)
 * and his Orchestra - "Jamay" ( word, means "adobe crafting place") (1955)
 * - "Maracaibo Oriental" (Eastern Maracaibo) (1958)
 * - "Mambo Gozón" (Enjoyable Mambo) (1958)

Emotion 98.3
Emotion 98.3 is hosted by Fernando Martinez and features soft pop, power ballads and soft rock.
 * - "" (1981)
 * - "" (1978) *
 * - "" (1981)
 * - "" (1980)
 * - "" (1986)
 * - "" (1982)
 * - "" (1982)
 * - "" (1985)
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1981)

Wave 103
Wave 103 is hosted by Adam First, and features new wave, synthpop and post-punk.
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "" (1986)
 * - "" (1979)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1979)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1981)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1982)
 * - "" (1982)
 * - "" (1982)
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "" (1983)
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "" (1981)

MP3 Player/Tape Deck
GTA Vice City allows players to play their songs in the PC, Xbox and iOS ports of the game. This custom radio station is named "MP3 Player" in the PC port, "Tape" in the Xbox port, and "Tape Deck" in the iOS port.

"MP3 Player" only supports .ogg and .mp3 music formats (as well as shortcuts to those types of files). Tracks are played in alphabetical order according to their file names and cannot be skipped. Inserting custom music into "MP3 Player" consists simply of placing music files into the "mp3" folder located within the primary game folder (i.e. ). For the Xbox version, a CD must be installed into the console's hard drive. The logo of "MP3 Player" is just a "palette swap" of the logo of the "MP3 Player" custom station from GTA III.

"Tape" requires the player to copy the songs from an audio CD to the Xbox in the "Music" menu of the original Xbox Dashboard[2 ], so that the game can read the songs from the Xbox hard drive. After that, the songs can be played in the game from a common vehicle changing the radio station until they reach "TAPE", also, the player can change the music in the game with the D-pad.

"Tape Deck" requires the player to create a music playlist on their iOS device named "VICECITY", and add songs to that playlist. After that's been done, they must start up the game, be in any normal vehicle, and keep changing the radio station until they reach "Tape Deck", which is between "Radio Off" and Wave 103.

Other Songs
A number of other songs can be heard during mission cutscenes. These songs are not featured on any of the game's radio stations.
 * - "" (1982) (featured during the third Back Alley Brawl cutscene)
 * - "Compay Gato" (2001) (featured during the Naval Engagement cutscene)
 * Los Super Seven - "Campesino" (2001) (featured during the Trojan Voodoo cutscene)
 * - "Ritmo De La Noche" (1982) (featured during the Bar Brawl scene)
 * - "" (1983) (featured during the first cutscene of The Driver, original PS2 version only; replaced by 's "" in all subsequent versions)
 * - "The Freaks Come Out at Night" (1984) (featured during The Job cutscene)
 * - "" (1981) (featured during the Boomshine Saigon cutscene)

Additionally, the European edition of the Flash FM soundtrack CD contains the following songs, which do not actually appear in the game:
 * - "" (1984)
 * - "" (1978)
 * - "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" (1985)

Non Selectable Radio Station
There is one non-selectable radio station in the game. It is Vice City News, which was intended to appear in the game as a news radio station, but was dropped during development. Despite this, the building and Mavericks still appear in the final version of the game.

Commercials
Commercials in GTA Vice City were greatily expanded from the commercials of the previous game. The biggest appeal of the commercials in Vice City is that for the first time in the series Rockstar could produce commercials that dealt with an earlier era, here showcasing the typical vibe and mindset of people and media of the '80s. Later games in the series that were set in an earlier period would follow this model.

Due to being the first game made in the 3D Universe that was set in an earlier era, Rockstar had enough technological advances to showcase the music, clothes, atmosphere and thus, the typical commercials of the '80s. There are references to relevant topics of the period, such as hair products, the, Japanese car companies winning the American market and early home consoles that could bring the quality of arcade machines to the living room.

Some products advertised are: "Ammu-Nation" (the firearms store that is "leading the war against communism" and that has film festivals where they "screen the documentary ""), "Yuppie and the Alien" (a "" meets "" police drama that teams up a human cop and an alien "that could vaporize dissidents in Alpha Centauri but in this precinct [he has to] do it by-the-book") and the "Domestobot" (a domestic helper robot for people that tried hiring a nanny but desisted after she wanted health insurance).

Trivia

 * The original soundtrack featured 103 songs. The year with the highest number of songs was 1983, with 21 featured.
 * This is the first soundtrack in the series to feature predominantly licensed content. Previous games heavily featured original creations produced by the Rockstar staff. Five songs in this soundtrack were original creations (2 for V-Rock and 3 for Radio Espantoso).
 * It is worth noting that, while there where previous inroads in making stations with licensed content (Grand Theft Auto: London had an array of 1960s Italian films soundtracks and reggae, and Grand Theft Auto III had electronic, rap, dub and 1980s pop), that was nothing on the scale and depth of the soundtrack of GTA Vice City, with hits well-known by the mainstream public and in a large quantity in every station.
 * The game consolidated the use of an original police radio track created especially for it. Previous games in the series used a generic police track used in countless films, series and games ("5 George K, number 30 Broad street" is said in the track), with the exception of GTA London (which used an original police track with British accents and references to locations in London). Since GTA Vice City, all the GTA games that have included a police track have used a track created especially for that game.
 * The radio tuning sound effects are snippets from various tracks from GTA III.
 * For example, one of the snippets heard when tuning the radio is a fragment from the Dormatron commercial in GTA III where the woman says "strap in your arms and legs".
 * The only anachronistic songs given the 1986 setting are 's "A Gozar Con Mi Combo" (1994) and two songs that aren't included in any radio and can only be heard in certain cutscenes: 's "Compay Gato" and "Campesino" (both from 2001).
 * 's "The Freaks Come Out at Night" can be heard in a cutscene but is not included in any of the game's radios. It would be included later on the hip hop radio Fresh FM in GTA Vice City Stories.
 * 's "" was included in the European release of the 7-CD Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Official Soundtrack Box Set but was not featured in the game. It would be later included on the classic rock radio K-DST in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
 * In the 10th Anniversary re-release of the game, many songs were removed due to expired licenses. The only station to retain their full soundtrack was Wave 103.
 * In a November 2021 interview with , artist stated that a large influence for his hit number 1 song "" was from playing GTA Vice City, going on to say "GTA: Vice City really opened my eyes to a lot of ’80s music, so there was a nostalgia for when I was a kid playing video games and listening to Hall & Oates and Michael Jackson while driving through the city.

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