The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

Get the latest Flash player

Musicofheart
September 03, 2007

Video Killed the Radio Star" is a New Wave song released in 1979 by the British group Buggles that celebrates the golden days of radio. It tells of a singer whose career is cut short by television. Group member Trevor Horn has said that his lyrics were inspired by the J.G. Ballard short story The Sound-Sweep, in which the title character, a deaf and dumb boy vacuuming up stray music in a world without it, comes upon an opera singer hiding in a sewer. He also felt "an era was about to pass."

The music video for the song, directed by Russell Mulcahy, was the first to be shown on MTV, when the ground-breaking music channel debuted on September 1, 1981, at 12:10 A.M. On February 27, 2000 it also became the millionth video to be aired on MTV.[1]

It was written by Trevor Horn and Courtney Courson, Geoffrey Downes, and Bruce Woolley. The first version was recorded by Woolley & the Camera Club (with Thomas Dolby as a guest artist) for his album English Garden, which was a hit in Canada. The complicated arrangement and production of the song, which includes a chorus sung by a group of very high-pitched backup singers, foreshadows Horn's later career as a producer. The Buggles later recorded the song and it reached number one in the UK charts the week of October 20, 1979, the first-ever number one for label Island Records. It also would top the Australian charts, but only barely made the Billboard Top 40 in the U.S. It appears on the album The Age of Plastic.

The first live performance of the song by Horn and Downes came at a ZTT showcase in 1998.[1] In 2004, The Buggles re-united again with Bruce Woolley at Wembley Arena to perform "Video Killed the Radio Star" and another song ("Living in the Plastic Age") as part of a tribute event to Trevor Horn to raise money for the Prince's Trust charity. They were joined by Debi Doss and Linda Jardim, who performed the background singing on the original recording. Both Horn and Downes have performed the song live in other acts, including Downes in the 2006 revival of Asia and Horn in his band The Producers, also in 2006.

In November 2006, The Producers played at their first gig in Camden Town. A video clip can be seen on the ZTT Records official website of Trevor singing lead vocals and playing bass in a performance of Video Killed The Radio Star.

Category: Music

Tags:

Contains
Content From:

Universal Music Group

More From: Musicofheart

Play All Stop Autoplaying | Play Next

QuickList(0)

Clear | Save

Featured Videos

Tomko Returns To TNA Wrestling

48,561 views

TNAwrestling

Left 4 Dead 2: Guardin' Gnome Achievement Guide

173,226 views

RoosterTeeth

BASICS: Quick Smokey eyes with a Plum undertone.

97,787 views

pixiwoo

596 ratings

225,519 views

Favorite

Playlists

Flag

Want to add to Favorites? Sign In or Sign Up now!

Want to add to Playlists? Sign In or Sign Up now!

Want to flag a video? Sign In or Sign Up now!

Download This Song:

iTunes

AmazonMP3

Statistics & Data

Video Responses (3)

Youtubie...

AnthonyR...

TheChann...

View All - Play All

Text Comments (380) Options

MOSESCAT69 (2 weeks ago) Show Hide

Marked as spam

This song was in the charts when my nan died, i was 9, it still reminds me, takes me straight back to 1979, but a good song, and good lyrics, about video which was just coming into homes, rather than the radio (I still prefer radio)

1987ian (1 month ago) Show Hide

-6

Marked as spam

MrTasman14 (1 month ago) Show Hide

Marked as spam

great song great lyrics great video good on yaa buggles (Y)

iMacLover65 (1 month ago) Show Hide

Marked as spam

this song reminds me when MTV was about music, not a bunch of motocross crap

ferrers88 (1 month ago) Show Hide

Marked as spam

yeah and all that reality tv piss,wtf happened to the music,,,,Music Tele Vision ffs?????

munghi (1 month ago) Show Hide

Marked as spam

this song and vid has never aged

chewwy5 (1 month ago) Show Hide

Marked as spam

this is one of the best videos of all time

craiga62 (2 months ago) Show Hide

Marked as spam

I'll never forget the night MTV went on the air. It was music videos few as they were. They open with Jimi Hendix playing the "Star Spangled Banner" then go to The Buggles immediately with this song. Awesome and that was 8-1-1981 never forget it. Thank an old guy for your music explosion :) .

boypaslot (2 months ago) Show Hide

Marked as spam

Internet killed the music industry!!!
We have Lime wire we download ilegaly!!!

vegapipsi37 (2 months ago) Show Hide

Marked as spam

one of the greatest songs i've ever heard. actually, very sad. haven't heard it since the days of Scott Muney; just chanced on it tonight, and memories flooded. i'm almost in tears. anyone 50 or over will get it. bravo buggles, wherever you are now.

Showing 10 of 380 comments

Show More Comments

View All 380 comments

Would you like to comment?

Join YouTube for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.

YouTube	Programs	Help	Policy	Discover
Contact Us	Advertising	Get Help	Privacy Policy	YouTube on Your Phone
YouTube Store	Developers	YouTube Handbook	Terms of Service	YouTube on Your Site
Press Room	Partnerships	Community Help Forums	Copyright Notices	YouTube on Your TV
Business Blog	Content Management	Safety Center	Community Guidelines	YouTube RSS Feeds
YouTube Blog		Creator's Corner		TestTube

Add YouTube to your Google homepage

Current Location: Italy Show locations

The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

More From: Musicofheart

QuickList(0)

Related Videos

Featured Videos

Statistics & Data

Video Responses (3)

Text Comments (380) Options

Would you like to comment?