Video Killed the Radio Star

"Video Killed the Radio Star"
Single by The Buggles
from the album The Age of Plastic
B-side	"Kid Dynamo"
Released	7 September 1979
Format	7"
Recorded	1979
Genre	New Wave, synthpop
Length	4:13 (album version) 3:25 (2010 Japanese re-issue single version)
Label	Island
Writer(s)	Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn, and Bruce Woolley
Producer	The Buggles
Certification	Gold (UK)
The Buggles singles chronology
"Video Killed the Radio Star" (1979) "Living in the Plastic Age" (1980)
Music sample "Video Killed the Radio Star"

"Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song by the British synthpop/New Wave group The Buggles, released as their debut single on 7 September 1979, on Island Records from their debut album The Age of Plastic. It celebrates the golden days of radio, describing a singer whose career is cut short by television. The song topped the music chart in several countries and has been covered by many recording artists. It was the first music video shown on MTV in the U.S. at 12:01am on August 1, 1981. The song was number 40 on VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80's.

Structure and release

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 mute 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 theme of the song is thus nostalgia, which is also echoed in the tone of the music. (The vocals are initially limited in bandwidth, giving a "telephone" effect typical of early broadcasts.) The lyrics refer to a period of technological change in the 1960s, the desire to remember the past and the disappointment that children of the current generation would not appreciate the past. In the 1950s and early 1960s, radio was an important medium for many, through which "stars" were created.

The song was written by Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley. Horn has claimed that Woolley was primarily responsible for the musical content, while Horn wrote most of the words. Woolley was responsible for the addition of the words 'put the blame on VTR'. The first version was recorded by Woolley & the Camera Club (with Thomas Dolby on keyboards) for his album English Garden, which was a hit in Canada. The Buggles later recorded the song and it reached number one in the UK charts the week of 20 October 1979, the first-ever number one for the Island Records label. It also would top the Australian charts, and made the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, debuting on 10 November 1979, and peaking at number 40.

It appears on the album The Age of Plastic, where it has an additional piano coda. 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.

It appears on the soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and in the game itself. The song is now on the video game "Just Dance 3".

The song is used twice in Sarah Polley's 2011 film "Take this Waltz"; once midway through, and again during the closing scene. It is played as an accompaniment to the Scrambler ride in Toronto's Center Island.

Live performances

A rare live performance of the song by Horn and Downes came at a ZTT showcase in 1998. In 2004, The Buggles re-united again with Bruce Woolley at Wembley Arena to perform "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "Living in the Plastic Age" as part of a tribute event to Horn to raise money for the Prince's Trust charity. They were joined by Debi Doss and Linda Jardim (now Linda Allan), who performed the background singing on the original recording. Paul Robinson, who played drums on the original, also appeared. Both Horn and Downes have performed the song live in other acts, including Yes (which Downes and Horn joined for the Drama album and tour in 1980), Downes in the 2006–2009 revival of Asia with John Wetton on lead vocals, 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 of Horn singing lead vocals and playing bass in a performance of "Video Killed the Radio Star". Tina Charles appears on a YouTube video singing 'Slave to the Rhythm' with The Producers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pi5wNLcPlw) and Horn reveals that Tina was the singer and originator of the "Oh Ah-Oh Ah-Oh" part of 'Video'; fellow 5000 Volt member Martin Jay was also a session musician on The Buggles record.

Robbie Williams performed the song with Trevor Horn at the BBC Electric Proms on 20 October 2009.

Music video

The music video for the song, helmed by the Australian director Russell Mulcahy, marked the début of MTV when the U.S. channel started broadcasting at 12:01 AM on August 1, 1981. On February 27, 2000, it became the one-millionth video to be aired on MTV. It also opened MTV Classic in the UK and Ireland, which replaced VH1 Classic on March 1, 2010, at 6 AM^{[citation needed]}.

The video marked the closing of MTV Philippines before its shutdown on February 15, 2010 at 11:49 PM.^{[citation needed]}

At 2:57, Hans Zimmer can be seen playing a keyboard. Debi Doss and Linda Jardim, who provided the female vocals for the song, can also be seen.

Chart performance

Chart (1979/1980)	Position
Australian Singles Chart	1
Dutch Singles Chart	16
French Singles Chart	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	2
Swedish Singles Chart	1
Swiss Singles Chart	1
UK Singles Chart	1
US Billboard Hot 100	40

Cover versions

"Video Killed the Radio Star"
Single by The Presidents of the United States of America
from the album The Wedding Singer soundtrack
Released	1998
Format	CD single
Genre	Post-grunge, Hard rock
Length	4:20
Label	Columbia
Producer	Presidents of the United States of America
The Presidents of the United States of America singles chronology
"Tiki God" (1997) "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1998) "Jupiter" (2000)

The Presidents of the United States of America version

In 1998, the alternative rock band, The Presidents of the United States of America, released a version of "Video Killed the Radio Star" for The Wedding Singer soundtrack. The song was also released as a one-track single. The song later appeared on the band's compilation Rarities.

Chart performance

Year	Chart	Position
1998	UK Singles Chart[citation needed]	58

Other cover versions

Year	Artist	Album
1999	Lolita No.18	ヤリタミン (YALITAMIN)
2000	Ken Laszlo	Ken Laszlo 2000
2000	The Presidents of the United States of America	Lump
2003	Erasure	Other People's Songs
2005	Amber Pacific	Punk Goes 80's
2005	Ben Folds Five	Whatever and Ever Amen
2005	Len	The Diary of the Madmen (in hidden track)
2007	The Feeling	Rosé (CD single)
2007	Haruko Momoi	COVER BEST — Cover Densha
2008	Bitch Alert	Pink Bunnies Get Hit by Big Trucks
2009	VV Brown	Travelling Like the Light

Popular culture

In fall 2011, the song was covered by an a cappella group, Pentatonix, winner of season 3 of CBS's hit show The Sing-Off (season 3) for week five theme, "Guilty Pleasures".

The song is referenced in a conversation between Michael Thornton and Leland while they're talking about Brayko in the 2009 videogame Alpha Protocol.

The song is heavily sampled in the 2010 single, "Check It Out" by will.i.am and Nicki Minaj

The song is featured in the film, Take Me Home Tonight starring an ensemble cast with Topher Grace and Anna Farris.

The song is featured in the 2002 videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as part of the soundtrack to the radio station Flash FM.

The song is featured in Dancing Stage: Euromix.

In 2009, Robbie Williams titled his eighth album Reality Killed the Video Star The album was produced by Trevor Horn. Robbie also performed the song live in the BBC Electric Proms that year, with Horn playing bass.

Drop Dead, Gorgeous included (The) Internet Killed the Video Star on their 2009 release The Hot n' Heavy

Tristopia TV did a YouTube parody called Copyright Killed the Video Star

In 2010, The Limousines did a track on their Get Sharp album titled Internet Killed the Video Star and released a music video for the song.

On August 2, 2011, Jay Leno aired a short video of Jersey Shore Killed the Video Star on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

In 2006, Lolita No.18 did a version of the song in Japanese. There is a video for the song which is not work safe.

In 2003, British synthpop duo Erasure covered the song for their cover album Other People's Songs, and also a mix could be found in the Soulsbury Hill single. Singer Andy Bell refused to sing the song, and Vince Clarke just used the voice of his Mac computer to recreate the song. The song is in the 2011 video game Just Dance 3

See also

Suggested reading

• The Jazz Singer is a 1927 U.S. film notable for being the first "talking motion picture" to be widely commercially distributed.
• Singin' in the Rain is a musical film that explores the transition from silent film to sound film.
• Sunset Boulevard explores how sound film and television led to the demise of films and silent stars.
• "Radio Ga Ga", a single by Queen, also laments the demise of radio as the primary mass medium.

No. 1 chart lists

• List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s
• List of number-one hits of 1979 (Switzerland)
• List of number-one singles from the 1970s (UK)
• List of European number-one hits of 1980
• List of Swedish number-one hits