Video Killed the Radio Star

Infobox Single
Name = Video Killed the Radio Star


Artist = Buggles
Album = The Age of Plastic
Released = September 1979
Format = 7" single
Recorded = 1979
Genre = New Wave
Length = 3:21
Label = Island
Writer = Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn and Bruce Woolley
Producer = Trevor Horn
Last single = -
This single = "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1979)
Next single = "Living in the Plastic Age" (1980)

"Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song by the British New Wave group Buggles released in 1979. It celebrates the golden days of radio, talking of a singer whose career is cut short by television. The song topped several music charts and has been covered by numerous recording artists. It was the first music video shown on MTV in North America and has been widely parodied and utilized in popular media.

tructure and release

Group memberTrevor 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. [cite news | work = The Guardian | url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2004/nov/05/1 | title = Horn of plenty | last = Hodgkinson | first = Will |date = 5 November 2004 | accessdate = 2008-09-14] 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 music video for the song, directed by Russell Mulcahy, was the first to be shown on MTV, when the music channel debuted on 1 August 1981, at 12:10 A.M. On February 27, 2000 it also became the millionth video to be aired on MTV. [ [http://archive.salon.com/ent/log/2000/03/01/mtv/index.html Dehnart, A. "Who really killed the video star?". Salon.com, 2000] ] At 2:57 in the video, 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 in the video. [ [http://www.spherestudios.com/debi/index.htm Debi Doss – ‘70’s Rock Archive Photographs] ]

The song was written by Trevor Horn and Geoffrey Downes, and Bruce Woolley. 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 label Island Records. It also would top the Australian charts, but only barely made the Billboard Top 40 in the United States. 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.

The first live performance of the song by Horn and Downes came at a ZTT showcase in 1998. [http://www.bondegezou.demon.co.uk/reviews/live/buggles.htm] 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 [http://www.ztt.com official website] of Trevor singing lead vocals and playing bass in a performance of "Video Killed the Radio Star".

Presidents of the United States of America version

Infobox Single
Name = Video Killed the Radio Star


Caption =
Artist = Presidents of the United States of America
from Album = The Wedding Singer soundtrack
A-side =
B-side =
Released = 1998
Format = CD single
Recorded =
Genre = Post-grunge
Length = 3:22
Label = Columbia Records
Writer =
Producer = Presidents of the United States of America
Certification =
Chart position =
Last single = "Tiki God" (1997)
This single = "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1998)
Next single = "Jupiter" (2000)
Misc =

In 1998 the post-grunge band The Presidents of the United States of America released a version of "Video Killed the Radio Star" for "The Wedding Singer" soundtrack.

Track listing

# "Video Killed the Radio Star" - 3:22

PUSA Chart positions

Other noted cover versions

Video games

* It appears in "Dancing Stage EuroMix", in both the arcade and the home versions.
* In the rhythm video game "Pump it Up", the Korean pop-metal band Novasonic sings the line 'video killed the radio star' several times in their song "SLAM", which originally appeared on the album "Novasonic 2" and has become a staple in the popular "Pump it Up" game series.
* Home version of "Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova" (expert).
* "".
* "SingStar Party".
* "Alvin and the chipmunks".
* An arc in City of Villains is called "Teevee Killed the Radio"

ee also

*"The Jazz Singer" is a 1927 U.S. film notable for being the first "talking motion picture" to be widely commercially distributed.
*"Singing 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.

References