- "Video Killed the Radio Star" is a Synth Pop 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. The song topped several music charts and has been covered by numerous recording artists. It has also been widely parodied and utilized in popular media.
- The song was written by Trevor Horn and Geoffrey Downes, and Bruce Woolley. The first version was recorded by Bruce 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 United States. It appears on the album The Age of Plastic, where it has an additional piano coda.
- The music video for the song, directed by Russell Mulcahy, was the first to be shown on MTV, when the music channel debuted on August 1, 1981, at 12:10 A.M. On February 27, 2000 it also became the millionth video to be aired on MTV.
- The B-side? "Kid Dynamo" ? How does a theme song to a never-realized superhero cartoon sound? If your answer is "good," I recommend the rest of The Age of Plastic without further reservation.
Track-List:
