"
Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song by the British
synthpopSynthpop is a subgenre of pop and electronic music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It originated during the New Wave era of the late 1970s and to mid-1980s, and it has continued to exist and develop ever since....
/
New WaveNew Wave is a genre of rock and pop music that emerged in in the middle to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, and...
group
The BugglesThe Buggles was a New Wave band formed in 1977 consisting of Trevor Horn , Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley.-Early days:...
, released in
1979See also:Musical groups established in 1979Record labels established in 1979* 1979 in music -Events:*Stevie Wonder uses digital audio recording technology in recording his album Journey through the Secret Life of Plants....
. It celebrates the golden days of radio, describing a singer whose career is cut short by
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
. The song topped several music charts and has been
coveredIn popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition of a previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by many recording artists. It was the first
music videoA music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music/song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the...
shown on
MTVMTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
at 12:01am on August 1, 1981 and has been widely parodied in popular media.
In an interview, group member
Trevor HornTrevor Charles Horn is an English pop music record producer, songwriter and musician. He was born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, England....
has said that his lyrics were inspired by the
J. G. BallardJames Graham Ballard was an English novelist and short story writer. He was a prominent member of the New Wave movement in science fiction, but his best-known books are the controversial Crash , an exploration of automobile-accident sexual fetishism, and the autobiographical novel Empire of the Sun...
short story
The Sound-Sweep"The Sound-Sweep" is a short story by J.G. Ballard 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. As all music has been outlawed and destroyed, the opera singer is obsolete...
, in which the title character, a mute boy vacuuming up stray music in a world without it, comes upon an
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer hiding in a sewer.
"
Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song by the British
synthpopSynthpop is a subgenre of pop and electronic music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It originated during the New Wave era of the late 1970s and to mid-1980s, and it has continued to exist and develop ever since....
/
New WaveNew Wave is a genre of rock and pop music that emerged in in the middle to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, and...
group
The BugglesThe Buggles was a New Wave band formed in 1977 consisting of Trevor Horn , Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley.-Early days:...
, released in
1979See also:Musical groups established in 1979Record labels established in 1979* 1979 in music -Events:*Stevie Wonder uses digital audio recording technology in recording his album Journey through the Secret Life of Plants....
. It celebrates the golden days of radio, describing a singer whose career is cut short by
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
. The song topped several music charts and has been
coveredIn popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition of a previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by many recording artists. It was the first
music videoA music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music/song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the...
shown on
MTVMTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
at 12:01am on August 1, 1981 and has been widely parodied in popular media.
Structure and release
In an interview, group member
Trevor HornTrevor Charles Horn is an English pop music record producer, songwriter and musician. He was born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, England....
has said that his lyrics were inspired by the
J. G. BallardJames Graham Ballard was an English novelist and short story writer. He was a prominent member of the New Wave movement in science fiction, but his best-known books are the controversial Crash , an exploration of automobile-accident sexual fetishism, and the autobiographical novel Empire of the Sun...
short story
The Sound-Sweep"The Sound-Sweep" is a short story by J.G. Ballard 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. As all music has been outlawed and destroyed, the opera singer is obsolete...
, in which the title character, a mute boy vacuuming up stray music in a world without it, comes upon an
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
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 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 videoA music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music/song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the...
for the song, directed by
Russell MulcahyRussell Mulcahy is an Australian film director.- Music videos :Russell Mulcahy's career began with making early music videos while he was working for the Seven Network in Sydney, Australia...
, was the first to be shown on
MTVMTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
when the music channel debuted on August 1, 1981; at 12:01a.m. On February 27, 2000; it also became the millionth video to be aired on
MTVMTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
. At 2:57 in the video,
Hans ZimmerHans Florian Zimmer is a German composer and producer, best known for his film scores. He has composed music for over 100 films, including Hollywood blockbusters such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Gladiator, The Lion King and The Dark Knight.Zimmer spent the early part of his career in...
can be seen playing a keyboard.
Debi DossDebi Doss is an American-born photographer and singer.Doss attended Webster University in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri in the United States, where she became interested in photography.- Career :...
and Linda Jardim, who provided the female vocals for the song, can also be seen in the video.
The song was written by Trevor Horn,
Geoff DownesGeoffrey Downes is an English rock keyboard player, songwriter, and producer. He is best known as the keyboardist for the bands Asia, The Buggles, and also his stint with Yes in 1980. When he was a keyboardist for The Buggles, he played multiple keyboards to achieve a New Wave technopop sound...
and
Bruce WoolleyBruce Woolley, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer.- Early History :Bruce Woolley was born in Loughborough, England on 11 November 1953 and was educated at Loughborough Grammar School where he learned electric guitar, began to write songs and where he met his future wife, Tessa...
. According to an interview given by group member
Trevor HornTrevor Charles Horn is an English pop music record producer, songwriter and musician. He was born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, England....
on BBC Radio 2 Drivetime, 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 DolbyThomas Dolby is an English musician and producer.- Life and career :Contrary to the alluring story from most 1980s United Kingdom press releases, Dolby was not born in Cairo, Egypt; he was born in London, England, UK...
on keyboards) for his album
English Garden, which was a hit in
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The Buggles later recorded the song and it reached number one in the
UK chartsThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
the week of October 20 1979, the first-ever number one for label
Island RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in England for many years, but is now owned by Universal Music Group and is operated in the United States through The Island Def Jam Music Group and in the UK through Island Records Group...
. It also would top the
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n charts, and made the Billboard Top 40 in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, debuting on December 15 1979 at number 40, remaining there for one week.
It appears on the album
The Age of PlasticThe Age of Plastic is the first album by synthpop/New Wave group The Buggles, which consisted of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, released on Island Records in 1980. The album is a concept album, with themes of intense nostalgia and anxiety about the possible effects of modern technology. It followed...
, 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.
A rare 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"Living in the Plastic Age" is a synthpop song by The Buggles recorded in 1979 and only available on the album The Age of Plastic. Although it is the first track on The Age of Plastic, it was recorded after Video Killed the Radio Star. The song reached #16 in the UK charts...
") as part of a tribute event to Trevor Horn to raise money for the Prince's Trust charity. They were joined by
Debi DossDebi Doss is an American-born photographer and singer.Doss attended Webster University in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri in the United States, where she became interested in photography.- Career :...
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
YesYes are an English progressive rock band that was formed in London in 1968. Their music is marked by sharp dynamic contrasts, extended song lengths, abstract lyrics, and a general showcasing of instrumental prowess. Yes blends symphonic and other 'classical' structures with their own brand of...
(which Downes and Horn joined for the Drama album and tour in 1980), Downes in the 2006-2009 revival of
AsiaAsia is a rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a supergroup and included former members of veteran progressive rock bands Yes, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Uriah Heep, U.K., Roxy Music, Wishbone Ash and The Buggles...
with
John WettonJohn Kenneth Wetton is an English singer, bass guitarist and guitarist.Born in Willington, Derbyshire, Wetton grew up in Bournemouth, Dorset...
on lead vocals, and Horn in his band
The ProducersThe Producers is a supergroup formed in 2006 by music producers and musicians Trevor Horn , Lol Creme , Steve Lipson , Chris Braide and Ash Soan .-History:...
, also in 2006.
In
November 2006, The Producers played at their first gig in
Camden TownCamden Town is an inner-city district within the London Borough of Camden, situated in the northern part of London, England. It is well-known for its markets, liberal attitude and associations with popular culture. Since the 1960s, The Roundhouse theatre and music venue has been a centre of...
. A video clip can be seen on the
ZTT RecordsZTT Records is a record label founded in 1983 by NME journalist Paul Morley, record producer Trevor Horn, producer/engineer Gary Langan and businesswoman Jill Sinclair. The label's name was also printed as "Zang Tumb Tuum" and "Zang Tuum Tumb" on various releases.-History of the label:ZTT is an...
official website of Trevor singing lead vocals and playing bass in a performance of "Video Killed the Radio Star".
Chart Positions
| Chart |
Position |
| Austrian Singles Chart |
1 |
| Dutch Singles Chart |
16 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart |
2 |
| Swedish Singles Chart |
1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart |
1 |
| UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
|
1 |
Presidents of the United States of America version
In 1998 the
Alternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s...
band
The Presidents of the United States of AmericaThe Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as The Presidents, is a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew, drummer and vocalist Jason...
released a version of "Video Killed the Radio Star" for
The Wedding SingerThe Wedding Singer is a 1998 film written by Tim Herlihy and directed by Frank Coraci. Set in the 1980s, the film stars Adam Sandler as Robbie Hart, a wedding singer and Drew Barrymore as Julia Sullivan, the object of his affections....
soundtrack.
PUSA Chart positions
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1998 |
Official UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
|
No. 58 |
Other noted cover versions
| Year |
Artist |
Album |
| 1997 |
The Presidents of the United States of AmericaThe Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as The Presidents, is a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew, drummer and vocalist Jason...
|
Rarities Rarities is a compilation album by The Presidents of the United States of America. It was released exclusively in Japan on November 1, 1997....
|
| 1998 |
The Presidents of the United States of AmericaThe Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as The Presidents, is a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew, drummer and vocalist Jason...
|
The Wedding Singer The Wedding Singer is a 1998 film written by Tim Herlihy and directed by Frank Coraci. Set in the 1980s, the film stars Adam Sandler as Robbie Hart, a wedding singer and Drew Barrymore as Julia Sullivan, the object of his affections....
soundtrack
Pure FrostingPure Frosting is a compilation album by The Presidents of the United States of America. It was released on March 10, 1998.It was, at the time, the band's last album, as they had broken up in 1998...
|
| 1999 |
Lolita No.18 Lolita No.18 is a Japanese all-girl punk rock band formed in 1989, known for their cartoony, high-pitched vocals.-Members:*Masayo Ishizaka - vocals*Takochi - bass*Tacchamen - guitar*TO-BU - drums-Former members:...
|
ヤリタミン (YALITAMIN) |
| 2000 |
Ken Laszlo Ken Laszlo is an Italodisco singer who became famous in the 1980s.Ken was interested in music at a young age and his career began in 1980 when he played and sang in discos and clubs. His first hit in Europe was the single Hey Hey Guy in 1984...
|
Ken Laszlo 2000 |
| 2000 |
The Presidents of the United States of AmericaThe Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as The Presidents, is a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew, drummer and vocalist Jason...
|
Lump |
| 2003 |
ErasureErasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell.Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
|
Other People's Songs Other People's Songs is a cover album by Erasure.The album was originally conceived as a solo project for singer Andy Bell. Once Vince Clarke, the other member of Erasure, became involved, it was released as Erasure's tenth studio album. The tracks were handpicked by Clarke and Bell as ones that...
|
| 2005 |
Amber Pacific Amber Pacific is a band that formed in 2002 near Seattle, Washington. The band has released two studio albums: The Possibility and the Promise and Truth in Sincerity , as well as four EPs: Fading Days, Acoustic Sessions, Acoustic Connect Sets, and an iTunes EP....
|
Punk Goes 80's Punk Goes 80's is part of the Punk Goes... compilation series created by Fearless Records, featuring cover versions of songs from the 1980's. It was released on June 7, 2005.-Track listing:...
|
| 2005 |
Ben Folds Five Ben Folds Five was an alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprised Ben Folds on vocals, piano, and principal songwriting; Robert Sledge played bass and provided backing vocals; and Darren Jessee played drums, sang backing vocals and co-wrote some of the...
|
Whatever and Ever Amen Whatever and Ever Amen is the second album by Ben Folds Five, released in 1997. A remaster was made available on March 22 2005. All of the extra tracks had been previously released except for "Video Killed the Radio Star", a cover song by the Buggles and live staple of Ben Folds Five.-Album...
(bonus track on 2005 reissue) |
| 2005 |
Len |
The Diary of the Madmen (in hidden track) |
| 2007 |
The FeelingThe Feeling are a five-piece BRIT award-nominated British band from Sussex and London. The band categorise their music as "pop".Following a limited release of their debut "Fill My Little World" in late 2005, the band entered the UK Singles Chart at #7 with their first full release "Sewn" in...
|
Rosé "Rosé" is a soft rock song performed by British band The Feeling for their debut studio album, Twelve Stops and Home . The song was released as the album's fifth single on February 12 2007....
(CD single) |
| 2007 |
Haruko Momoi is a Japanese voice actress and singer/songwriter. She was born in Tokyo, Japan and is affectionately referred to as 'Halko' by her fans, a nickname she gave herself which is inspired by HAL 9000, the onboard computer of the Discovery in 2001: A Space Odyssey...
|
COVER BEST - Cover Densha |
| 2009 |
VV Brown Vanessa Brown , known as VV Brown, is a British recording artist, songwriter and producer signed to Universal's Island Records in the United Kingdom and to EMI's Capitol Records in the United States...
|
Travelling Like the Light Travelling Like the Light is the debut album of indie pop singer V V Brown released on July 13, 2009 via Island Records.-Background:Travelling Like the Light was released July 13 2009 by Universal Records. The album was preceded by a limited non-chart eligible release of "Crying Blood" on 7" vinyl...
|
See also
- The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer is a American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, the...
is a 1927 U.S. film notable for being the first "talking motion picture" to be widely commercially distributed.
- Singing in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography...
is a musical film that explores the transition from silent filmA silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made practical in the late 1920s with...
to sound filmA sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before reliable synchronization was made commercially...
.
- Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the...
, explores how sound film and televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
led to the demise of films and silent stars.
- "Radio Ga Ga
"Radio Ga Ga" is a song performed and recorded by Queen, written by their drummer Roger Taylor.It was released as a single with "I Go Crazy" by Brian May on the original B-side and was included on the album The Works without "I Go Crazy" . The single was an enormous worldwide success for the band...
", a single by QueenQueen were an English rock band. Formed in London in 1970 following the demise of the band Smile, Queen consisted of vocalist Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor. The band became popular with audiences via their hit songs, live performances,...
, also laments the demise of radio as the primary mass medium.