‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ is a song written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley in 1979. It was recorded concurrently by Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club (with Thomas Dolby on keyboards) for their album English Garden and by British new wave/synth-pop group the Buggles, which consisted of Horn and Downes (and initially Woolley). The Buggles' version of the track was recorded and mixed in 1979, released as their debut single on 7 September 1979 by Island Records, and included on their first album The Age of Plastic. The backing track was recorded at Virgin's Town House in West London, and mixing and vocal recording was done at Sarm East Studios.
The song relates to concerns about, and mixed attitudes toward 20th-century inventions and machines for the media arts. Horn has said that J. G. Ballard's 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, provided inspiration for "Video", and he felt "an era was about to pass." In a 2018 interview Horn stated: "I'd read JG Ballard and had this vision of the future where record companies would have computers in the basement and manufacture artists. I'd heard Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine and video was coming. You could feel things changing".
On release, the single topped sixteen international music charts, including those in the UK, Australia, and Japan. It also peaked in the top 10 in Canada, Germany, New Zealand and South Africa, but only reached number 40 in the US. The accompanying music video was written, directed, and edited by Russell Mulcahy. It was the first music video shown on MTV in the US, airing at 12:01 a.m. on 1 August 1981, and the first video shown on MTV Classic in the UK on 1 March 2010. The song has received several critical accolades, such as being ranked number 40 on VH1's "100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '80s". It has also been covered by many recording artists.
‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ was a huge commercial success, reaching number one on 16 national charts. The song made its debut on the UK Singles Chart in the top 40 at number 24, on the issue dated 29 September 1979. The next week, the track entered into the chart's top ten at number six before topping the chart on the week of 20 October. It was the 444th UK number-one hit in the chart's entire archive. In 2022, the single was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for UK sales and streams of 600,000 units. In Australia, ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ reached number one, and for 27 years it held the country's record for best-selling single.
Label – Island
Songwriters – Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn, Bruce Woolley
Producers – The Buggles
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1: Trevor Horn, Debi Doss & Linda Jardim]I heard you on the wireless back in '52
Lying awake, intently tuning in on you
If I was young, it didn't stop you coming through
Oh-a oh-a
They took the credit for your second symphony
Rewritten by machine on new technology
And now I understand the problems you could see
[Pre-Chorus: Trevor Horn, Debi Doss & Linda Jardim]
Oh-a oh-a
I met your children
Oh-a oh-a
What did you tell them?
[Chorus: Trevor Horn, Debi Doss & Linda Jardim]
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Pictures came and broke your heart
Oh-a-a-a-oh
[Verse 2: Trevor Horn, Debi Doss & Linda Jardim]
And now we meet in an abandoned studio (Oh-a)
We hear the playback and it seems so long ago (Oh-oh-oh-oh-a)
And you remember the jingles used to go
[Pre-Chorus: Trevor Horn, Debi Doss & Linda Jardim]
Oh-a oh-a
You were the first one
Oh-a oh-a
You were the last one
[Chorus: Trevor Horn, Debi Doss & Linda Jardim]
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
In my mind and in my car
We can't rewind, we've gone too far
Oh-a-a-a-oh
Oh-a-a-a-oh
[Chorus: Trevor Horn, Debi Doss & Linda Jardim]
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
In my mind and in my car
We can't rewind, we've gone too far
Pictures came and broke your heart
Put the blame on VCR
[Outro: Trevor Horn, Debi Doss & Linda Jardim]
You are a radio star
You are a radio star
(You are) Video killed the radio star (A, a radio star)
(A radio star) Video killed the radio star
(You are) Video killed the radio star (A, a radio star)
(A radio star) Video killed the radio star
(You are) Video killed the radio star (A, a radio star)
(A radio star) Video killed the radio star
(You are) Video killed the radio star (A, a radio star)
(A radio star) Video killed the radio star
(You are) Video killed the radio star (A, a radio star)
(A radio star) Video killed the radio star
(You are) Video killed the radio star (A, a radio star)
(A radio star) Video killed the radio star
(You are) Video killed the radio star