Video Killed the Radio Star
| Video Killed the Radio Star | |
|---|---|
| The Buggles | |
| publication | 7th September 1979 |
| length | 4:13 ( album version ) |
| Genre (s) | New wave , synthpop |
| Author (s) | Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn, and Bruce Woolley |
| Label | Island Records |
| album | The Age of Plastic |
Video Killed the Radio Star is a pop song by the group The Buggles , which became famous primarily for this title. The song reached high chart positions worldwide, especially in German-speaking countries and Great Britain ; however, it remained the Buggles' only number one hit.
The song was released as a single on September 7, 1979 and later on the LP The Age of Plastic . In this version there is an additional coda ending.
background
An early recording was made in 1978 by Bruce Woolley and The Camera Club (with Thomas Dolby on keyboards) for the album English Garden , even before the version of the Buggles known today .
The female voices in the song were Debi Doss and Linda Jardim .
Video Killed the Radio Star is the video clip with which the US-American music broadcaster MTV started the program and thus the first music video shown there . It was broadcast there on August 1, 1981 at 0.01 a.m. It was also the millionth video broadcast on MTV on February 27, 2000 at 2:57 a.m. The video clip shows the German composer Hans Zimmer at the modular synthesizer. He had previously worked with the Buggles musicians as part of the Camera Club band.
The melody of the song is also used in the health song by voice imitator Elmar Brandt .
The title of Robbie Williams ' eighth studio album , Reality Killed the Video Star , is a reference to the Buggles' song. The album was produced by Trevor Horn, who was a member of The Buggles. In October 2009 he performed it on his live tour.
Contributors
The song was written in 1977 by Trevor Horn , Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley. Horn reported that he himself was responsible for the text and that Woolley, as composer, was mainly responsible for the musical content. Woolley not only produced the song, but also directed the official music video.
Chart placements
The title was the Buggles' most successful title and reached number one in the singles charts in over eight countries. These included Austria, Great Britain and Switzerland. In Germany reached Video Killed the Radio Star No. 2 and in the United States number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition, the track in the UK gold could and even platinum status reached in France.
| Charts | Top position |
Weeks |
|---|---|---|
 Germany
|
2 | 22nd |
 Austria
|
1 | 16 |
 Switzerland
|
1 | 12 |
 United Kingdom
|
1 | 11 |
 United States
|
40 | 10 |
Cover versions
Video Killed the Radio Star has been released as a cover version numerous times. The most successful was a reinterpretation of The Presidents of the United States of America from the album Pure Frosting . They reached number 52 in the British charts. Other cover versions are from:
| year | Artist | album |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Didi Zill 1 | |
| 1979 | Ringo (singer) | Qui est ce grand corbeau noir |
| 1988 | Bon Ton | |
| 1992 | Geoff Downes & Glenn Hughes | Vox Humana (Downes) 2 |
| 1993 | Jun'ichi Kanemaru | Inspired Colors |
| 1998 | The Presidents of the United States of America | Pure frosting |
| 1999 | Lolita No.18 | ヤ リ タ ミ ン (YALITAMIN) |
| 2000 | Ken Laszlo | Ken Laszlo 2000 |
| 2003 | Erasure | Other People's Songs |
| 2004 | Dragonheart | |
| 2005 | Amber Pacific | Punk Goes 80's |
| 2005 | Ben Folds Five | Whatever and Ever Amen |
| 2005 | Len | The Diary of the Madmen (as Hidden Track ) |
| 2005 | Maria Doyle Kennedy | Skull cover |
| 2007 | Alvin and the Chipmunks | Alvin and the Chipmunks The Video Game |
| 2007 | Envy & Other Sins | |
| 2007 | The feeling | Rose |
| 2007 | Haruko Momoi | COVER BEST - Cover Densha |
| 2008 | Bitch alert | Pink Bunnies Get Hit by Big Trucks |
| 2009 | VV Brown | Traveling like the light |
| 2011 | Pentatonix | The Sing-Off: Season 3: Episode 5 - Guilty Pleasures |
| 2012 | Young London | single |
| 2012 | Joyce Manor | Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired |
| 2012 | Dominico but call me "D" | single |
| 2012 | Superbus | Sunset |
| 2018 | Postmodern jukebox | |
| 2019 | Walk off the earth |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ Video Killed the Radio Star in the Official UK Charts (English)