You were the first one, you were the last one: Video Killed the Radio Star

"We can't rewind, we've gone too far" - The technological dystopia of "Video Killed the Radio Star".

How to beat the mid-afternoon slump: "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.

The narrator in the song mourns a musical hero who cannot survive the jump to a new medium: TV and the music video. The song obliquely draws upon our knowledge of film history and the silent era stars who couldn't adapt to "talkies". [1]

"Video Killed the Radio Star" is steeped in nostalgia, not only for a radio-driven music era, but for a less technologically dependent time. It's through technology that the modern music industry commits crass and bullying acts upon the artist:

"They took the credit for your second symphony / Rewritten by machine on new technology"

It's a song that's deeply distrustful of technology, which is used to erase the performer.

Of course, in a straightforward way, it's about the rise of the image and how marketing that image eclipses the music itself. In this way, "Video Killed the Radio Star" was incredibly prescient and anticipated the rise of MTV and its accompanying impact on the music industry. (Ironically, the song was the first video played on MTV when it was launched in 1981.)

For me, though, there's an unarticulated sub-theme at work in the song: the loss of being unselfconscious…

Video Killed the Radio Star

I heard you on the wireless back in '52
Lying awake intent at tuning in on you
If I was young, it didn't stop you coming through

Oh-wah-oh

They took the credit for your second symphony
Rewritten by machine on new technology
And now I understand the problems you can see

Oh-wah-oh

I met your children

Oh-wah-oh

What did you tell them?

Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star

Pictures came and broke your heart

Oh-oh-oh-ah-oh

And now we meet in an abandoned studio
We hear the playback and it seems so long ago
And you remember the jingles used to go?

Oh-wah-oh

You were the first one

Oh-wah-oh

You were the last one

Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star

In my mind and in my car
We can't rewind we've gone to far

Oh-wah-oh-oh-oh
Oh-wah-oh-oh-oh

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 VTR

You are a radio star
You are a radio star

Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
You are a radio star/ Video killed the radio star

Lyrics by Trevor Horn/Geoffrey Downes/Bruce Woolley

The reference to "VTR" may throw you. It stands from video transfer recorder, which is simply a tape recorder that can record video. They're for professional use—the more consumer driven version is, of course, VCRs. There's a detailed page with examples of VTRs if you're interested, and there's a glimpse of one in the video.

[1] A theme that is more explicitly played out in "Elstree", another song on The Age of Plastic.

Turning now to this meme:

1. "Video Killed the Radio Star" - The Buggles, The Age of Plastic


2. "Remember" - Air, Moon Safari
3. "More Than This" - Roxy Music, Street Life: 20 Great Hits


4. "Only Happy When It Rains" - Garbage, Best Anthems Ever!


5. "Big Iron" - Johnny Cash, American Dream IV: When the Man Comes Around


6. "Little 15" - Depeche Mode, The Singles 86>98


7. "Getting Better" - The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band


8. "Whispers and Moans" - Crowded House, Woodface


9. "Ethnicolor II" - Jean Michel Jarre, Zoolook


10. "Really?" - The Guitar Orchestra, The Guitar Orchestra

I can't let it pass without saying that Jean Michel Jarre is not my cup of tea. The above is from a shared library. The Guitar Orchestra isn't my idea of a good time, either.

It's a frustrating game. I only just missed being able to include "Fool's Gold" by The Stone Roses. Ah, well.