Before MTV, music videos were rare. Bands and artists such as The Beatles, Elvis Presley, and Pink Floyd would release movies that were basically one long music video, to promote their music and give it a visual representation. Shows like American Bandstand, The Ed Sullivan Show, and (in the UK) Top of the Pops had music-obsessed teenagers huddled in front of grainy black and white 12-inch screens just for a glimpse of the artist. As they screamed and cried at the untouchable musicians flickering on the screen before them, as they fainted at their concerts it was clear; they needed something more. Then along came MTV.
MTV gave musicians a platform to combine art and music while helping to launch a thousand music careers. MTV gave rise to the music video as an art form and for that, I want to honor them and what better way to honor them than by reviewing the music video that launched MTV all those years ago on August 1st, 1981. That’s right, I’m talking about THAT music video. The music video that was the defining breakthrough moment for the entire music video era.
It’s one small step for man and one giant leap for… THE BUGGLES!!
The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” was recorded in 1979 and released on their album Age of Plastic. The entire album embraces the excitement and concern over new technology that was so prevalent at the time.
MTV could not have picked a more fitting song to usher in a whole new generation of music lovers. Just as the music video predicted, video did indeed kill the radio star and the murderer was MTV. Now it was no longer important just for musicians to be heard, they had to be SEEN.
The song itself combines old and new by mixing an electronic synthesizer with traditional piano. The jingle-like vocals mix with the gramophone-like filter singer Trevor Horn used on his voice create a nostalgic yet futuristic feel for the song.
The video begins with a young girl in front of a giant radio, a black and white Trevor Horn pops out to sing the first verse.
“I hear you on the wireless back in fifty-two/ Lying awake intent at tuning in on you/ If I was young it didn’t stop you coming through.”
-And the chorus girls sing-
“Oh-ah-oh.”
I have to say my favorite aspect of this music video is how the rhythm of the video syncs with the rhythm of the song. Every time the chorus girls sing “Oh-ah-oh” the radio lights up. Giving way again to that nostalgic feeling of the “good ol’ days,” it almost feels like an advert for a children’s toy.
Trevor Horn sings the second verse before the radio blows up in a cloud of smoke and sparks.
A woman from the future clad in silver replaces the little girl where she stands. Say goodbye to the old days of radio and hello to the future of music video.
Now we are taken to the music studio of the future where Trevor Horn plays a mad scientist in a lab coat and keyboardist Geoffrey Downes is plugging music into a television which plays a different video
And to make it even more sci-fi they put the silver woman in a test tube.
And somehow the little girl is there staring up at the test tube woman. Looking to her future.
As horn sings the third verse, the girl climbs a mountain of two-dimensional broken radios. TVs emerge through the floor and reign supreme. Test tube girl flies from the radio mountain as the wall breaks apart to reveal the band and they play through. The end of an era.
The Buggles’ album Age of Plastic is out of this world! So, why wasn’t the band more successful? Well, artistically speaking they were bizarre, and if the video for “Video Killed the Radio Star” isn’t enough proof watch the music video for “Plastic Age.” You can watch it on YouTube or my Tumblr: musicvideokills.tumblr.com. Complete with human blackface keyboards.
And lord knows Trevor Horn didn’t exactly look like a Rockstar of the 80s.
Perhaps, if they had tried to make it as a band today when it’s become cool to be a nerd they’d have been more successful.
But just because The Buggles were one-hit wonders doesn’t mean the band members themselves weren’t successful. Geoffrey Downes joined the band Asia and Trevor Horn had a stint in Yes before becoming one of the most successful music producers in the world. He went on to produce music by bands such as Tina Turner, Seal, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, t.A.T.u, Pet Shop Boys, Simple Minds, White Snake and the list goes on.
Not to mention, being the first band ever featured on MTV and turning a whole generation on to the art of music videos is a pretty big accomplishment.
And while it seemed the music video itself would die as MTV faded away to nothing more than a platform for trashy reality shows YouTube brought the music video back. Now it’s up to us to support this art and prevent it from dying out like its predecessors.
“Put the blame on VCR.”
VideoKills 