Video Killed the Radio Star - wikipedia Video Killed the Radio Star `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' Single by Bruce Woolley from the album English Garden Released 1979 Length 2 : 49 Label Epic Songwriter ( s ) Geoff Downes Trevor Horn Bruce Woolley Producer ( s ) Mike Hurst `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' Single by The Buggles from the album The Age of Plastic B - side `` Kid Dynamo '' Released 7 September 1979 Format 7 '' single Recorded 1979 Studio Virgin 's Townhouse ( West London, UK ), Sarm East Studios ( Brick Lane, London, UK ) Genre New wave synth - pop Length 3 : 25 ( single version ) 4 : 13 ( album version ) Label Island Songwriter ( s ) Geoff Downes Trevor Horn Bruce Woolley Producer ( s ) The Buggles The Buggles singles chronology `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' ( 1979 ) `` Living in the Plastic Age '' ( 1980 ) Music video `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' on YouTube `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' is a song written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley in 1978. It was first recorded by Bruce Woolley and The Camera Club ( with Thomas Dolby on keyboards ) for their album English Garden, and later by British group the Buggles, consisting of Horn and Downes. 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 would later take place at Sarm East Studios. Like all the other tracks from the LP, `` Video '' 's theme was promotion of technology while worrying about its effects. This song relates to concerns about mixed attitudes towards 20th - century inventions and machines for the media arts. Musically, the song performs like an extended jingle and the composition plays in the key of D - flat major in common time at a tempo of 132 beats per minute. The track has been positively received, with reviewers praising its unusual musical pop elements. Although the song includes several common pop characteristics and six basic chords are used in its structure, Downes and writer Timothy Warner described the piece as musically complicated, due to its use of suspended and minor ninth chords for enhancement that gave the song a `` slightly different feel. '' Commercially, `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' was also a success. The track topped sixteen international music charts, including the official singles charts of the group 's home country of the UK and other nations such as Australia, Austria, France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as the Japanese Oricon International Chart. It also peaked within the top 10 in Canada, Germany, New Zealand and South Africa, the top 20 in Belgium and the Netherlands, and barely in the top 40 in the United States. The song 's music video was written, directed, and edited by Russell Mulcahy, and is well - remembered as the first music video shown on MTV in the United States at 12 : 01a. m. on 1 August 1981, and the first video shown on MTV Classic in the United Kingdom 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 been covered by many recording artists. Trevor Horn has performed the song, both at Buggles reunions and with The Producers, since 1998. Contents 1 Writing, lyrical themes and background 2 Production and music 3 Commercial performance 4 Critical reception 5 Live performances 6 Music video 6.1 Production and concept 6.2 Broadcasting and reception 7 Credits and personnel 8 Charts and certifications 8.1 Chart performance 8.1. 1 Weekly charts 8.1. 2 Year - end charts 8.2 Sales and certifications 9 Accolades 10 See also 10.1 No. 1 chart lists 11 Release history 12 References 12.1 Bibliography 13 External links Writing, lyrical themes and background The Buggles, which formed in 1977, first consisted of Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley. They all wrote `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' in an hour of one afternoon in 1978, six months before it was recorded, together in Downes ' apartment, which was located above a monumental stonemason 's in Wimbledon Park London. The piece was built up from a chorus riff developed by Woolley. It is one of the three Buggles songs that he assisted in writing, the two others being `` Clean, Clean '' and `` On TV. '' An early demo of the song they did helped the group get signed to Island Records to record and publish their debut album The Age of Plastic. Woolley left during recording to form his own band, The Camera Club, which did their own version of `` Video '', as well as `` Clean, Clean '' for their album English Garden. Trevor Horn ( middle ) has said J.G. Ballard 's `` The Sound - Sweep '' was an inspiration for `` Video Killed the Radio Star ''. Horn has said that the 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. '' Horn claimed that Kraftwerk was another influence of the song : ``... It was like you could see the future when you heard Kraftwerk, something new is coming, something different. Different rhythm section, different mentality. So we had all of that, myself and Bruce, and we wrote this song probably six months before we recorded it. '' All the tracks of The Age of Plastic deal with positives and concerns of the impact of modern technology. The theme of `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' is thus nostalgia, with the lyrics referring 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. The lyrics relate to concerns of the varied behaviors towards 20th - century technical inventions and machines used and changed in media arts such as photography, cinema, radio, television, audio recording and record production. Woolley worried about the song 's name, given the existence of a band with the name Radio Stars and a song titled `` Video King '' by singer Snips. Production and music Note : this section covers the production info and composition and arrangement of the Buggles version of the song, and most of it may not apply to that done by Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club or later cover versions of the song. Composition and arrangement info Length 4 : 13 ( album version ) 3 : 25 ( single version ) Genre New wave synth - pop Key D ♭ major BPM 132 Time signature ( common time ) Instruments Drums bass guitar electric guitar synths synth strings synth brass synth piano marimbas male vocals, female vocals Musically, `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' is a new wave and synth - pop song. It performs like an extended jingle, sharing its rhythm characteristics with disco. The piece plays in common time at a bright tempo of 132 beats per minute. It is in the key of D ♭ major, and six basic chords are used in the song 's chord progression. According to Geoff Downes, `` It 's actually a lot more complicated piece of music than people think, for instance part of the bridge is actually chords suspended and minor 9ths. A lot of people transcribed the song wrongly, they thought it was a straight F# chord. The song was written in D flat. The suspended gives it a slightly different feel. '' Writing in his book, Pop Music : Technology and Creativity : Trevor Horn and the Digital Revolution, Timothy Warner said that the `` relatively quiet introduction '' helping the listener detect a high amount of `` tape hiss '' generated through the use of analogue multi-track tape recorders, as well as the timbre of the synthesized instruments, give an indication of the technical process and time of producing the song. `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' The final chorus of `` Video Killed the Radio Star ''. There are instruments of electric guitars, a bass guitar, drums, and synths arranged in the track, and the male and female singers ' accents and effects differ to give a historical and tonal contrast. Problems playing this file ? See media help. The song was put in more than three months of production. The instrumental track was recorded at Virgin 's Town House in West London for twelve hours, with mixing and recording of vocals held at Sarm East Studios. The entire song was mixed through a Trident TSM console. `` Video '' was the first track recorded for the group 's debut LP The Age of Plastic, which cost a sum of £ 60,000 ( equivalent to £ 307,423 in 2014 ) to produce, and the song had been mixed by Gary Langan four or five times. According to Langan, `` there was no total recall, so we just used to start again. We 'd do a mix and three or four days later Trevor would go, ' It 's not happening. We need to do this and we need to do that. ' The sound of the bass drum was one of his main concerns, along with his vocal and the backing vocals. It was all about how dry and how loud they should be in the mix without the whole thing sounding ridiculous. As it turned out, that record still had the loudest bass drum ever for its time. '' The song includes instrumentation of drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, synth strings, piano, glockenspiel, marimbas and other futuristic, twinkly sounds, and vocals. Downes used a Solina, Minimoog and Prophet - 5 to create the overdubbed orchestral parts. Both the male and female voices differ to give a tonal and historical contrast. When Langan was interviewed in December 2011, he believed the male vocal was recorded through either a dynamic Shure SM57, SM58, Sennheiser 421, or STC 4038 ribbon microphone, and that four or five takes had to be done. The male voice echos the song 's theme in the tone of the music, initially limited in bandwidth to give a `` telephone '' effect typical of early broadcasts, and uses a mid-Atlantic accent resembling that of British singers in the 1950s and ' 60s. The Vox AC30 amplifier was used to achieve the telephone effect, and Gary Langan says he was trying to make it `` loud without cutting your head off '', in others words make the voice sound soft. Gary Langan and Trevor Horn also tried using a bullhorn, but they found it too harsh. Langan later compressed and EQ 'd the male vocals, and he said that doing the compression for old - style vocal parts was a `` real skill. '' The female vocals are panned in the left and right audio channels, and sound more modern and have a New York accent. The single version of `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' lasts for 3 minutes and 25 seconds. The album version plays for 4 minutes and 13 seconds, about 48 seconds longer than the single version, as it fades into a piano and synth coda, which ends with a brief sampling of the female vocals. Commercial performance `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' was a huge commercial success, reaching number one on 16 different national charts. In the Buggles ' home country, 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. The single was later certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry for UK sales of 500,000. In Australia, `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' reached number one, where it was the best - selling record for 27 years. The track went number one on the Italian Singles Chart in 1980, where it became the best - selling single of the same year. The song also made a number - one peak in France and Spain, where it was certified gold and platinum, respectively, as well as Austria, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland. In other parts of Europe and Oceania, `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' was a number - two hit in Germany and New Zealand, and also charted in Flanders on the Ultratop 50 and in the Netherlands, on the Nationale Hitparade Top 50 ( now the Single Top 100 ) and Dutch Top 40. `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' did not start charting in North America, however, until November 1979. In the United States, the song appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, barely breaking into the top 40 on both charts. In a 2015 list from Billboard, it tied with Marvin Gaye 's recording of `` The End of Our Road '' as the `` Biggest Hot 100 Hit '' at the peak of number 40. `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' had debuted at number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week of 10 November 1979, while on the Cashbox Top 100 it debuted at number 83 that same week. It started also at number 83 on the Canadian RPM Top Single Chart. By January 1980, it entered the top 40 at number 31, and on 2 February made it into the top 20 at number 11. Two weeks later, the song earned its peak in the top 10 at number 6 and issue dated 16 February 1980. Critical reception Ever since its release, the Buggles ' version of `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' has been given a mostly positive reception from music critics. Originally, the song became a Billboard Top Single Pick on 3 November 1979, whom the publication found the chorus catchy and also highlighted the orchestral instruments supporting the backing singers. Although there had been a mixed review of the single from Smash Hits, who found the song to be `` too tidy, like vymura '' ( wallpaper ), they listed it in a review of The Age of Plastic as one of the best tracks of the album, along with `` Living in the Plastic Age ''. Timothy Warner wrote that, although several common pop elements were still present in the song, it included stronger originality for its own purpose than most other pop hits released at the time. These unusual pop music characteristics include the timbres of the male and female vocal parts, and the use of suspended fourth and ninths chords for enhancement in its progression. He also felt it was unnecessary to dislike it as a `` novelty song. '' AllMusic 's Heather Phares said the track `` can be looked on as a perfectly preserved new wave gem, '' `` just as the song looks back on the radio songs of the ' 50s and ' 60s. '' She concluded her review by saying that it `` still sounds as immediate as it did when it was released, however, and that may be the song 's greatest irony. '' However, many writers called Woolley 's recording of `` Video '' much better than the Buggles ' version. This included one critic who called both acts overall as of being very high quality, but felt that Woolley 's version was more faithful to the source material than that of The Buggles, noting the filtered vocals and cute, female vocals of the latter rendition as giving it a novelty feel. However, he also wrote of liking both versions of `` Clean, Clean '' on the same level. In October 2016, OnePoll 's Kevin Smith asked 2,000 listeners to vote for their favorite one - hit wonders for a poll ; `` Video Killed The Radio Star '' topped the list. Live performances A rare live performance of the song by Horn and Downes came at a ZTT showcase in 1998. In 2004, The Buggles re-united again with Bruce Woolley at Wembley Arena to perform `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' and `` Living in the Plastic Age '' as part of a tribute event to Horn to raise money for The Prince 's Trust charity. They were joined by Debi Doss and Linda Jardim ( now Linda Allan ), who performed the background singing on the original recording. Paul Robinson, who played drums on the original, also appeared. Both Horn and Downes have performed the song live in other acts, including Yes ( which Downes and Horn joined for the Drama album and tour in 1980 ), Downes in the 2006 -- 2009 revival of Asia with John Wetton singing lead and again in 2017 with Billy Sherwood singing lead, and Horn in his band The Producers, also in 2006. In November 2006, The Producers played at their first gig in Camden Town. A video clip can be seen on ZTT Records of Horn singing lead vocals and playing bass in a performance of `` Video Killed the Radio Star ''. Tina Charles appears on a YouTube video singing ' Slave to the Rhythm ' with The Producers and Horn reveals that Tina was the singer and originator of the `` Oh Ah - Oh Ah - Oh '' part of ' Video ' ; fellow 5000 Volt member Martin Jay was also a session musician on The Buggles record. Robbie Williams performed the song with Trevor Horn at the BBC Electric Proms on 20 October 2009. Since 2010, Horn has performed `` Video '' with both the Buggles and his new band, Producers. Since 2011, he has added new vocals to his live performance before the song 's final chorus : Video killed the radio star, He hit him on the head with his old guitar, He tried to run away, but did n't get far, That 's how video killed the radio star Music Video Production and concept Trevor Horn ( right ) and Geoff Downes ( left ) as they appear in the video. Actress and model Virginia Hey starred in the video as the girl in the test tube. The music video for `` Video Killed the Radio Star '', written, directed and edited by Australian Russell Mulcahy, was produced on a budget of $50,000. It was filmed in only a day in South London, and was edited in a couple of days. Mulcahy asked Virginia Hey, a friend who was a model and aspiring actress, to dress `` in a silver costume and be lowered via wires in a test tube. '' There were about 30 takes required for shots of the actress in the tube. The tube falls over in the video, although Mulcahy claims it was not intended to be shown in the final edit. Hans Zimmer can be briefly seen wearing black playing a keyboard, and Debi Doss and Linda Jardim, who provided the female vocals for the song, are also seen. The video starts with a girl sitting in front of a radio. A black - and - white shot of Trevor Horn singing into a radio - era microphone is superimposed over the girl by the radio. The radio blows up by the time of the first chorus, and then in the second verse, she is seen transported into the future, where she meets Horn and a silver - jumpsuited female in a clear plastic tube. Shots of Horn and Geoff Downes are shown during the remainder of the video. Broadcasting and reception The video was first released in 1979, when it originally aired on the BBC 's Top of the Pops for promotion of the single, rather than doing live performances. Zimmer recalled in 2001 that the video drew criticism from some viewers who watched it before it aired on MTV, due to being `` too violent because we blew up a television. '' The video is best known as marking the debut of MTV, when the US channel started broadcasting at 12 : 01 AM on 1 August 1981. On 27 February 2000, it became the one - millionth video to be aired on MTV. It also opened MTV Classic in the UK and Ireland, which replaced VH1 Classic on 1 March 2010, at 6 AM. The video marked the closing of MTV Philippines before its shutdown on 15 February 2010 at 11 : 49 PM. MTV co-founder Bob Pittman said the video `` made an aspirational statement. We did n't expect to be competitive with radio, but it was certainly a sea - change kind of video. '' In July 2013, multiple independent artists covered `` Video '' for the launch of the TV channel Pivot, which launched with the music video of the cover on 1 August at 6 am. Credits and personnel Sources : Trevor Horn -- songwriter, producer, bass, vocals ( Buggles version ) Geoff Downes -- songwriter, producer, keyboards, percussion Bruce Woolley -- songwriter, guitar, vocals ( Bruce Woolley version ) Paul Robinson -- drums Debi Doss -- backing vocals Linda Jardim -- backing vocals Dave Birch -- lead guitar Gary Langan -- mixer, recording Hugh Padgham -- recording, audio engineering John Dent -- mastering Charts and certifications Chart performance Weekly charts Year Chart Peak position 1979 -- 1980 Australia ( Kent Music Report ) Austria ( Ö3 Austria Top 40 ) Belgium ( Ultratop 50 Flanders ) 12 Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) 6 Europe ( Eurochart Hot 100 ) France ( IFOP ) Germany ( Official German Charts ) Ireland ( IRMA ) Italy ( FIMI ) Japan ( Oricon International Chart ) Japan ( Oricon Singles Chart ) 25 Netherlands ( Dutch Top 40 ) 17 Netherlands ( Single Top 100 ) 16 New Zealand ( Recorded Music NZ ) South Africa ( Springbok Radio ) 6 Spain ( AFE ) Sweden ( Sverigetopplistan ) Switzerland ( Schweizer Hitparade ) UK Singles ( Official Charts Company ) US Billboard Hot 100 40 US Cash Box 40 2006 UK Singles ( Official Charts Company ) 167 2013 France ( SNEP ) 190 Year - end charts Year Chart Position 1979 Australia ( Kent Music Report ) 18 Belgium ( Ultratop 50 Flanders ) 94 France ( IFOP ) 1980 Australia ( Kent Music Report ) 46 Austria ( Ö3 Austria Top 40 ) 14 Canada ( RPM Top Singles ) 30 Germany ( Media Control Charts ) 43 Italy ( FIMI ) Sales and certifications Region Certification Certified units / Sales France ( SNEP ) Platinum 1,212,000 Spain ( PROMUSICAE ) Gold 50,000 United Kingdom ( BPI ) Gold 500,000 sales figures based on certification alone shipments figures based on certification alone Accolades Publication / TV Show / Author ( s ) Country Accolade Year Rank 20 to 1 Australia Top 20 One Hit Wonders 2006 Bruce Pollock United States The 7,500 Most Important Songs of 1944 - 2000 2005 * Giannis Petridis Greece 2004 of the Best Songs of the Century 2003 Gilles Verlant, Thomas Caussé France 3000 Rock Classics 2009 The Guardian United Kingdom The Top 100 British Number 1 Singles 53 Hervé Bourhis France Le Petit Livre Rock : The Juke Box Singles 1950 - 2009 2009 * Les Inrockuptibles 1000 Indispensable Songs 2006 Mashable United States 32 Unforgettable Music Videos 2013 MSN Music United Kingdom Best Song Titles Ever 2003 19 NBC - 10 United States The 30 Best Songs of the 80s 2006 * Pause & Play Songs Inducted into a Time Capsule, One Track at Each Week PopMatters The 100 Best Songs Since Johnny Rotten Roared 2003 73 Q United Kingdom The 1010 Songs You Must Own ( Q50 : One - hit Wonders ) * Time United States Top 10 MTV Moments Time Out United Kingdom 100 Songs That Changed History 100 Triple J Hottest 100 Australia Hottest 100 of All Time 1998 79 VH1 United States 100 Greatest One - Hit Wonders of the 80 's 2009 40 100 Greatest Videos 79 Volume ! France 200 Records that Changed the World 2008 * Xfinity United States Top 10 Groundbreaking Videos 10 WhatCulture ! 10 Controversial Music Videos That Look Tame Today 2013 * WOXY.com The 500 Best Modern Rock Songs of All Time 2008 348 All accolades are adapted from Acclaimed Music, except if cited by an additional source. `` * '' indicates the list is unordered. See also `` Internet Killed the Video Star '', a 2010 song by The Limousines `` Check It Out '', a 2010 song by will.i.am and Nicki Minaj which heavily samples the song. No. 1 chart lists List of number - one singles in Australia during the 1970s List of European number - one hits of 1980 List of number - one singles of 1979 ( France ) List of number - one singles of 1979 ( Ireland ) List of number - one hits of 1980 ( Italy ) List of number - one singles of 1980 ( Spain ) List of number - one singles and albums in Sweden List of number - one singles from 1968 -- 79 ( Switzerland ) List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1970s Release history Region Date ( s ) Format Label United Kingdom 7 September 1979 7 '' Island Records Italy 23 October 1979 United States October 1979, June 1983 United States October 1979 7 '' -- Promotional Australia 1979 7 '' Canada France Germany Ireland Japan Netherlands New Zealand Spain References ^ Jump up to : Ali, Rahsheeda ( 2 May 2013 ). `` 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders Of The 80s : 40. `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' -- The Buggles ``. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013... 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Jump up ^ ( in German ) `` Top 100 Single - Jahrescharts -- 1980 ''. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015... GfK Entertainment. Jump up ^ `` French single certifications -- Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star '' ( in French ). InfoDisc. Select BUGGLES and click OK Jump up ^ `` Les Singles de Platine ''. InfoDisc ( in French ). Archived from the original on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2012. Jump up ^ Salaverri, Fernando ( September 2005 ). Sólo éxitos : año a año, 1959 -- 2002 ( in Spanish ) ( 1st ed. ). Spain : Fundación Autor - SGAE. ISBN 84 - 8048 - 639 - 2. Jump up ^ `` British single certifications -- Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star ''. British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Enter Video Killed the Radio Star in the search field and then press Enter. Jump up ^ `` One - Hit Wonders ''. 20 to 1. Series 2. Episode 1. 13 February 2006. Nine Network. Jump up ^ `` The Top 100 British Number 1 Singles ''. 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Jump up ^ `` 10 Controversial Music Videos That Look Tame Today ''. Archived from the original on 1 March 2013... WhatCulture !. Obsessed With Film. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star ''. Acclaimed Music. Retrieved 18 August 2013. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- UK -- WIP 6524 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 5 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- Italy -- WIP 26524 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 22 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- USA -- IS 49114 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 5 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- USA -- IS 7 - 99871 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 5 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star ( Mono ) / Video Killed the Radio Star ( Stereo ) -- Island -- USA -- IS 49114 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 5 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- Australia -- K7641 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 5 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- Canada -- 49114 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 22 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- France -- 6172 870 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 22 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- Germany -- 100 924 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 22 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- Ireland -- WIP 6524 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 22 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- Japan -- ILR - 20646 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 22 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- Netherlands -- 100.924 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 22 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- Video Killed the Radio Star / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- New Zealand -- K7641 ''. 45cat. Retrieved 22 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` The Buggles -- El Video Mato A La Estrella Radiofoalca ( Video Killed The Radio Star ) / Kid Dynamo -- Island -- Spain -- 100.924 - A ''. 45cat. Retrieved 22 January 2014. Bibliography Warner, Timothy ( 2003 ). Pop music : technology and creativity : Trevor Horn and the digital revolution. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978 - 0 - 7546 - 3132 - 3. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics The Buggles Trevor Horn Geoff Downes Studio albums The Age of Plastic Adventures in Modern Recording Singles `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' `` Living in the Plastic Age '' `` Clean, Clean '' `` Elstree '' `` I Am a Camera '' `` Adventures in Modern Recording '' `` On TV '' `` Lenny '' `` Beatnik '' Other songs and demos `` I Love You ( Miss Robot ) '' `` Videotheque '' `` We Can Fly From Here ( Parts 1&2 ) '' Related Discography Bruce Woolley Drama Fly from Here The Presidents of the United States of America Chris Ballew Dave Dederer Jason Finn Andrew McKeag Studio albums The Presidents of the United States of America II Freaked Out and Small Love Everybody These Are the Good Times People Kudos to You ! Compilations Rarities Pure Frosting Lump Live albums Thanks for the Feedback Demos & EPs Froggystyle Peaches & Live Munky River Singles `` Fuck California '' `` Naked and Famous '' `` Kitty '' `` Lump '' `` Peaches '' `` Ça Plane Pour Moi '' `` Dune Buggy '' `` Mach 5 '' `` Supersonics '' `` Volcano '' `` Tiki God '' `` Video Killed the Radio Star '' `` Jupiter '' `` Tiny Explosions '' `` Last Girl on Earth '' `` Some Postman '' `` Zero Friction '' `` Mixed Up S.O.B. '' `` Ladybug '' `` Rot in the Sun '' `` More Bad Times '' `` Moving In '' `` This is a Blitz '' `` Poor Little Me '' Related articles Discography Skin Yard Love Battery The Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy The Giraffes The Gentlemen Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Video_Killed_the_Radio_Star&oldid=856716026 '' Categories : 1979 singles 1979 songs The Buggles songs Compositions in D - flat major Epic Records singles European Hot 100 Singles number - one singles Irish Singles Chart number - one singles Island Records singles MTV Music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy Debut singles Number - one singles in Australia Number - one singles in Austria Number - one singles in France Number - one singles in Italy Number - one singles in Spain Number - one singles in Sweden Number - one singles in Switzerland Oricon International Singles Chart number - one singles The Presidents of the United States of America ( band ) songs Song recordings produced by Trevor Horn Songs about radio Songs about television Songs written by Bruce Woolley Songs written by Geoff Downes Songs written by Trevor Horn UK Singles Chart number - one singles Hidden categories : CS1 Italian - language sources ( it ) CS1 French - language sources ( fr ) CS1 Spanish - language sources ( es ) Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from August 2013 Articles containing Japanese - language text CS1 Dutch - language sources ( nl ) CS1 German - language sources ( de ) Articles with German - language external links Use dmy dates from July 2018 Use British English from March 2012 Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from April 2010 Singlechart usages for Austria Singlechart making named ref Singlechart usages for Flanders Singlechart usages for Canadatopsingles Singlechart called without artist Singlechart called without song Singlechart usages for Germany2 Singlechart usages for Ireland2 Singlechart usages for Dutch40 Singlechart usages for Dutch100 Singlechart usages for New Zealand Singlechart usages for Sweden Singlechart usages for Switzerland Singlechart usages for UK Singlechart usages for France Certification Table Entry usages for France Certification Table Entry usages for Spain Certification Table Entry usages for United Kingdom Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español Français Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Slovenčina Suomi Svenska Türkçe 10 more Edit links This page was last edited on 27 August 2018, at 03 : 35 ( UTC ). 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Question: when did video killed the radio star debut
Answer: 7 September 1979