Personnel

Musicians

  • Geoff Downes – keyboards, percussion
  • Trevor Horn – lead vocals, bass guitar
  • Debi Doss – backing vocals, chorus vocals
  • Linda Jardim-Allen – backing vocals, chorus vocals
  • Dave Birch – guitars
  • Phil Towner – drums

Technical

  • Gary Langan – mixing, recording
  • Hugh Padgham – recording, audio engineering
  • John Dent – mastering

Sources:

Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club version

Woolley's version was the first to be released, as a June 1979 single with his group the Camera Club on Epic Records, backed with "Get Away William" (written by Woolley and Dave Birch). It was also included on their debut studio album English Garden later that year. Their version was recorded in the same year as the Buggles' version, and was produced by Mike Hurst. Thomas Dolby, who helped produce the Buggles' version, played the keyboards on Woolley's version. Another contributor to the Buggles' version, Dave Birch, also contributed guitars to Woolley's version.

Track listing

  1. "Video Killed the Radio Star"
  2. "Get Away William"

Personnel

Musicians

  • Bruce Woolley – vocals, guitar
  • Dave Birch – guitar
  • Matthew Seligman – bass
  • Thomas Dolby – keyboards
  • Rod Johnson – drums

Technical

  • Richard Goldblatt – engineering

Live performances and cover versions

  • A notable interpretation of the melody was released in 1979 by French singer Ringo, using French language lyrics by Étienne Roda-Gil supplying a new title ("Who is this big black raven?") Ringo's version peaked at number 8 in France.
  • A rare live performance of the song by Horn and Downes came at a ZTT showcase in 1998. This was followed by a performance of the song at a Prince's Trust concert celebrating Horn's 25 years as a record producer on 11 November 2004.
  • 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 Charles was the singer and originator of the "Oh Ah-Oh Ah-Oh" part of the song; 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. He also parodied the song's name for his eighth studio album, Reality Killed the Video Star, released that same year and produced by Horn.
  • Erasure covered this song as a final track to their Other People's Songs album. Vince Clarke in an interview said that he considers it "the perfect pop song".
  • Anne Dudley, composer and co-founding member of The Art of Noise with Trevor Horn, performed the song on solo piano on her album Anne Dudley Plays the Art of Noise.

Samples and interpolations

  • In 2010, Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas and Nicki Minaj released the single "Check It Out" for the latter's debut studio album, Pink Friday (2010). The song heavily samples "Video Killed the Radio Star". Upon its release, it charted at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. It also peaked within the top 10 on charts in Belgium and Japan, and was certified Silver in the United Kingdom.
  • In 2025, Lil Tecca, released the second and final single to his fifth studio album, Dopamine (2025), entitled "Owa Owa". The song samples "Video Killed the Radio Star" in its chorus, with the song's title referencing the portion used. Upon its release, the single charted at number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100, and peaked within the top 10 on charts in Malta and New Zealand.
  • The song's name will be used for the upcoming British horror film Video Killed the Radio Star, which takes place in 1979, the same year the song was recorded and released in.

In February 2002, while on international duty with England, David Beckham became involved in an argument with journalist Rob Shepherd during a press conference after Shepherd made a joke about David and Victoria Beckham's habit of finishing second (David finishing second in the recent FIFA World Player of the Year vote and Victoria's inability to have a Number 1 hit). Beckham sarcastically asked Shepherd, "What do you know about music? How many people in your family have ever had a Number 1?" Shepherd replied, "One. My sister was in The Buggles." His sister was Linda Jardim-Allen, who sang vocals on the song.

In mid-2020, the song became popular among TikTok users as a trend to revisit celebrity death conspiracies, and across the internet when a deepfake of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin singing the song went viral on multiple social media sites.

See also

  • Reality Killed the Video Star, a 2009 album by Robbie Williams produced by Trevor Horn
  • "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.
  • "Owa Owa", a 2025 song by Lil Tecca which also heavily samples the song.
  • Video Killed the Radio Star (film)

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 to 1979 (Switzerland)
  • List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1970s
  • List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States

References

Bibliography