Friday, July 1, 2016

Song of the Day: "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles

This song, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles—which was the first video ever played on MTV, I'm told—is special. I

t came out in 1979, so it as a truly pioneering composition—mixing the technophobia of a Gary Numan with the new romanticism of, oh let's say, Thomas Dolby's "Europa and The Pirate Twins." Listen to the lyrics sometime. It's one of the most plot-heavy songs ever.

Back to "Video Killed the Radio Star":
I can't help but sing along, first to the verses as sung by lead vocalist Trevor Horn, a mixture of computer-age robotic and wistful: "I heard you on the wireless back in '52/Lying awake intent at tuning in on you/If I was young that didn't stop you coming through."

Cue a trio of female back-up singers providing a hiccuping, yodeling, Betty Boop-ish exclamation that says nothing and everything simultaneously: "Oh, a Oh."

The chorus is delicious, with those dulcet female voices giving a post-mortem of the golden age of radio. As it turns out, and as the song indicates, it's video that killed the radio star.

And then there's the best part. You might want to take out some of the bad-tasting over-the-counter vocal spray that smooths the throat of someone who is beleaguered by touring or by overdoing thei Harvey Fierstein impersonation. Because you will need to lift your voice like an angel, with a vibrato for wings, as you sing that upward lilting affirmation: "You are/the radio sta-a-a-a-a-a-a-r."

What's not to like? There's a reason this song is a classic.

You may remember that the novelty band The Presidents of the United States covered this song many years later. The rendition was pretty faithful but the soul was sucked out of the song. It neither adds to or detracts from the legacy of the Buggles original.

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