The Buggles recorded “Video Killed the Radio Star,” MTV’s first music video in 1981.
The song was written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley, and The Buggles released it as a single in 1979. Its lyrics and title explore how new technology can displace older forms of media, making it an especially fitting choice for the launch of a television channel built around videos.
MTV aired the video immediately after its opening announcement on August 1, 1981. The clip used futuristic imagery, television sets and performance footage to match the song’s technology-focused theme. It became permanently linked with MTV’s origin story.
The song is sometimes incorrectly attributed to a later synth-pop act because its sound resembles the electronic pop that became prominent in the 1980s. The Buggles were a short-lived British duo, but “Video Killed the Radio Star” became their signature recording and a defining piece of music-television history.