Oct 18th in Pop History
On this day, October 18th, in:
• 1979 - The Buggles were at # 1 on the singles charts with Video Killed The Radio Star. This great song by the The Buggles, shortly after it’s release in 1979, soon reached number one in 16 countries. The historic distinction of the song is that it’s video, famously, was the 1st music video ever shown on MTV, having aired at 12:01 AM on August 1, 1981, the moment that MTV was born!
This song literally launched MTV into the upper strata of the pop music atmosphere! And then, on February 27, 2000, the Buggles video became the one-millionth video to be aired on MTV. What a legacy for one pop song and it’s video!
The Buggles were an English new wave band formed in London in 1977 by singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoffrey Downes. They’re best known for the above mentioned song, Video Killed the Radio Star. The track was recorded and mixed in 1979, released as their debut single on Sep. 7, 1979, and included on their first album The Age of Plastic.
Trevor Horn, singer-songwriter, bass, guitar, percussion, producer, says “The original idea was that the Buggles – a robot Beatles - would never be seen, but once we had a hit we were as anonymous as an explosion. My outsized glasses in the video were inspired by Elvis Costello’s. I came out of the opticians with these big specs and said to Geoff, ‘I’m a Buggle now.’” (Horn shown below)
Downes, the other member of the pop duo, elaborates that the group's name derived as a pun on the rock band The Beatles, saying: "It was originally called the Bugs ... studio insects — imaginary creatures who lived in recording studios creating havoc. Then somebody said as a joke that the Bugs would never be as big as the Beatles. So we changed it to the Buggles." (Downes shown below)
Horn later spoke of its name: "I know the name's awful, but at the time it was the era of the great punk thing. I'd got fed up of producing people who were generally idiots but called themselves all sorts of clever names like the Unwanted, the Unwashed, the Unheard ... when it came to choosing our name I thought I'd pick the most disgusting name possible. In retrospect I have frequently regretted calling myself Buggles, but in those days I never really thought much about packaging or selling myself, all that really concerned me was the record” (from an interview with Fiona Russell Powell).
The song received many critical accolades, such as being ranked number 40 on VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '80s. It has also been covered by many recording artists. Shortly after this success, the two Buggles, instead of crafting a 2nd album together, chose to join the progressive rock group Yes.
The attached Rolling Stone article explains:
I hope you’ll take a moment to listen below. This is such a GREAT record. And now you know the whole story!
Here is the historic official video that literally launched MTV in 1981: The Buggles with their performance of Video Killed The Radio Star:
The Buggles on Spotify:,
Also, on this day, October 18th, in…
• 1975 - John Denver’s album Windsong hits # 1 in America
• 1926 - Chuck Berry, singer, songwriter and guitarist, was born in St. Louis. Berry was one of the pioneers of rock and roll music, who helped to develop rhythm and blues into the force that made rock and roll distinctive
Also, on this day in…
• 1967 - Ode to Billie Joe, the debut album of Bobbie Gentry, hit # 1 in the US. It was the only album that had been able to topple The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper from its 15-week reign on top of the Billboard 200 album chart
• 1969 - The Temptations’ I Can’t Get Next To You hits # 1 for the first of two weeks
