At one minute past midnight on August 1st, 1981, the universes of television and music firmly locked in sync on a grand scale. The first broadcast of MTV was a watershed moment for the music industry. The impact of the new rolling, 24-hour music video channel would, over the ensuing decade, change the way artists thought about delivering their music.
The primary focus of musicians and record companies shifted away from the dominance of the album in the 1970s and set the ensuing decade's trend towards singles - readily delivered with MTV-ready videos.
MTV's launch forever intertwined video and music - and pushed the notion that how a song was visually represented was something that was an integral creative consideration.
Marking this transitional moment was a song that appeared to directly comment on the very shift that the audience was experiencing before their eyes and ears. Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles has, in the intervening years, become something of an 80s playlist staple. Its kitsch “ohwah, oh” backing vocal and its relentless, driving chorus lodging its hooks into our ears. Whether we want them too or not…
