30 January Is For Videos: Buggles – Video Killed The Radio Star

The very first music video shown on MTV was “Video Killed The Radio Star” by the band Buggles. Though New Wave would eventually wane in popularity, this band certainly ushered in a new era for pop music. Their song correctly prophesied that radio’s domination of pop music days were slowly coming to an end and video would be the future. I’ve often wondered about the complete effect that the medium of video has had on music since that day. I suspect our simultaneous obsession/hatred of appearance-driven music economics has been exponentially magnified by videos. If you look at the long list of popular musicians prior to the music industry’s use of video, you find fewer and fewer good looking people (and some might say better and better music). Truly, there were some real monsters in the looks department that made amazing music. The classic insult “you have a face for radio” comes to mind. It could be argued that video not only killed the radio star, but killed some good music along the way. I shudder to think about the great music we’ve possibly missed because it didn’t come in a package pretty enough for television. Today, it is extremely difficult to be a successful musician and not be at least halfway decent looking. Are all the best musicians getting better looking or are we turning away some amazing talent? Sadly, some lines drawn when it comes to gender. The effect is more pronounced for women in the music industry. The guys seem to be able to slip past the attractiveness inspection much easier than the ladies. I won’t name any names, but there are some seriously butt-ugly dudes in the game. When’s the last time you saw a really homely girl making it in rock, hip hop, country, etc.? Shame on us all! Enough soap-boxing for today. Here’s the video that changed it all….
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE BUGGLES KILL THE RADIO STAR