The backstory on “Video Killed the Radio Star” the song that made history

The Buggles made history when MTV chose to air “Video Killed the Radio Star,” as the first video every shown on the music channel on August 1, 1981.

But, as the Professor of Rock Adam Reader recently discovered, there’s a lot more about the song, other than making a historical mark.

Geoff Downes, who created the song with co-writer and bandmate Trevor Horn, revealed the backstory of the song during a ZOOM interview with the Professor of Rock.

For an extra kick, check out the first hour VJ segments of MTV when they first signed on. This clip contains none of the videos they aired during that hour.