Songs You May Not Know Were Covers Vol. 6: Video Killed the Radio Star (#1)

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For the sixth time I close the book on a list of hits that were cover songs. As I mentioned earlier, I try to save what I personally perceive as “the biggest surprise” for the top spot. That doesn’t always pan out (I shocked a lot of people last list with “Love Will Keep Us Together,” which I had at the bottom of the list). Let’s see if it does this time. #1: Video Killed the Radio Star A little earlier in this version of the countdown I used “You Better Run,” which was the second video ever played on MTV. Even if you don’t know or remember this song, you probably know the trivia that it was the first. Maybe “cover” isn’t the correct term in this case, given that two of the song’s writers were the nucleus of the Buggles, but they didn’t record it first! That distinction went to the third co-writer, Bruce Woolley. He and his band, the Camera Club, had the first recording of this classic. And a little trivia: the Camera Club’s keyboardist was Thomas Dolby, who’d later blind us with science. Now if we can only figure out what killed Video..... Thanks for reading. Video Killed the Radio Star Written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downs, and Bruce Woolley Originally recorded by Bruce Woolley & the Camera Club, 1978 Famously covered by the Buggles, 1979 In my mind and in my car: