I stumbled across this jewel on YouTube tonight. It was hanging out in the Related Videos section after I watched “I Am a Camera.”
Most everyone of a certain age has heard the song. Many know it was the first video ever played on MTV.
Buggles was a studio act that never toured, and the band was really a rather minor part of Trevor Horn’s career. He is a highly successful producer and songwriter who’s almost certainly been part of something you’ve enjoyed. Check out his résumé here.
The two things of note that led me to post the clip below:
- All of the musicians who recorded the song in 1979, including Buggle Geoff Downes and vocalists Debi Doss and Linda Jardin, are present and performing it for a live audience for the first time.
- This is absolutely the tightest, most perfectly performed live music I can recall ever hearing. Folks, you’re not supposed to be able to do this to this degree. This is a complex song, and to reproduce the vocals, the instrumentation, and the mix to this level of excellence must have required a tremendous amount of rehearsal. It’s just uncanny to listen to. I’ve picked it to pieces, and I don’t think they cheated on a single note.
Trevor Horn is such a dignified, yet clearly reluctant, frontman. It makes him all the more endearing. Enjoy:
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I miss the ’80s and MTV. The real MTV, VJs, martha quinn, and just hanging out with my friends wasting time watching videos. I want my MTV.
Wow. That actually gave me goosebumps. That is one of those songs that has stood up well against the test of time.
‘seester: Been a shonuff long time ago now. And wasn’t it great? We had all of the videos, if not the feel, on VH-1 Classic, until a year or so ago when they started in with the shows and movies. Now that’s just about all that’s there. Yet another MTV property collapses.
Jeremy: It’s something, isn’t it? It was always a great song, and you’re right, it’s aged well. (That almost never happens with something so synth-heavy, either.)
Man, I can’t say enough about the quality of this performance. I just barely believe it every time I listen to it.
Whatever happened to just showing videos?! I miss those days. I remember watching MTV the day it launched. Love that video – “Video Killed the Radio Star.”
I believe that there is another “VH1 Classic” station that plays real videos. I’ll have to remember what it is.
azn8tive: Yes, the video is good too. I was always impressed that they actually made a video that is watchable today (before anyone really knew what making a video meant). I’ve always thought the symbolism of the slo-mo popcorn popping at the beginning of it was fabulous.
I think the station you’re thinking of that plays real videos IS VH-1 Classic (181 on Knology ’round these parts). They do still have video blocks, but anytime I turn it on it’s a damned movie or countdown or documentary. I actually DVRed Metal Mania recently–it comes on for four hours in the middle of the night–and was disappointed at how pedestrian the playlist for it was.