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My Gen X Playlist: Video Killed the Radio Star – The Buggles

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I can go anywhere as long as there is an internet connection or it’s Verizon friendly. I’m never concerned about killing time. I can always occupy myself as long as I have my phone. I usually catch up on the news, sports, podcasts, YouTube, WordPress or email. I mostly use apps instead of websites. I try not to be glued to my phone, but I catch myself sometimes.

I noticed a couple having dinner at a restaurant and both were on their phones while they ate in silence. This is not an uncommon sight. I can also imagine kids distracted by their phones at dinner time. It’s too convenient to have all this information and various connections at our finger tips. People have suggested technology free spans and that sounds like a good idea.

If I’m having this issue as a Gen Xer, the younger generation must be having a smidge more of a challenge since they grew up with technology from day one. Evolution is never free. Everything in moderation? I always assigned that to food and drink, but I guess that should apply to everything. It just gets difficult when they keep sending me cute puppy videos. That immediately sends me down a YouTube rabbit hole.

As I write this, Video Killed the Radio Star keeps coming to mind. I keep thinking about the impact of technology and how things quickly change or are eventually replaced and fade.

“It came from this idea that technology was on the verge of changing everything. Video recorders had just come along, which changed people’s lives. We’d seem people starting to make videos as well, and we were excited by that. It felt like radio was the past and video was the future. There was a shift coming.”

***

This was the first video to air on MTV. The network launched August 1, 1981, and this provided the first evidence that MTV was going to make it.

– songfacts

The irony is this song marked the arrival of MTV, which now only really exists in our distant memories. Easy come, easy go.

My hope is that technology doesn’t cause another shift where conversation falls by the wayside. Yes, texting is easier, but at the expense of a lost connections amid the short abrupt transmissions that no emoji can replicate. It’s difficult to replace a face to face conversation or the voice on the other end of the line. But maybe I’m an old school Gen Xer, wanting change to tap on the breaks and slow down a bit. I still have wishful thinking.

–

For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

I heard you on the wireless back in '52
Lying awake intently tuning in on you
If I was young it didn't stop you coming through
Oh-a-oh

They took the credit for your second symphony
Rewritten by machine on new technology
And now I understand the problems you can see

Oh-a-oh
I met your children
Oh-a-oh
What did you tell them?

Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Pictures came and broke your heart
Oh-a-a-a oh

And now we meet in an abandoned studio
We hear the playback and it seems so long ago
And you remember the jingles used to go:

Oh-a-oh
You were the first one
Oh-a-oh
You were the last one

Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
In my mind and in my car
We can't rewind, we've gone too far
Oh-a-a-a oh
Oh-a-a-a oh

Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
In my mind and in my car
We can't rewind, we've gone too far
Pictures came and broke your heart
Put the blame on VTR...

You are the radio star
You are the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
You are the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
You are the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
You are the radio star
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
You are the radio star

Oh-a-oh, oh-a-oh...

13 thoughts on “My Gen X Playlist: Video Killed the Radio Star – The Buggles”

  1. I have a real love hate relationship with technology. My son, now a teenager, still doesn’t have a phone – thankfully. He does have an iPad and he is able to talk to friends with it. But there is something about having that little phone you can pull out whenever. I just want to hold off on that as long as I can with him. I feel like it made such a huge impact on me and I really try to be mindful of it these days. I spent many years being a phone zombie and I am joining others in the paralyzing feeling when you get an actual phone call. I used to love talking on the phone. It certainly has changed me. But it is hard to hate all the ways it enhances my life as well.

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  2. If video did, in fact, killed the radio star, and it did, then the Internet killed MTV.

    I know, there was a movement for a long time, and MTV to get out of airing music videos, because there was more money to be made in original programming.

    But there’s was always more to MTV then just playing music videos. We will watch “the week and rock” to hear about what was going on in the music world that week. We would watch the “MTV news“ blurbs to do the same. We would turn on shows like headbangers ball, 120 minutes, and yo MTV Raps to take a deeper dive into a particular genre of music.

    The Internet killed all of that. Seriously, how do these kids discover new music these days anyway?

    And I’m still blown away by the fact that our smartphones have faster processor speeds and more memory than the computers that were used to land the Apollo rockets. on the moon.

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  3. My hubs hates to talk while eating. He’d rather read a book or something. So that’s usually what he’s doing while on the phone. If he didn’t have a phone, he’s have a newspaper or a book. So technology only made it easier for him to, well, not talk while eating. ^_^ We normally don’t pull our phones out at restaurants because of how we were raised, but meals are usually silent at our house.

    I gotta say though, it took a long time for me to get used to it. I grew up in a big family and had a big family. I was used to noisy meals. But hey, everyone has their preference. Whenever I tried to talk to him, he’d put down his fork and stop eating. Like, he simply can’t do both at the same time. I guess I just wanted to say that sometimes people prefer silence, and it’s not a new thing with the phones. I think we just notice it more because people are looking at their phones and we think, “That’s sad, look what technology has done.”

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    2. My husband is the same way! He comes home from work and disappears into his Smartphone. He says he needs quiet time to decompress, which I totally understand. But, I’ve been home alone all day and long to talk to another human being. It’s hard to find balance.

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  4. When I go out to dinner or just to have coffee with friends, I either keep the phone in my bag or in the car. I like to spend some quality time with the person I’m hanging out with than scrolling up and down on my phone.

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