Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star guitar tab
The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star - transcribed by Gary Chapman
=========================================
Intro: (synth arranged for guitar)
G6 D5 Em7 D A
E ------------------------------------5- ----------------------------------5-
B ---------12---------10---------8----7- -------12---------10---------8----5-
G -------9----------7----------7------7- -----9----------7----------7------6-
D -----9----------7----------9--------7- ---9----------7----------9--------7-
A --10----------9----------7----------5- -10---------9----------7----------7-
E -------------------------------------- ----------------------------------5-
Verse 1: (piano arranged for guitar)
Below is roughly what the piano is playing. It's a lot easier to play
on a piano than a guitar. Stick with the basic chords. The timing has
been stretched to fit the lyrics.
D G6 Em7 Asus4 A A5
E --14--12--10--------------10-----------10---------------9--10--12--
B --10--10--10--------12----12-----------10--10-10-10-10-10--10--10--
G --11--11--11--------12----12------------9---9--9--9--9--9---9---9--
D --12--12--12--------14-14-14-14------------------------------------
A -------------------------------------------------------------------
E -------------------------------------------------------------------
I heard you on the wireless back in fifty two
Lying a-wake in bed then tuning in on you
If I was young it didn't stop you coming through
Oh - ah - oh.
Verse 2:
D G6 Asus4/A A/Asus4/A
They took the credit for your second symphony
Rewritten by machine and 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 ?
Chorus:
D A
Video killed the radio star
Video killed the radio star
D A G
Pictures came and broke your heart
A Bm
(Oh-a-oh-oh-oh)
Verse 3:
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
(chorus)
D A G
In my mind and in my car, we
can't re-wind we've gone to far
A Bm
(Oh-a-oh-oh-oh)
(Oh-a-oh-oh-oh)
Solo: (synth arranged for guitar)
E --------------------------------------------------------------------
B ------12---10-----------------------------12---10------------10-----
G ----9----------12--11-------------------9----------12--11-12--------
D --9--------------------12---9---------9-------------------------12--
A --------------------------------------------------------------------
E --------------------------------------------------------------------
E ------------------------------ -------------------------------------
B ------12---10----------------- ---------12-----------10----------8--
G ----9----------12--11--9------ -------9------------7-----------7----
D --9-----------------------12-- -----9------------7-----------9------
A ------------------------------ --10------------9-----------7--------
E ------------------------------ -------------------------------------
(2 guitars)
E --------------------------------------------
B --17---17(b)19---15-15-15-17(b)19---15--17--
G --14---14(b)16---12-12-12-14(b)16---12--14--
D --------------------------------------------
A --------------------------------------------
E --------------------------------------------
(chorus)
D A G
In my mind and in my car, we
can't re-wind we've gone to far
Pictures came and broke your heart
Put the blame on VTR
You are the radio star
(chorus to fade)
I just transcribed this during a blizzard here in Philadelphia so did not
realize that there was already a version of this at OLGA. Mine is quite
different in that it is arranged more for a classical or fingerstyle guitar
(my preference). It works best on classical guitar, but it's not too hard
so I'm sure you can adapt it to steel-string OK. There's a few stretches (5
frets), that's about it. It may be fun for a duet, one on electric guitar
playing the other transcription, and one on acoustic playing my transcription.
Of course, if you want to be authentic, play it on a guitar synth
with a nice cheezy brass & string patch! If you play
along with a recording of the song, you'll have to tune down your
strings a half-step (or capo on the 11th fret if your guitar can
handle it!)
'The Buggles' were Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn, and eventually went on
to form Yes (:-). Later on Geoff ended up starting Asia (another great
80's new wave band ;-) and Trevor Horn became a hot-shot London producer
(Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Seal, et al).
PS: This was the first video ever shown on MTV circa 1980, and it's scary
how true this song turned out!
Feedback is appreciated. My Steve Howe transcriptions aren't exactly
exciting people as I thought, maybe I should start doing some Trevor Rabin
transcriptions next! ;-)
=============================================================================
Video Killed The Radio Star
by The Buggles
transcribed for classical guitar by carl@netaxs.com
-----------------|------------------|--------------------|----------------------
----------12-----|-----------10-----|-----------8--------|----------------------
-------9---------|--------7---------|--------4-----------|----------------------
----9------------|-----7------------|-----5--------------|----------------------
10---------------|--9---------------|--7-----------------|----------------------
-----------------|------------------|--------------------|----------------------
10-----9------------|-------------------|------------------|--------------------
----------------12--|------------12-----|-----------10-----|--------------------
7------6------------|---------9---------|--------7---------|--------------------
----------------9---|------9------------|-----7------------|--------------------
--------------------|--10---------------|--9---------------|--------------------
--------------------|-------------------|------------------|--------------------
---------------|-----||---||---2--0--------0--------|---------------------------
---------8-----|-----||---||---------3-----------3--|---------------------------
------4--------|-----||*--||*--------2--------------|---------------------------
---5-----------|--7--||*--||*--0--------------------|---------------------------
7--------------|--0--||---||---------------2--------|---------------------------
---------------|-----||---||---------------------3--|---------------------------
4x
------------------0---||--------------------------|-----------------------------
3-----------2--3------||-----------3--0-----------|-----------------------------
2-----------------2--*||-----2--------------0--2--|-----------------------------
2--2-----2-----2-----*||-----------------------2--|-----------------------------
0-----0-----0---------||-----------------------0--|-----------------------------
----------------------||-----2--------3-----------|-----------------------------
------0-----2-----0-----|-------------------------|-----------------------------
---3-----3-----------3--|-----------3--0----------|-----------------------------
------------------------|-----2--------------0--2-|-----------------------------
------------------------|-----------------------2-|-----------------------------
------------------------|-----------------------0h|-----------------------------
------------------------|-----2--------3----------|-----------------------------
1/2 II
----2-3--2--5-----3--2--|-----5--5-----5-----5--5--|----------------------------
-----h------------------|--7-----------------------|----------------------------
----2-4--2--6-----4--2--|--------------------------|----------------------------
------------------------|--0-----------0-----------|----------------------------
------------------------|--------0-----------0-----|----------------------------
------------------------|--------------------------|----------------------------
---7--------------------|-----5--5-----5-----5--5--|----------------------------
------8-----8-----------|--7-----------------------|----------------------------
0-----------0-----------|--------------------------|----------------------------
------0-----------0-----|--0-----------0-----------|----------------------------
------------------------|--------0-----------0-----|----------------------------
------------------------|--------------------------|----------------------------
---7--------------------|--2--2--0-----0-----3--2--------|----------------------
------8-----8-----------|--3--3--2-----2-----3--3--3-----|----------------------
0-----------0-----------|--2--2--2-----2-----0--0--0-----|----------------------
------0-----------0-----|--0--0--------------------------|----------------------
------------------------|--------4-----4-----2--2--------|----------------------
------------------------|--------------------------3-----|----------------------
2/3 II II
2--2--0-----0-----3--2--------|---------------2--|---------------2--|-----------
3--3--2-----2-----3--3--3-----|---2--------------|---3--------------|-----------
2--2--2-----2-----0--0--0-----|---2--------2-----|---4--------4-----|-----------
0--0--------------------------|------2-----------|------2-----------|-----------
------4-----4-----2--2--------|---0--------------|---2--------------|-----------
------------------------3-----|---------0--------|---------2--------|-----------
2/3 II II II
-------------2--|---------------2---||--------7---5-----2-----|-----------------
-2--------------|---3---------------||-----0------2-----------|-----------------
-2--------2-----|---4--------4-----*||--0---------2-----------|-----------------
----2-----------|------2-----------*||--0---------------------|-----------------
-0--------------|---2---------------||------------------------|-----------------
-------0--------|---------2---------||--3---------2-----------|-----------------
(x=strum while muting strings)
0------------------------------|--------7---5-----3-----|-----------------------
0-----3-----0------------------|-----0------2-----------|-----------------------
0-----------2------------------|--0---------2-----------|-----------------------
------------2------x-----x-----|--0---------------------|-----------------------
------------0------------------|------------0-----------|-----------------------
0------------------------------|--3---------------------|-----------------------
II II
-2-----3--5--------|--------7---5-----3-----|---2-----------------|-------------
-2-----------3-----|-----0------2-----------|---2-----3-----------|-------------
-2-----------4-----|--0---------2-----------|---2-----------4-----|-------------
-------------4-----|--0---------------------|---------------4-----|-------------
-------------2-----|------------0-----------|---------------2-----|-------------
-2-----------------|--3---------------------|---2-----------------|-------------
II
------0--7-----|------------5-----|-----------3-----|--------------------|------
---0-----------|---------3--------|--------0--------|--5-----7-----3-----|------
0--------------|------2-----------|-----0-----------|--0-----0-----0-----|------
---------------|---4--------------|--2--------------|--7-----9-----5-----|------
---------------|------------------|-----------------|--0-----0-----0-----|------
3--------------|---2--------------|--0--------------|--------------------|------
---------------------|-----5--5-----5-----5--5--|-----7--------------------|----
---7-----3-----5-----|--7-----------------------|--------8-----8-----------|----
---0-----0-----0-----|--------------------------|--0-----------0-----------|----
---9-----5-----7-----|--0-----------0-----------|--------0-----------0-----|----
---0-----0-----0-----|--------0-----------0-----|--------------------------|----
---------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|----
---5--5-----5-----5--5--|-----7--------------------|----------------------------
7-----------------------|--------8-----8-----------|----------------------------
------------------------|--0-----------0-----------|----------------------------
0-----------0-----------|--------0-----------0-----|----------------------------
------0-----------0-----|--------------------------|----------------------------
------------------------|--------------------------|----------------------------
2--2--0-----0-----3--2--------|--2--2--0-----0-----3--2-----|-------------------
3--3--2-----2-----3--3--3-----|--3--3--2-----2-----3--3--3--|-------------------
2--2--2-----2-----0--0--0-----|--2--2--2-----2-----0--0--0--|-------------------
0--0--------------------------|--0--0-----------------------|-------------------
------4-----4-----2--2--------|--------4-----4-----2--2-----|-------------------
------------------------3-----|--------------------------3--|-------------------
alternate ending
---------2-----||------------2-----------5-------------10-------------14--||----
3--------3-----||---------3-----------5------------10-------------15------||----
0--------2-----||------2-----------7-----------11-------------14----------||----
---------0-----||---0-----------0-----------0--------------0--------------||----
---------------||---------------------------------------------------------||----
3--------------||---------------------------------------------------------||----
