Bruce Woolley & the Camera Club
Before The Buggles "Video Killed The Radio Star" became the first video aired on MTV in 1981, Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club recorded and released the song on the only album released by the band in 1979. The song was written by Woolley along with Trevor Horn and Geoffrey Downes who went on to form the Buggles. Members of the Camera Club went on to greater things too. Keyboard player Tom Dolby (you all know Thomas Dolby), went on to work with Lene Lovich before releasing his own work, Matthew Seligman went on to play with Robyn Hitchcock, the Thompson Twins and Thomas Dolby among others. Drummer Rod Johnson also played with Hitchcock.
Bruce Woolley formed Firmament and the Elements and released an EP in 1983. More recently he has been making music on the theremin with his band the Radio Science Orchestra. The version of "Video Killed The Radio Star" on the download page is the single version of the song.
Get the Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club's CD here.
Go to the download page to get Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club - "Video Killed The Radio Star" (single version)
15 Comments:
Nice post and summary. I had no idea that this song was originally recorded by another group. Good to see the early origins of Thomas Dolby and others. Thanks for the info!
Had this album with the Sporting Boys, English Garden and Video. It's very good.
Saw them several times & thought they were fantastic. Particularly loved "Sporting Boys".
Had no idea though that Thomas Dolby was on keyboards.
fantastic! thanks for posting this.
This version is much better than the buggles one. Its almost impossible to trace this album anywhere. Its always out of stock.
An incredible album! Even better, if you cn find it, is the song Trouble Is. They released it as a single and is well worth seeking out -as are much of Bruce's other very rare singles!
-Nuppy
Whoa, Bruce Woolley brings back memories of my youth! Favorites were "WWIII/Clean Clean" and "English Garden." Seminal group in many ways. Thanks for this fantastic post!
p.s. Delta 5 rocks. i did a post on the Kill Rock Stars release a few days ago.
p.s. forgot to mention, just linked you up. cheers
Saw them live at Rutgers in '79. Always thought their version was better than The Buggles'.
I remember buying Bruce Woolley's album on the day it was released here in the states (I was working at a record shop in Philly at the time). I wore out the vinyl copy and then bought the cassette and proceeded to wear that one out as well. Years passed and somehow I lost them both. Then, just a couple of weeks ago I was rummaging through the LP's at Rhino Records here in L.A.(strangely enough on the very day when they went out of business and closed their doors forever) and found a mint condition copy for 10 cents! I kid you not. I have since transferred it to CD and to my iPod. It is simply a brilliant album, my all-time new wave favorite. I urge anyone out there with an interest in this type of music to seek out this album in any form. You will be knocked out by the songwriting, the musicianship and the super cool vocal stylings of Bruce Woolley. Thanks for helping to give this guy the accolades he so very truly deserves.
I would also like to see something posted for the following bands:
The Units
The Reds
999
The Motors
The Ruts
Earthling
The Normal
New Musik
Mi-Sex
Los Microwaves
Pylon
The Dance
Martin & The Martians
Okay, that's enough for now.
Ciao
Thanks for the comments and band suggestions. Some of them are on my list. Some of them I've never heard of and will look into.
EA
I have the original vinyl of English Garden.
Robert
I ran across this album while looking for something new and exciting. I used to buy lp's based on their album cover only. And the original cover with Bruce striking a pose with what looks like a laser gun caught my attention. Took it home. Put it on the platter and was blown away! That year,1979, they opened for Lene Lovitch at UCLA. They did not disappoint. Classic New Wave!!
Not only is the CD mondo expensive, there are different versions of the songs - "Video Killed the Radio Star" is trimmed in the front, getting rid of the funny-voiced "I heard you on the wireless..." - and the version of "Goodbye to Yesterday" is much faster (and, IMHO, more generic) - and kind of takes away the point of the Reprise track right after, since the first was slower/more majestic, and the Reprise was a quicker take.
Just listened to the vinyl version from 1979! This was a required listen back in college! I actually saw this man and band in the 'cuse at the Jabberwocky! What a shame they drifted into obscurity. Their version of VKTRS beats the Buggles any day, (I heard you on the wireless back in '52. Lying awake intently tuning in on ....). I've even got the single with "Trouble Is" and "Only Babies Can Fly" on the "B" side. This was one EXCELLENT band!
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