For Toddler YHT’s second birthday, her favorite song ever.

A few fun facts beyond the MTV one:

• Bruce Woolley and two other original members of The Buggles wrote the song, but Woolley left the band while they were recording The Age of Plastic to form another group called The Camera Club, and that band recorded a different version of the song.
• When the Buggles’ recording was released, it topped singles charts in Australia, Austria, France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK, and it was the best-selling record in Australia for 27 years. Apparently Australia can truly get down with some anxious, technology-related nostalgia.
• Gary Lanagan, who mixed the song, claims it had “the loudest bass drum ever for its time.”
• I thought maybe a bullet mic was used to create the old-timey effect on the male vocals, but apparently it was a Vox AC30 amp. OK then.
• My daughter says “Alllllmost dooooone” in a really excited way whenever the false ending happens. She’s a smart cookie. And the album cut is actually a minute longer than the single version, with additional piano, synth, and sampled vocals, so it’s almost like it has two false endings, which is kind of hilarious when there’s a toddler sitting in your back seat waiting for just the right moment to say “AGAIN!”
• I wasn’t kidding about the Stockholm Syndrone effect — I really do love this song more since we started listening to it every morning. And I love my two-year-old more, too — even if she hated music, the passage of time would ensure I love her more each day, but listening to music with her is my new favorite thing in the entire universe.

Happy birthday, kiddo. Have some “Radio Star.”

The Buggles — “Video Killed The Radio Star” [Spotify/iTunes]