Geoff Downes
Geoff Downes Background information Birth name Geoffrey Downes Born (1952-08-25) 25 August 1952 (age 62) Stockport, Cheshire, England Genres Progressive rock, hard rock, space rock, new wave, Synthrock, Rock Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, producer Instruments Keyboards, piano, synthesizer, vocoder, drums, percussion, vocals Years active 1974-present Labels EMI America Records Frontiers Records Geffen Records Universal Associated acts The Buggles, Yes, Asia, Glenn Hughes, New Dance Orchestra, John Wetton, Icon, DBA (Downes Braide Association), GTR Website Official website Geoffrey "Geoff" Downes (born 25 August 1952) is an English rock songwriter, record producer, and musician, mainly a keyboardist. He is mainly known as a member of the New wave duo The Buggles, legendary progressive rock band Yes, and supergroup Asia. Downes created The Buggles with Trevor Horn in 1977. After three years of songwriting and recording process, their first album, The Age of Plastic, was released in 1980. Now recognized as a highly influent album and a landmark of the electropop era, it also spawned the single "Video Killed the Radio Star", that was No. 1 on the singles charts of sixteen countries. The same year, both Horn and Downes joined Yes and recorded the album Drama as a part of the band. The following year however, Yes disbanded. After the end of Yes, Downes and Horn resumed working on a second Buggles album, Adventures in Modern Recording, released in 1981. The same year, Downes founded Asia with fellow former Yes member Steve Howe, former King Crimson member John Wetton, and former Emerson, Lake & Palmer drummer Carl Palmer. The weak commercial performance of Adventures in Modern Recording, associated with Downes being busy with Asia and Horn wanting to be focusing on being a record producer, led to the disbanding of The Buggles. Yes subsequently reformed in 1983, without them, but with Horn producing. Since 1981, Downes performed in Asia and released fourteen albums with them (the band disbanded in 1986, but he re-joined it in 1990 one year after its reformation), while also releasing solo albums (including several with Wetton), and acting as record producer for various artists including Mike Oldfield and Thompson Twins. While he was the only remaining original member of since 1993, Downes reunited the original Asia lineup in 2006, including Howe who had since re-joined Yes. In 2011, Downes returned to Yes 30 years after his last tenure in the band, and released his second album with them, Fly from Here. The album, produced by Horn, featured material the duo had originally composed for The Buggles. Downes is currently a member of both Asia and Yes; in addition, he frequently reunites on special occasions with Horn to perform Buggles music since 1998. Downes has also been entered in the Guinness Book of Records for performing with the most keyboards on stage in one single performance, with a record of twenty-eight.