Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952) is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group the Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia.
Born in Stockport, Downes moved to London to pursue a music career. In 1977, he formed the Buggles with Horn and enjoyed success with their first album The Age of Plastic (1980) which included the worldwide hit single "Video Killed the Radio Star". In May 1980, Downes joined Yes with Horn and recorded Drama (1980). After Yes disbanded in 1981, Downes helped Trevor Horn to produce a second Buggles album, Adventures in Modern Recording (1981) although he was only primarily involved for half of it, and co-founded Asia with ex-Yes fellow musician Steve Howe. He left Asia in 1986, rejoined in 1990, and has been a part of the lineup since then; he released several solo albums and produced for several artists, including Mike Oldfield and the Thompson Twins.
In 2006, Downes reunited the original Asia lineup and rejoined Yes in 2011; he is currently a member of both groups. Since 1998, he has reunited with Horn on special occasions to perform songs from the Buggles. Downes entered the Guinness Book of Records for performing with a record 28 keyboards on stage in a single performance.
Early life
Downes was born at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Cheshire, the son of musical parents. His father was a church organist and his mother a pianist. He also took up the keyboards and played in a succession of local bands. He attended Stockport Grammar School before studying at Leeds College of Music. After graduating he moved to London, where he played sessions and composed advertising jingles.
Career
Early career, the Buggles, and Yes (1975–1981) In the mid-1970s, Downes was a member of She's French, playing a Fender Rhodes electric piano and a Hammond organ. The band also included Jamie West-Oram on guitar and Hoagy Davies, the son of Rupert Davies, on Minimoog synthesizer. He played keyboards for a theatre production of The Wombles in 1975. He played in Gary Boyle's band in 1977.
In 1976, Downes met Trevor Horn while auditioning for pop singer Tina Charles' backing band, for which Horn produced a single called Don't come back in 1977, which was published under the name "Fallen Angel and the Tina Charles Band". Then they formed the short-lived Chromium, with Anne Dudley and Hans Zimmer and recorded an album Star to Star in 1978. Then they continued to work together, eventually forming the Buggles, recording a worldwide hit single "Video Killed the Radio Star" in 1979. It was Island Records' first number 1 in the UK, and the video of the song subsequently became the first ever to be played at the launch of MTV on 1 August 1981.
The success of the Buggles led to Downes and Horn joining Yes for the Drama album and the associated tour in 1980. Downes was the first member of the band to have completed a music degree.
Asia and other projects (1981–2006) Yes split at the beginning of 1981, and Downes subsequently joined forces with guitarist Steve Howe (from Yes), bassist/vocalist John Wetton (from King Crimson) and drummer Carl Palmer (from Emerson, Lake & Palmer) to form Asia. Despite being out of the band between 1989 and 1990, Downes is the longest-serving member of the band and the only one to appear on every album released by them. Asia was an immediate worldwide success upon the recording of "Heat of the Moment" and the release of their self-titled debut album in 1982; the album remained at number 1 on the Billboard album charts for a record 9 successive weeks.
In 1989, Downes was involved in the remake of Deep Purple's 1972 song "Smoke on the Water" to raise funds for the Spitak earthquake victims. In 2009, Downes along with Tony Iommi, Ian Gillan and the former Wimbledon tennis champion Pat Cash, went to Armenia, and were presented with state medals from the President of Armenia for their efforts in the Rock Aid Armenia project.
In addition to recording and touring with Asia through more than three decades, Downes has also recorded a number of solo albums and collaborated with many other artists such as former bandmate John Wetton, former Deep Purple Glenn Hughes and Trapeze for a tour that produced the live album Welcome to the Real World, Ride the Tiger with Greg Lake, and a brief appearance on Kate Bush's "Sat in Your Lap". In 2005, he joined Yes drummer Alan White's eponymous band, White, on their debut album.