Geoff Downes


Geoffrey Downes is an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer 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, which included the worldwide hit single "Video Killed the Radio Star". In May 1980, Downes joined Yes with Horn and recorded Drama. After Yes disbanded in 1981, Downes helped Horn produce a second Buggles album, Adventures in Modern Recording, 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. Downes has 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 in 2011, he rejoined Yes; he is currently a member of both groups. Since 1998, he has reunited with Horn on special occasions to perform songs from the Buggles era. 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 (1975–81)

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 keys 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. They continued to work together, eventually forming the Buggles, recording the worldwide hit single "Video Killed the Radio Star" in 1979. It was Island Records' first number 1 in the UK, and the song's video became the first to be played on MTV when the network launched on August 1, 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, bassist/vocalist John Wetton and drummer Carl 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 Yes album. 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 chart for a record nine 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 by the nation's president 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 member 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 for their debut album.
Downes has continued to release sporadic solo albums over the years, mainly under the name of the New Dance Orchestra. These include the critically acclaimed 1986 double album The Light Programme in addition to Vox Humana, Shadows & Reflections and a few others. He performed a sold-out one-man show in 2003 at St. Cyprian's Church in London, which was recorded using ambisonic technology.
He has also worked extensively as a producer with acts such as Mike Oldfield, Thompson Twins and GTR. As a songwriter, he has written for Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA. He is also credited as a co-writer on the Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album, as Howe reused some musical ideas from the Asia incarnation.
In recent years, Downes has teamed up with Wetton in a separate project under the name Icon. They have released three studio albums: Icon, Icon II: Rubicon and Icon 3, and a live album from their 2005 tour.

Reformed Asia, projects, and return to Yes (2006–present)

In 2006, Downes reunited with the original members of Asia for a series of tours that continued into 2008, releasing a new album of studio material, Phoenix, with more shows performed through Spring 2009. Later in 2009, the original Asia toured the U.S. supporting Yes, with Downes and Howe performing with both bands nightly.
In the autumn of 2009, Asia recorded the album Omega, which was released in April 2010. The band then embarked on a six-week American tour through August and September of 2010. The song "Extraordinary Life" from Asia's previous album Phoenix was chosen as the trailer for the American competition show America's Got Talent. Since 2011, Downes shares his time between Yes and Asia, touring and recording with both bands.
In 2012, Downes joined Chris Braide under the name DBA. The result was an album, Pictures of You, released in Summer 2012 on Plane Groovy Records. Since then, they have released two more studio recordings and a live album.
While currently active with the original Asia, Downes has also finished three albums with Wetton for their side project Icon, and recorded a live DVD in 2009 to promote the release of their third studio album. The project included guitarist Dave Kilminster, Pete Riley and Hugh McDowell. In addition, Downes is also working on television, film and production music for a London West End film production company, Original Production Music Ltd.
On 28 September 2010, Downes reunited with Bruce Woolley and Trevor Horn as the Buggles, performing "The Lost Gig" to raise funds for the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability.
On 22 March 2011, Downes performed at the Roundhouse, London with Horn and Producers, along with Spandau Ballet and Alison Moyet, to raise funds for a music charity for underprivileged children. The event raised over £500,000.
On 31 March 2011, Downes was confirmed as participating in the recording of the new Yes album Fly From Here, formally reuniting with the band for the first time since 1980 and rejoining the band for a tour. In May 2011, he rejoined Yes as the band's full-time keyboard player. In 2012, the band appointed a replacement vocalist, Jon Davison. The new Yes album, Heaven & Earth, was released in July 2014.
Downes has also worked with Asia on a 30th-anniversary album, XXX, released in 2012. Downes co-composed seven of the album's nine original compositions with Wetton, and the remaining two with both Wetton and Howe.
In 2013, Downes released an album as the New Dance Orchestra entitled Electronica, which features vocals by Anne-Marie Helder. It also features Downes's orchestral style of keyboard playing.

Influences and style

In an interview conducted in December 2006, Downes said that the three players who had inspired him were Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson and especially Dave Sinclair. In the same interview, he identified his favourite Asia tracks as "Only Time Will Tell", "Wildest Dreams", "Open Your Eyes" and "Voice of America". In an August 2015 interview, Downes said that his favourite British band is King Crimson, with Journey, Kansas and Foreigner as his favourite American bands.
Asked on Twitter in 2018 to name the album in his career of which he is proudest, Downes replied, "Drama - no doubt."

Personal life

Downes has been married and divorced twice. He has two daughters, Christina and Alexandra, by his first wife, Norwegian former model, who was crowned Miss Norway in 1973.
Downes lives in South Wales with his third and current wife Martine.

Discography

Solo

; Studio albums
; Live albums
; Studio albums
; Live albums
; Studio albums
; Studio albums
; Live albums
; Studio albums
; Live albums
; Studio albums
; Live albums