Geoff Downes
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Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952)[1] 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
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
Early life
Downes was born at
Career
Early career, the Buggles, and Yes (1975–1981)
In the mid-1970s, Downes was a member of She's French, playing a
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
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
Downes has continued to release sporadic solo albums over the years, mainly under the name The New Dance Orchestra. They include the critically acclaimed 1986
He has also worked extensively as a producer with such acts 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 Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe album (made up of former members of Yes in 1989); he is credited due to Howe re-using some musical ideas from Asia.
In recent years, Downes has teamed up with Wetton in a separate project under the name Icon. They have released three studio albums: Icon (2005), Icon II: Rubicon (2006), and Icon 3 (2009) and 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 (2008), with more shows performed through Spring 2009. Later in 2009, the original Asia toured the US supporting Yes, with him and guitarist Steve Howe doing double duty performing with both bands nightly.
In the autumn of 2009 the band went into the studio again to record another album. The Asia album Omega was released in April 2010, the band has embarked on a six-week US tour through August and September. A song, "Extraordinary Life" from their previous album, Phoenix (2008), was chosen as the trailer for US's biggest reality TV show America's Got Talent. Since 2011, Downes shares his time between YES and Asia, touring and recording with both bands.
In 2012, Downes teamed up with Chris Braide under the name DBA (Downes Braide Association). The result was an album, Pictures of You, released summer 2012 on Plane Groovy Records.[7] Since then, they have released three more studio recordings (Suburban Ghosts in 2015, Skyscraper Souls in 2017 and Halcyon Hymns in 2021), and a live album (Live in England in 2019).
While active with the original Asia, he has also finished three albums with Wetton on 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.
He released a further New Dance Orchestra (NDO) album in 2010 entitled Electronica with vocals from Anne-Marie Helder. It features Downes' orchestral style of keyboard playing.[8]
On 28 September 2010, he reunited with Bruce Woolley and Trevor Horn as the band the Buggles, performing "The Lost Gig" to raise funds for the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability.
On 22 March 2011, he performed at the Roundhouse, London with Trevor Horn and
On 31 March 2011, he was confirmed as participating in the recording of the new Yes album Fly from Here (2011), reuniting with them formally for the first time since 1980 and rejoining the band for an upcoming tour.[9] In May 2011, he rejoined Yes as the 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 7 of the 9 original compositions on the album with Wetton, and the remaining two with Wetton and Howe.
Influences and style
In an interview conducted December 2006,[10] Downes said the three players who had inspired him were Rick Wakeman (Yes), Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake & Palmer) and especially Dave Sinclair (Caravan). 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 his favourite British band is King Crimson, with Journey, Kansas and Foreigner as his favourite American bands.[11]
Asked on Twitter in 2018 which album in his career he is most proud of, Downes replied, "Drama – no doubt."[12]
Personal life
Downes has been married three times and divorced twice. He has two daughters, Christina and Alexandra (died 2013), from his first wife, Norwegian former model Wenche Steen , who was Miss Norway in 1973.
Downes lives in South Wales with his third and current wife Martine and step-son Louis. He is a supporter of the football club
Discography
Solo
Chromium
The BugglesYes
AsiaTrapeze
With John Wetton
With
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Deckchair Poets/Zorbonauts/Zebras Don't Smoke
With Greg Lake
Other appearances
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References
- ISBN 978-1-85743-161-2
- ^ Peel, Ian (1 January 2010). "From the Art of Plastic to the Age of Noise". Trevorhorn.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ Johnson, Brent (8 September 2011). "Interview: Geoff Downes of Yes". Pop-break.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
- ISBN 9780857120427. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
- ^ Downes, Geoffrey (13 January 2018). "The Wombles theatre production in 1975! I generally keep that one under wraps as you can imagine. PS Happy birthday for the other day". Twitter. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
- ^ "BBC – Radio 1 – Keeping It Peel – 22/08/1977 Gary Boyle". BBC.
- ^ "DBA – Sunday News radio edit Geoff Downes and Chris Braide". Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2014 – via YouTube.
- ^ "The official web site for Geoff Downes". Geoffdownes.com. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
- ^ "Heavy Rock – the playlist!: Yes: New Album "Fly From Here" Out in July". Heavyrocktheplaylist.blogspot.com. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
- ^ "Geoff Downes – Asia Interview". 19 April 2008. Archived from the original on 19 April 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
- ^ "A Q&A with Geoff Downes of Yes, Asia and The Buggles". Bizjournals.com. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- ^ Downes, Geoffrey (23 November 2018). "Drama – no doubt". Twitter. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
Further reading
- "Geoff Downes". Music Technology. Vol. 1, no. 9. July 1987. p. 26. OCLC 24835173.