Geoffrey Downes (born August 25, 1952 in
Stockport, Cheshire, England) is a rock keyboard player/songwriter/producer. He is best
known as the keyboardist for the band Asia, the Buggles, and also his stint with
Yes in 1980. When he was a keyboardist for The Buggles, he
would play multiple keyboards to achieve a 'New Wave' technopop sound. He was once entered for the Guinness Book Of Records for
performing with most keyboards (28) on stage in one performance.
Biography
The son of musical parents (his father was a church organist and his mother a pianist), Downes also took up the keyboards and
played in a succession of local bands. He attended Stockport Grammar School
before studying at music college in Leeds. After graduating he moved to London, where he played sessions and composed advertising jingles.
In 1976, he met Trevor Horn while auditioning for pop singer Tina Charles' band. They continued to work together, eventually forming The
Buggles in a successful attempt to have a hit single ("Video Killed the
Radio Star"). It was Island Records' 1st number 1 in the UK, and the video of the song subsequently became the first ever
to be played at the launch of MTV in August, 1981.
The success of The Buggles led to Downes and Horn joining Yes for one album
(Drama) and the associated tour. Surprisingly, Downes was the first member of
the band to have completed a music degree. Yes then split at the beginning of 1981. Downes subsequently joined forces with Yes'
Steve Howe, Carl Palmer (from ELP) and John Wetton (from King Crimson) to form
Asia in 1981. Asia was an immediate Worldwide success upon the release of its eponymous
debut record in 1982, and has formed the backbone of Downes's career since then. For many years, he has remained the only founder
member of the band. In recent years, Downes has since teamed up with John Wetton again in a separate project under the 'Icon'
banner.
In addition to recording and touring with Asia, Downes has also recorded a number of solo albums and collaborated with many
other artists, including Glenn Hughes, Trapeze in 1991 for a tour that produced the live
album Welcome to the Real World, and a brief appearance on
Kate Bush's Sat in Your Lap. In 2005, he joined Yes drummer Alan White's eponymous band White.
He has also worked extensively as a producer with such acts as Mike Oldfield, The Thompson Twins and GTR. As a songwriter, he
has written for such acts as diverse as Agnetha Faltskog (of ABBA) and the rapper, Styles. He is credited as a co-writer on
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe doe to Howe re-using some musical
ideas from Asia. In 2006, the Asia song "Heat Of The Moment" was used as the principal song in the blockbuster film
The 40 Year-Old Virgin.
Currently, Downes is performing with the 4 original members of Asia again, and the band are embarking on a series of concerts
around the World in 2007 to celebrate their 25th Anniversary.
Ride the Tiger
Ride the Tiger was a project involving Downes and Greg Lake. The pair had worked together
during Lake's brief stint in Asia and subsequently recorded material together. Drums on the sessions were by Lake's former band
mate in King Crimson, Michael Giles. Nothing was released at the time, although some
tracks later turned up on Lake's anthologies From The Beginning—The Greg Lake Retrospective (1997) and From the
Underground Vol. II—Deeper Into the Mine. Some of the material from the project was re-worked by Asia (on Aqua) and by
ELP (on Black Moon).
Influences and style
In an interview conducted December 2006[1], Downes said 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".
Discography
Solo albums
- The Light Program, 1987
- Vox Humana, 1992
- Welcome to the Real World with Trapeze 1993
- Evolution, 1996
- Hughes/Downes: The Work Tapes, 1998
- The World Service, 2000
- Shadows & Reflections, 2003
- The Collection, 2003
- Live at St. Cyprian's
- Icon (with John Wetton), 2005, Frontiers
Records
- Icon Acoustic TV Broadcast (with John Wetton), 2006, Frontiers Records
- Icon Live - Never in a Million Years (with John Wetton), 2006, Frontiers Records
- Icon II: Rubicon (with John Wetton), 2006, Frontiers Records
Yes
- Drama, 1980/expanded and remastered, 2004
- Yesyears, 1991
- Yesstory, 1992
- Highlights—The Very Best of Yes, 1993
- In a Word: Yes (1969- ), 2002
- Yes Remixes, 2003
- The Ultimate Yes—35th Anniversary Collection, 2003/2004
- The Word is Live, 2005
Buggles
- The Age of Plastic, 1979
- Adventures in Modern Recording, 1981
Asia
- Heat of the Moment (single)
- Only Time will Tell (single)
- Sole Survivor (single)
- Don't Cry (single)
- The Smile has Left Your Eyes (single)
- The Heat Goes on (single)
- Asia, 1982
- Alpha, 1983
- Astra, 1985
- Then & Now, 1990
- Live Mockba 09-X1-90, 1991
- Aqua, 1992; Aqua Special Edition, 2005
- Who'll Stop the Rain (single)
- Aria, 1994; Aria Special Edition, 2005
- Arena, 1996; Arena Special Edition, 2005
- Archiva 1, 1996
- Archiva 2, 1996
- Now - Live in Nottingham, 1997
- Live in Osaka, 1997
- Live in Philadelphia, 1997
- Anthology—The Best of Asia 1982-1997, 1997; Anthology Special Edition, 2005
- John Wetton—Geoff Downes—Asia—UK Compilation CD, 1997
- The Very Best of Asia: Heat of the Moment (1982-1990), 2000
- The Best of Asia Live, 2000?
- Aura, 2001
- Alive in Hallowed Halls, 2001
- Asia/Boston: Winning Combination, 2001
- Estoy Listo Para ir a Mi Casa, 2001 (single)
- Alive in Hallowed Halls, 2001
- Live at Budokan, 2002
- Quadra, 2002
- Anthologia, 2002/Gold, 2005
- Armada 1, 2002
- Live Acoustic
- Live at the Town & Country
- Different Worlds
- Dragon Attack
- History of Asia, 2004?
- Live in Buffalo, 2004?
- Live in Hyogo, 2004?
- Different Worlds, 2004
- Silent Nation, 2004
- Long Way from Home, 2005 (single)
EPs
External links
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