The Buggles
The Buggles were an English musical duo.[1][2] It had Trevor Horn on vocals, bass guitar and guitar and Geoff Downes on keyboards. They have been most known for their 1979 debut single Video Killed the Radio Star that was #1 on the singles charts of sixteen countries.[3] The music video was the first to be shown on MTV in the United States of America at 12:01 on 1 August 1981.
Following the poor success of their second album, Adventures in Modern Recording, the group broke up in 1981.
Biography
Horn and Downes first met in the mid 1970s, at auditions for Tina Charles' backing band, and worked with her producer, Biddu, whose backing tracks had inspired their early work.[4][5] Trevor Horn said that the group was originally planned to be named "The Bugs": "The Bugs were studio insects—imaginary creatures who lived in recording studios creating havoc. Then somebody said as a joke that The Bugs would never be as big as The Beatles. So we changed it to The Buggles."[6]
The Buggles' first hit, "Video Killed the Radio Star", was released in September 1979 and was the 444th number one in the UK charts, spending one week at the top, as well as reaching number one on the singles charts of fifteen other countries[3] Hans Zimmer worked for "Video Killed the Radio Star, and makes a brief appearance in the video.[7]
Downes and Horn worked on their second album, Adventures in Modern Recording. As originally intended, I Am a Camera was brought to completion as a Buggles song under its original title. However, Downes left the group during the recording of the album to form the band Asia with former Yes bandmate Steve Howe. Horn completed the album with a lot of new songwriting partners and musicians. Adventures in Modern Recording was released in late 1981, but five singles released from the album (I Am a Camera, Adventures in Modern Recording, On TV, Lenny and Beatnik) were not as successful as "Video Killed the Radio Star", resulting in the end of The Buggles.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [8] |
CAN [9] |
NOR [10] |
SWE [11] |
USA [12] | |||||||||
| 1980 | The Age of Plastic | 27 | 83 [13] |
23 | 24 | — | |||||||
| 1981 | Adventures in Modern Recording | — | — | — | 50 | 161 | |||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||||||||
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [14] |
AUT [15] |
CHE [16] |
GER [17] |
IRL [18] |
NLD [19] |
NZL [20] |
SWE [21] |
USA [22] |
ZAF [23] | |||||
| 1979 | "Video Killed the Radio Star" | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 40 | 6 | The Age of Plastic |
| 1980 | "Living in the Plastic Age" | 16 | — | — | 5 | 29 | — | — | 29 | — | — | — | — | |
| "Clean Clean" | 38 | — | — | — | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Elstree" | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1981 | "I Am a Camera" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 46 | — | — | — | — | Adventures in Modern Recording |
| "Adventures in Modern Recording" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982 | "On TV" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Lenny" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Beatnik" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||||||||||
Music videos
- "Video Killed the Radio Star"
- "Living in the Plastic Age"
- "Clean Clean"
- "Elstree"
- "I Am a Camera"
- "Adventures in Modern Recording"
- "On TV"
The Buggles Media
References
- ↑ Biography. Official Geoff Downes Website (3 July 2005)Geoff Downes. Retrieved 2008-12-01.(see para 8)
- ↑ Geoff on Sirius Satellite Radio. Official Geoff Downes Website (31 July 2008)Geoff Downes. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Peel, Ian (2010). Adventures in Modern Recording (Media notes). The Buggles. Salvo Records. SALVOCD036.
- ↑ Hanson, Amy. Tina CharlesVH1. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
- ↑ Warner, Timothy. Pop music: technology and creativity (2003)Ashgate Publishing. p. 155. ISBN 0-7546-3132-X. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
- ↑ Welch, Chris. Close to the Edge: The Story of Yes (2003)Omnibus Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-7119-9509-3. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
- ↑ DebiDoss. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ↑ The Virgin Book of British Hit Albums (2009). London: Virgin Books. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-7535-1700-0. Retrieved 15 March 2010.[dead link]
- ↑ RPM Weekly - The Canadian ChartsLibrary and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ VG-Lista - Norwegian Album Charts: Bugglesnorwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ Swedish Top 60 Album Charts: Bugglesswedishcharts.com. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ Buggles: Billboard AlbumsAllmusic. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ RPM Top Albums - March 22, 1980Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles (2008). London: Virgin Books. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-7535-1537-2.
- ↑ Austrian Single Charts: Buggles (in German)austriancharts.at. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ Swiss Single Top 75 Charts: Buggles (in German)hitparade.ch. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ Chartverfolgung/Buggles, The/Single (in German)musicline.de. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ Irish Singles Chartsirishcharts.ie. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ Dutch Single Top 100 Charts: Buggles (in Dutch)dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ New Zealand Top 40 Single Charts: Bugglescharts.org.nz. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ Swedish Top 60 Single Charts: Bugglesswedishcharts.com. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ Buggles: Billboard SinglesAllmusic. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ↑ SA Charts 1969 - 1989: Acts Bwww.rock.co.za – The South African Rock Library. Retrieved 3 March 2010.