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Geoff Downes
Downes in concert with Asia, 2006
Background information
Birth name	Geoffrey Downes
Born	(1952-08-25) 25 August 1952 (age 59) Stockport, Cheshire, England
Genres	Progressive rock, hard rock, pop rock, New Wave, synthpop, electronica
Occupations	Musician, keyboardist, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Keyboards, piano, synthesizer, vocoder, drums, percussion
Years active	1974-present
Labels	EMI America Records Frontiers Records Geffen Records Universal
Associated acts	The Buggles, Yes, Asia, Glenn Hughes, New Dance Orchestra, John Wetton, ICON
Website	Official website

Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952)^[1] is an English rock keyboard player and songwriter for the bands Yes and Asia, and formerly of The Buggles, during which he played multiple keyboards to achieve a New Wave technopop sound. He was once entered for the Guinness Book Of Records for performing with the most keyboards (twenty-eight)^[2] on stage in one performance.

Biography[link]

Downes was born at Stepping Hill Hospital in Hazel Grove, 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.

In 1976, he met Trevor Horn while auditioning for pop singer Tina Charles' backing band. They continued to work together, eventually forming The Buggles, recording a worldwide hit single in 1979 ("Video Killed the Radio Star"). 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 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. Yes split at the beginning of 1981, and Downes subsequently joined forces with Yes' Steve Howe, Carl Palmer (from Emerson, Lake & Palmer) and John Wetton (from King Crimson) to form 'Asia'. Asia was an immediate worldwide success upon the recording of Heat of the Moment and the release of their first album' in 1982; the album remained at number 1 on the Billboard album charts for a record 9 successive weeks. Asia has formed the backbone of Downes' career since.

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, Ride The Tiger with Greg Lake, 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, on their debut album.

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 the album entitled "Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe" (made up of former members of Yes; he is credited due to Howe re-using some musical ideas from Asia.

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 double album The Light Programme, in addition to Vox Humana, Shadows & Reflections, along with a few others. He performed a sold out one-man show in 2003 at St Cyprian's Church in London, which was recorded using ambisonics technology^{[citation needed]}.

In recent years, Downes has teamed up with John Wetton again in a separate project under the name Icon. They have released three studio albums thus far, Icon, Rubicon, and 3 released in 2009. The original 'Wetton/Downes' album is due for re-issue under the Icon banner in 2010.

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 US supporting Yes, with 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 have since been touring this album in Europe and Japan. The band are scheduled to play the High Voltage Festival, London on 24 July and then several festivals in Germany before embarking on a six week US tour through August and September. A song, "Extraordinary Life" from their previous album, Phoenix, was recently chosen as the trailer for US's biggest reality TV show America's Got Talent.

Downes was involved as producer with the re-make of Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" in 1989 to raise funds for the Spitak Earthquake victims, which occurred on 7 December 1988. 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.

Influences and style[link]

In an interview conducted December 2006,^[3] 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".

Personal life[link]

Downes has been married (and divorced) twice and has two daughters, Christina & Alexandra, from his first wife, Norwegian former model Wenche Steen. He has an older sister, Helen, and two older brothers, John Gordon and Andrew. He currently lives in South Wales with his long-term partner.

Latest activities[link]

While currently active with the original Asia, he has also finished an album with John Wetton on their side project 'Icon', and recorded a live DVD in February 2009 to promote the release of their third studio album. The project included guitarist Dave Kilminster (Roger Waters, Keith Emerson), Pete Riley (Keith Emerson, Ken Hensley), and Hugh McDowell (ELO). 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 NDO album scheduled in October 2010, entitled Electronica and with vocals from Anne-Marie Helder. It is a twelve track album featuring Downes's orchestral style of keyboard playing.^[4]

On September 28, 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 March 22, 2011, he performed at the Roundhouse, London with Trevor Horn and Producers, along with Spandau Ballet & Alison Moyet to raise funds for a music charity for underprivileged children. The event itself raised over half a million pounds on the night.

On March 31, 2011, he was confirmed as participating in the recording of the new Yes album, reuniting with them formally for the first time since 1980, he has also been announced as rejoining the band for an upcoming tour.^[5]

In May, 2011 he rejoined Yes as the full-time keyboard player, and the band toured during the summer period in the USA with Styx. They then embarked on a European in October, starting in Portugal and ending up in December in Stockholm. The band was forced to cancel the last 3 shows due to an illness of the lead singer Benoit David.

In January 2012, the band appointed a replacement vocalist, Jon Davison to continue with the World tour and in particular the Pacific Rim tour in April 2012, comprising New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Indonesia & Hawaii.

In 2012, Downes completed work on an album with Chris Braide under the name of DBA (Downes Braide Association) called Pictures of You. The album will be released later in the year. Downes has also worked with ASIA on a 30th Anniversary album called XXX. Downes plays keyboards on the album and co-composed 9 of the 10 original compositions on the album with long-time song-writing partner, John Wetton. The first single from the release, Face on the Bridge, was released on 14th May 2012. The album is scheduled for release on 29th June in Europe (except in the UK which is 2nd July) and its release dates in Japan is on the 2nd July and America is on the 3rd July. The album will be released as a CD, a CD/DVD, a LP and as a download, all of which feature Roger Dean artwork.

Discography[link]

Solo albums[link]

• The Light Program, 1987, Geffen
• Vox Humana, 1992, JIMCO/Blueprint Records
• Welcome to the Real World with Trapeze, 1993
• Evolution, 1996, Blueprint Records
• Wetton Downes (demo album), 1996, Stallion Records
• Hughes/Downes: The Work Tapes, 1998, Blueprint Records
• The World Service, 2000, Blueprint Records
• Shadows & Reflections, 2003, Voiceprint Records
• The Collection, 2003, Voiceprint Records
• Live at St. Cyprian's, 2003
• White (Alan White), 2004
• 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
• Icon 3 (with John Wetton), 2009, Frontiers Records
• Electronica (New Dance Orchestra ft Anne-Marie Helder), 2010
• Pictures of You (with Chris Braide), 2012

Yes[link]

• Drama, 1980 / expanded and remastered, 2004
• The Ultimate Yes, 2003
• The Word is Live, 2005
• Fly From Here, Frontiers Records, 2011

The Buggles[link]

• The Age of Plastic, 1979
• Adventures in Modern Recording, 1981
• Adventures in Modern Recording, Remixed & remastered with bonus tracks, ZTT Records, 1981

Asia[link]

Singles[link]

• "Heat of the Moment"
• "Only Time will Tell"
• "Days Like These"
• "Sole Survivor"
• "Don't Cry"
• "The Smile has Left Your Eyes"
• "The Heat Goes On"
• "Who will stop the Rain"

Albums[link]

• Asia, 1982
• Alpha, 1983
• Astra, 1985
• Then & Now, 1990
• Live Mockba 09-X1-90, 1991
• Aqua, 1992; Aqua Special Edition, 2005
• 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
• 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)
• Phoenix, 2008
• Omega, 2010
• XXX, 2012

Instruments[link]

The following list contains the various keyboards that have been used by Downes.

• Chappell Grand Piano
• Sequential Circuits Prophet Remote
• Sequential Circuits Prelude
• Memorymoog
• Yamaha CS-80
• Sequential Circuits Prophet-5
• Hammond J-122 (Chopped)
• Yamaha CP-70B
• Yamaha CP-80
• Minimoog
• Fairlight CMI
• PPG Wave 2.2
• Polymoog
• Mellotron M400
• Sequential Circuits Prophet-10
• Korg VC-10
• ARP String Ensemble
• Hohner Clavinet D6
• Fender Rhodes Mark I
• Korg Polysix
• Hammond B-3
• Moog Liberation
• OSCar
• NED Syncalvier VP/K
• Korg DW-8000
• Korg Poly-800
• Sequential Circuits Six-Trak
• Korg RK-100
• E-mu Emulator II
• Elka Synthex
• Roland D-50
• Roland A-80
• Korg DW-6000
• Korg MS2000
• Korg KARMA
• Korg Triton
• Roland Fantom X6
• Roland AX-7
• Roland VP-550
• Roland JP-8000
• Roland Fantom X8
• Roland SH-201
• Roland Juno-G
• Roland VK-8M
• Moog Little Phatty
• E-mu PK-6
• Roland V-Synth
• Roland V-Synth GT