Geoff Downes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Geoffrey Downes (born August 25, 1952 in Stockport, Cheshire, England) is a rock keyboard player. He is best known as the keyboardist for the band Asia, and his stint with Yes in 1980.
The son of musical parents (his father was a church organist and his mother a pianist), Downes also took up the keyboards, playing in a succession of local bands before studying at music college in Leeds. After graduating he moved to London, where he played sessions and composed advertising jingles. A 1977 appearance live with the Gary Boyle band was released as Live at the BBC by Isotope & Gary Boyle in 2004.
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"). He hardly sang in The Buggles but he provided some vocals for their song "Clean Clean" and actually sang "Kid Dynamo." He had a pretty deep voice.
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 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 remained the only founder member of the band. In recent years, Downes has teamed up with Wetton in a separate project.
In addition to recording and touring with Asia, Downes has also recorded a number of solo albums and collaborated with other artists, including with Trapeze in 1991 for a tour that produced the live album Welcome to the Real World, and a very brief appearance on Kate Bush's Sat in Your Lap. In 2005, he joined Yes drummer Alan White's eponymous band White.
Contents |
[edit] 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).
[edit] Discography
[edit] 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 II: Rubicon (with John Wetton), 2006, Frontiers Records
[edit] 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
[edit] Buggles
- The Age of Plastic, 1979
- Adventures in Modern Recording, 1981
[edit] 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)
[edit] EPs
- Heat Of The Moment 05 (with John Wetton), 2005
[edit] External links
| Yes |
|---|
| Jon Anderson | Chris Squire | Steve Howe | Rick Wakeman | Alan White |
| Peter Banks | Tony Kaye | Bill Bruford | Patrick Moraz | Geoff Downes | Trevor Horn | Trevor Rabin | Billy Sherwood | Igor Khoroshev |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: Yes | Time and a Word | The Yes Album | Fragile | Close to the Edge | Tales from Topographic Oceans | Relayer | Going for the One | Tormato | Drama | 90125 | Big Generator | Union | Talk | Open Your Eyes | The Ladder | Magnification |
| Live albums: Yessongs | Yesshows | 9012Live: The Solos | Keys to Ascension | Keys to Ascension 2 | House of Yes: Live from House of Blues |
| Compilations: Yesterdays | Classic Yes | Yesstory | The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection |
| Remix albums: Yes Remixes |
| Box sets: Yesyears | In a Word: Yes (1969 - ) | The Word is Live |
