1977–1979: Formation Downes claimed the group's name derived as a pun on the rock band
The Beatles, saying: "It was originally called the Bugs ... 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." Horn later spoke of its name: "I know the name's awful, but at the time it was the era of the great punk thing. I'd got fed up of producing people who were generally idiots but called themselves all sorts of clever names like the Unwanted, the Unwashed, the Unheard ... when it came to choosing our name I thought I'd pick the most disgusting name possible. In retrospect I have frequently regretted calling myself Buggles, but in those days I never really thought much about packaging or selling myself, all that really concerned me was the record." Horn began his career producing jingles and
punk rock groups. Downes was a keyboardist in She's French and graduated from
Leeds College of Music in 1975, after which he moved to London looking for keyboard work. The two first met in 1976 at auditions for
Tina Charles' backing band Horn met musician
Bruce Woolley while playing the bass guitar in the house band at the
Hammersmith Odeon. Both expressed an interest in
Kraftwerk and
Daniel Miller, leading them to read
Crash by
J. G. Ballard. Said Horn, "We had this idea that at some future point there'd be a record label that didn't really have any artists—just a computer in the basement and some mad
Vincent Price-like figure making the records ... One of the groups this computer would make would be the Buggles, which was obviously a corruption of the Beatles, who would just be this inconsequential bunch of people with a hit song that the computer had written ... and would never be seen." In 1977, Horn, Downes and Woolley got together and began recording a selection of demos in a small room above a stonemason shop in
Wimbledon, south-west London, including "
Video Killed the Radio Star", "
Clean, Clean" and "
On TV". Though unsure about what they wished to do with the demos, Downes remembered that "we knew even then ... there was some distant goal that had to be reached", but Horn, having begun a relationship with
Jill Sinclair, a co-founder of
Sarm East Studios, managed to secure plans for a potential deal.
1979–1980: The Age of Plastic With the Island recording contract having been secured, the Buggles recorded their debut studio album,
The Age of Plastic, through 1979. Initially, the demo of "Video Killed the Radio Star" featured vocals by
Tina Charles, who also helped fund the project. Although the song was primarily a Woolley composition, he ended his association with Horn and Downes to form
the Camera Club before the song's release as a single. Making
The Age of Plastic involved several months of tiresome and intense experimentation with studio equipment and techniques, struggling to capture the "magic" of the original demos. Its music video, directed by
Russell Mulcahy, was the first video aired on
MTV in the United States on 1 August 1981. Film composer
Hans Zimmer makes a brief appearance in the video.
The Age of Plastic was released in January 1980 and reached No. 27 on the
UK Albums Chart. Three subsequent singles were released: "
Living in the Plastic Age", "
Clean, Clean" and "
Elstree", all of which charted in the United Kingdom.
1980–1981: Collaboration with Yes In early 1980, Horn and Downes began work on a second Buggles album in London, working in a studio next door to that of the
progressive rock band
Yes, who had lost vocalist
Jon Anderson and keyboardist
Rick Wakeman following failed recording sessions for a potential new album. In particular, Horn had been a long-standing fan of Yes. The Buggles offered a song to Yes, "We Can
Fly from Here", but at the suggestion of Brian Lane, manager of both bands, Yes's bassist
Chris Squire invited them to actually replace Anderson and Wakeman as members of Yes. Horn and Downes accepted the offer and joined Squire,
Steve Howe and
Alan White to record
Drama. The absorption of the Buggles into Yes met with mixed reactions; the band was sometimes booed in the United Kingdom despite its chart position, but not in the United States. Horn admitted that he did not have Anderson's vocal range or style, which many fans missed, but most were still willing to give the new incarnation of Yes a chance. However, some press critics and fans were far less forgiving, especially in the United Kingdom. The US tour was much less financially successful than expected, and Yes disbanded in December 1980 after the
Drama tour ended.
1981–1982: Adventures in Modern Recording In early 1981, following the disbanding of Yes, Downes and Horn reconvened at Sarm East Studios to record the Buggles' second studio album,
Adventures in Modern Recording. However, Downes left the group on the day that the recording was to begin On 11 November 2004, the Buggles reunited with Doss, Jardim-Allan and Woolley at
Wembley Arena to perform "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "The Plastic Age" as part of a
The Prince's Trust charity concert celebrating Horn's career as a producer. On 28 September 2010, the Buggles performed their first actual concert, billed as "The Lost Gig", at Supperclub in
Notting Hill, west London, as a fundraiser for the
Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability. Following an opening performance by
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, the Buggles' set included
The Age of Plastic performed in its entirety, including Woolley singing with Horn on "Clean, Clean". Also featured were
Lol Creme,
Chris Braide,
Alison Moyet, On 25 October 2011, the Buggles reunited to play at the
British Music Experience at
the O2 Arena. The gig included the first live performance of "I Am a Camera" and covers of "
Space Oddity" by
David Bowie and "
Check It Out" by
Nicki Minaj and
will.i.am, which utilised samples from "Video Killed the Radio Star". Kirsten Joy, Holly Petrie and Kate Westall provided backing vocals. In 2013, Downes spoke of the chance of another reunion: "It's always a challenge working on new stuff, and I'd love to collaborate with Trevor again ... it's not impossibility, just a matter of making the planets align so that one day we can hopefully make it happen." In March 2015, Downes joined
the Trevor Horn Band on stage at the
Shepherd's Bush Empire to play "The Plastic Age" and "Video Killed the Radio Star". Horn and Downes reunited in the studio in early 2016 for more Buggles activity. During April–June 2023, the Buggles were the support act for
Seal during his 30th-anniversary tour, on which Horn was the musical director and bassist. This marked the group's first tour. The lineup was the same as Seal's backing band, led by Horn. Geoff Downes was not involved. The set list included songs from both the band's albums and material by
Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Yes. ==Artistry and reception==