1 | [[quoteright:287:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/buggles78-2_3009.jpg]] |
2 | [[caption-width-right:287:Geoff Downes (left) and Music/TrevorHorn (right)]] |
3 | ->''"I heard you on my wireless back in '52,\ |
4 | Lyin' awake intent on tuning in on you,\ |
5 | If I was young it didn't stop you coming through,\ |
6 | Oh-a oh-a"'' |
7 | -->-- "Music/VideoKilledTheRadioStar" |
8 | |
9 | The Buggles were a band from 1977 to 1982, recognized for the first video played on Creator/{{MTV}}, 1979's "Music/VideoKilledTheRadioStar". Its members include Music/TrevorHorn and Geoff Downes. Band friend and songwriter Bruce Woolley was also integral early on, co-writing "Video" and "Clean Clean". They released only two albums, ''The Age of Plastic'' in 1980 and ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' in 1981. |
10 | |
11 | Riding high on the success of ''The Age of Plastic'', the band were asked by their management to write for the band Music/{{Yes}}, which culminated in Yes' 1980 album ''Music/{{Drama|YesAlbum}}'' including Horn and Downes as members. After Yes broke up in 1981, Horn released ''Adventures'' as a glorified solo act while Downes went on to form the ProgressiveRock band Music/{{Asia}}. Horn would become one of the music industry's most in-demand producers and helped shaped the characteristic sound of 1980s pop music as the mastermind behind ZTT Records and its signees, Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood, {{Music/Propaganda}}, The Art of Noise and more, including Yes' 1983 comeback album, ''Music/NineOhOneTwoFive''. |
12 | |
13 | Trevor Horn would produce major hits for decades afterward, influencing such diverse acts as Music/PetShopBoys, Music/{{Seal}}, Music/{{Tatu}}, Music/LeAnnRimes, and Music/RobbieWilliams. He won three BRIT Awards as a producer, and also won a Grammy. |
14 | ---- |
15 | !!Discography: |
16 | * ''The Age of Plastic'' (1980) |
17 | ** "Music/VideoKilledTheRadioStar" (1979) |
18 | * ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' (1981) |
19 | ---- |
20 | !!Adventures in Modern Troping: |
21 | * AllThereInTheManual: The instrumental coda to "Video Killed the Radio Star" is indexed on an album sampler as "Polythene Symphonia". |
22 | * {{Blackface}}: The keyboard women in the "Living in the Plastic Age" video feature this as part of their body-wide makeup. |
23 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Yes, this goofy synth duo with the silly name are godfathers of NewWaveMusic. The frontman with the funny-looking glasses? He's now one of the most influential and prolific producers in popular music. |
24 | * EndOfAnAge: "Video Killed the Radio Star" (for radio), "Elstree" (for the British film industry). |
25 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: The bass-heavy "I Love You (Miss Robot)" points towards their later contributions to the Yes album ''Music/{{Drama|YesAlbum}}'', which is stylistically similar. |
26 | * KissMeImVirtual: "I Love You (Miss Robot)". |
27 | * IAmTheBand: ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' is pretty much a Trevor Horn solo album, as Geoff Downes had joined Asia. |
28 | * IconicItem: Trevor Horn's glasses, to the point where the cover of ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' features them prominently as a hint that Horn basically ''was'' The Buggles at that point. |
29 | * ImaginaryFriend: "Kid Dynamo" has the titular character, a fictitious creation remembered by an adult whose over-exposure to media as a child has him recalling Dynamo into action on a daily basis. |
30 | * LeadBassist: Trevor Horn. |
31 | * LyricalDissonance (if not outright HypocriticalHumor): Pretty much their entire output was synthesised shiny hypermodern machine pop... bemoaning the impact of technology on modern life. |
32 | * NewTechnologyIsEvil: The world outlook on ''The Age of Plastic'' is depression and disappointment with the embracement of technology at that time in society. |
33 | * RadioSong: Their SignatureSong. |
34 | * RaygunGothic: Most of their lyrics. |
35 | * RearrangeTheSong: "I am a Camera" went through this twice, starting as a demo that got fleshed out as the Music/{{Yes}} song "Into the Lens" before being revisited by the Buggles on ''Adventures in Modern Recording''. The latter is atmospheric, minor-key SynthPop compared to the major-[[{{Tonality}} key]] ProgressiveRock of the Yes version, and the Buggles' version lacks Yes' rewrites. |
36 | * ShoutOut: |
37 | ** Their name is a take off of Music/TheBeatles, based on an idea they had about a futuristic dystopia in which scientists produce artificial perversions of classic pop music. |
38 | ** "Video Killed the Radio Star" is based on the short story "The Sound-Sweep" by J.G. Ballard, about a mute boy who "vacuums up" sound in a future where ultra-sonic sound has replaced audible, regular sound, happening upon an opera singer in an abandoned theatre. |
39 | ** The music video for "Living in the Plastic Age" includes footage from ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders''. |
40 | ** "Elstree" is an extended ode to the film studio of the same name, with the music video reenacting the kinds of movies that were shot there in the early 20th century. |
41 | * SpellMyNameWithAThe: They did, though whoever designed their sleeves didn't always (both albums notably just feature "Buggles" on them.) |
42 | * TheStoic: Geoff Downes hardly ever emotes in his performances. |
43 | * SurrealMusicVideo: The video for "Living in the Plastic Age" features a cavalcade of strange and incongruous scenes involving cave monks, space age landscapes, ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'', and women painted to look like phone booths and pianos, among other sights. |
44 | * TitleTrack: Played with "Living in the Plastic Age" on ''The Age of Plastic.'' Played straight on ''Adventures In Modern Recording''. |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Music / TheBuggles
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load