The Buggles were a pop/rock band formed in 1977 consisting of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, early on including Academy Award-winning film composer Hans Zimmer (who left after the success of Video Killed the Radio Star).
The Buggles shot to fame with their first single released in late 1979. The novelty value of the song led to them being perceived as one-hit wonders, but its success was sufficient to launch both members of the band on successful careers. The video for the song, directed by Russell Mulcahy was - quite appropriately - the first video aired on MTV North America.
They recorded two albums, the second of which was released after Horn and Downes had replaced Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman, respectively, in Yes.
The band's sound was characterised by a deliberately synthetic quality, in keeping with the technological subject matter of their songs. Horn said he chose "The Buggles" for the band's name because, "It was the most disgusting name I could think of at that time."
Although they never played live originally, they have played together live twice since, once in 1998 and once in 2004.
Discography