* En anglais uniquement
As the answer to the trivia question "What was the first act ever played on MTV?"
Buggles assured their place in pop music history. Vocalist and bassist
Trevor Horn and keyboardist
Geoff Downes formed the electro-pop duo in England in 1977 after meeting as session musicians. Their first single, "Video Killed the Radio Star," hit number one in the U.K. in late 1979. When MTV went on the air on August 1, 1981, the prophetically titled song's video was the first-ever broadcast on the fledgling cable network. Although
Buggles enjoyed three more British hits -- "The Plastic Age," "Clean Clean," and "Elstree" -- both
Horn and
Downes were more interested in production than performing. In 1980, they helmed
Yes'
Drama, joining the group as replacements for
Rick Wakeman and
Jon Anderson. After
Yes' subsequent, momentary breakup,
Downes signed on with
Asia, while
Horn co-founded the ZTT label, as well as the group
Art of Noise, and produced hits for the likes of
ABC,
Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and
Seal, among others.
Horn and
Downes, who had never toured as
Buggles, occasionally performed under that name during the late '90s, 2000s, and 2010s. ~ Jason Ankeny