Geoff Downes on Asia's New Live Album, John Wetton's Legacy, and His Career from the Buggles to Yes

Few musicians have navigated the worlds of progressive rock and pop quite like Geoff Downes. As a founding member of Asia and a member of Yes, as well as one half of the Buggles alongside Trevor Horn, Downes has been responsible for some of the most recognizable sounds of the past four decades – from "Video Killed the Radio Star" to "Heat of the Moment." His keyboard work helped define a specific era of rock music, bridging the experimental ambition of the '70s with the polished sound of the '80s.

Now, Downes and Asia are revisiting one of the most important chapters in their history. The band's new live release, Live in England, captures a performance of Asia's landmark 1982 debut album played in its entirety – an album that produced multiple hits and became one of the most successful debuts in rock history. The recording also showcases the current Asia lineup – carrying forward the band's legacy following the passing of vocalist/bassist John Wetton.

In the following conversation with AllMusic, Downes discusses the origins of the new live album, the evolution of Asia's lineup, memories of working with Wetton, and reflections on pivotal moments in his career – from the early days of MTV to his time in Yes and the Buggles.

Let's discuss Live in England. How did the idea come about to do a live album with Asia at this point?

"Well, I think it was a couple of years ago, we did a tribute for John Wetton and I put together a band, and we did a whole lot of Asia music. And it really felt great. And I think that from that point on, it was really a case of thinking, 'Well, the lineup that performed that night is pretty much the one that we've got now, with the exception of Virgil [Donati] on drums'."

"But I think it was a nice thing to do, to actually look at that those first three albums. I mean, the one coming out now is the original Asia album in its entirety. So it's kind of a nice thing to revisit. And I always felt that Asia's music was something that should continue. And I enjoy doing it, and I know people enjoy listening to it and watching us play, so that really spurred me on to do it."

How does this line-up of the band compare to the classic line-up?

"We were a very interesting band that formed out of Yes, ELP, and King Crimson. So it was, I suppose, in many ways, to put this lineup together, I felt that those elements were still carrying through. Certainly John Mitchell, the guitarist, had worked with John Wetton and myself on other projects."

"And Virgil had worked with John in UK, actually the last lineup of UK. So it was really nice to actually follow that up. And I think that finding Harry [Whitley], who's the vocalist and bass player, really adds a whole new dimension to it. So, it's great to carry on the legacy, I think."

Why is Steve Howe no longer involved in Asia?

"Well, I think when we reformed in 2006, we spent five or six years together with the original lineup, recorded three albums. And I think at that time, Steve was very much involved with a lot of work with Yes. And so he effectively said, 'Look, I've really got too much going on.' He's also got solo material, as well. So, I think that that's when we got Sam Coulson, and we carried on, we did another album."

"Steve is very…he's still very connected with Asia, in a lot of ways. And then certainly, on the new album we recorded [to be released later in 2026], Steve's going to be playing on a track he performed with us in 2019, when we had Billy Sherwood and Bumblefoot."

"So Steve's still got his foot in the Asia camp to some degree, but obviously he's got a lot of things going on – not just Yes, because he's got his own Steve Howe Trio and the stuff that he does. So, it's not really anything more than the fact that he felt that he had to devote his time to other things."

John Wetton I feel is a highly underrated singer. In addition to Asia, I particularly enjoyed his work with King Crimson, especially the Red album – which was almost like a heavy metal album.

"Well, I think the great thing was when we put Asia together in the first place, John and I really had a great understanding, and we wrote probably the bulk of Asia's material through that early period. And I think that we just hit it off as a writing partnership. And obviously very sad when John passed away, about nine years ago now. I thought I'd lost my great writing partner. John's abilities were unbelievable."

"As you mentioned, the King Crimson album Red, and going on to UK and coming into Asia. I think Asia…the thing that he really wanted to do, he wanted to be the bass player and lead singer. And I think that I brought something to the table, that he recognized that we could actually work together and create all this music, which we did."

"And I think that the great thing is that with this album coming up, shortly before John passed away, we had quite a lot of ideas for another album, and some of the sketches, they weren't particularly heavily developed. But I think by the time I sort of settled that for a number of years, I just felt it was nice to revisit some of that stuff. And so we've got a few tracks on the new album that I wrote with John. I think he'd be very proud of the fact that it actually did come into fruition, and we did actually record some of that material."

Did Asia's massive success in 1982 come as a surprise?

"Yeah. I mean, I don't think anyone could have predicted that it would be as successful as it was. I think when we finished recording it, we felt we'd done a really great album. But commercial success is not something you can actually predict. I mean, we had a great record label. We were the first band on Geffen Records. So, yeah, it was a surprise that it snowballed as fast as it did."

"And I think that a lot of people said, 'Oh, they just put together a supergroup, and this is what came out.' But there was actually a lot of work beforehand – I think we were in rehearsal for six months, shaping all these ideas. And I think from Carl [Palmer] and Steve and John as well, they come from more of the '70s progressive rock bands. And I had a slightly different background, in that although I'd been in Yes in the '80s, prior to that, I was known more for the Buggles and pop records and that kind of thing."

"So, I was the odd man out, in a way, because I didn't have that '70s career behind me in terms of playing these big stadiums in America and doing all of that. So I think my own standpoint was that I brought something to the equation that they recognized they wanted to do something different. And my part of my influence I think helped to steer it in a certain way."

I interviewed you a few years back for the book MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video. How much did MTV play in the success of Asia, and also, attention for the Buggles a few years after "Video Killed the Radio Star" was a hit?

"Well, I think to me it was very much an afterthought. Because the original single [of 'Video Killed the Radio Star'] came out in 1979 and it had been a hit all of the world, and then, it died away. And by that time, I'd already gone into Yes or formed Asia. So, by the time MTV came up in August 1, 1981 and it was the first video opened MTV up at that time, MTV was only really just a Cable channel in certain cities in America. So, no one really knew how big it was going to be."

"But obviously, that just took off in a big way. I think it was very important for a lot of the record labels, because it ballooned around the States particularly. I think that the record labels saw it as a perfect way of promoting that artist. And so, you know, you had all the all the bands like Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet and all that sort of British new wave era there at the beginning of the '80s."

"I think that it was really something that really opened up a lot of doors for a lot of bands. Because all of a sudden, instead of relying on radio, it was bands were being 'made' by MTV. I think that's why the record labels really, really embraced it and poured enormous amounts of money into making these videos, so that they would hopefully see it as the 'perfect shop window' for a lot of a lot of their artists."

Did the 2005 movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin help introduce "Heat of the Moment" and Asia to a new audience?

"I think it probably helped. It's not the be all end all of everything, but it was nice to have that recognition, revisiting the fact that Asia was a band that had a lot of influence on people. It didn't relaunch the band, particularly, although it did bring back memories, it brought back recognition for the for the band as a whole."

"Well, I think by the time that was out, we'd already reformed the original band back in 2005/2006. So it kind of, it was around the same sort of time. And so I definitely think it helps. And, you know, it's a great, great moment has almost a high point of the film, really. So it's always good to get your music in films, because it does help to prolong it. It helps to bring in new people, new fans."

When I saw Yes live a few years back, I was pleased to hear the band perform "Machine Messiah." Is that Yes' heaviest song?

"Well, certainly, I think that it's the most powerful songs on the Drama album. I think that when Trevor Horn and myself joined Yes, it really catapulted them into a new generation. Which was into the '80s. Which manifested itself more so I think on the 90125 album, which came out I think a year after the first Asia album."

"And things were changing a lot, then. If you think about a lot of these bands that were around in the '70s started to reinvent themselves when it turned into the '80s. And I think that when Trevor and I joined Yes, we brought a whole new dimension into the music. At the time, the real diehard Yes fans were fairly reticent to buy into it, because they saw Trevor and myself as a couple of 'pop guys' entering this revered world of progressive music that had been in the '70s."

"But I think as time has gone by, I think a lot of the Yes fans have really come to warm to the album and consider it to be something of a milestone and a turning point in Yes' career."

Do you consider Drama to be an underrated Yes album?

"Well, I think that it's become more and more 'rated' over a period of time. And a lot of fans say to me, 'It's one of my favorite Yes albums.' And I think at the time, there was a lot of suspicion about who these guys were coming in, and the direction. I think we changed the direction quite a bit. Because Yes was always known for these very sort of pastoral epic pieces that were, y'know, inspired by rivers and mountains and all the rest of it. A sort of bucolic landscape."

"I think when we came in, we were talking about machines and pylons and very sort of technological lyrics that Trevor was particularly good at coming up with. And using a lot of modern synthesizers. I was using samples and stuff like that – which was virtually unheard of. And Yes had never used stuff like that before. So, it still had the elements of Yes, but I think we had this sort of technological feeling, bringing it into a new generation – which was obviously the '80s, where a lot of bands changed."

"If you look at a band like Genesis, for instance, they changed from being this sort of similar kind of progressive band in the '70s to being the much sort of harder edge, almost pop rock band. So, the '80s did change a lot of people, because I think mainly the '70s, people thought, 'Well, they've done that. They've done the '70s. We've played the great, big, long, epic pieces. The great, the revolving stages, and all the rest of it. And all of a sudden, things started to change. Music started to change."

What makes Trevor Horn unique as a producer and artist?

"Well, I was very lucky to meet Trevor, because he really gave me my first big break. In the mid '70s, I just moved to London from a music college up in the north of England, and I answered an ad in Melody Maker – which was the Bible for getting musicians work. And Trevor was putting together this pop band for a disco singer called Tina Charles. And I went to the audition, and he said, 'You've got the job.' So I thought, 'Okay, that's great.' But when we started working together, we realized we had a lot in common. And Trevor is an amazing, amazing guy. My career would not be the same had I not met Trevor Horn."

Click here to purchase Asia's Live in England.