| Artist: | The Buggles |
| Studio: | 2 |
| Compilation: | 1 |
| Singles: | 9 |
| Video: | 1 |
| Music Videos: | 3 |
| Option: | 1 |
| Option Name: | Promotional extended plays |
| 1Option: | 3 |
| 1Option Name: | Production |
The Buggles, a duo consisting of bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes, have a discography of two studio albums, a compilation album and video live album, a promotional extended play, nine singles, and three music videos. The Buggles also produced three songs, "Back of My Hand" by The Jags, "Monkey Chop" by Dan-I, and "Film Star" by Tom Marshall. The group formed in 1977 in Wimbledon, South West London, and were signed by Island Records to record and publish their debut studio album, The Age of Plastic, which was released in 1980.[1] The album charted in the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, and Japan.
The lead single for The Age of Plastic was "Video Killed the Radio Star", released in 1979. The song was a huge commercial success, becoming the 444th number one hit on the UK Singles Chart, spending one week at the top. It was also number 1 on fifteen other international record charts[2] and sold more than five million copies worldwide.[3] It received certifications by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique and British Phonographic Industry of platinum and gold respectively. Its music video was the first to air on MTV.[4] Three other singles from The Age of Plastic, "Living in the Plastic Age", "Clean, Clean" and "Elstree", achieved chart success in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. Music videos were made for "Living in the Plastic Age" and "Elstree"
Adventures in Modern Recording, released in 1981, was the second and last album by The Buggles. Five singles from it were released between 1981 and 1982, "I Am a Camera", "Adventures in Modern Recording", "On TV", "Lenny", and "Beatnik". The album and its singles were a commercial failure in the UK, but the album did chart in the United States, peaking at number 161 on the Billboard 200 and at number 7 on the Bubbling Under the Top Rock Albums chart. The album also charted in the Netherlands, as did "I Am a Camera" and "Lenny". "On TV" was certified gold by Music Canada for sales of 5,000 units.
| Details | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [5] | CAN [6] | FRA [7] | ITA [8] | JPN [9] | NLD [10] | NOR [11] | SWE [12] | US [13] | US Rock | ||||||||||||
| The Age of Plastic |
| 27 < | -- GBR --> | 83 < | -- CAN --> | 15 < | -- FRA --> | 17 < | -- IT --> | 35 < | -- JPN --> | — < | -- NLD --> | 23 < | -- NOR --> | 24 < | -- SWE --> | — < | -- US --> | — < | -- US Rock --> |
| Adventures in Modern Recording |
| — < | -- GBR --> | — < | -- CAN --> | — < | -- FRA --> | — < | -- IT --> | — < | -- JPN --> | 26 < | -- NLD --> | — < | -- NOR --> | 50 < | -- SWE --> | 161 < | -- US --> | 57 < | -- US Rock --> |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or did not have a release in that territory. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Details | ||
| The 12" & Rarities Collection |
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| Details | ||
| A Sea of Cameras – Live in New York, 20th September 2010 |
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| Details | ||
| Extracts from The Age of Plastic |
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| Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [18] | AUS [19] | AUT [20] | GER [21] | ITA [22] | NLD [23] | NZ [24] | SWE [25] | SWI [26] | US | ||||||||||||||
| "Video Killed the Radio Star" | 1979 | 1 < | -- GBR --> | 1 < | -- AU --> | 1 < | -- AUT --> | 2 < | -- GER --> | 23 < | -- ITL --> | 16 < | -- NLD --> | 2 < | -- NZL --> | 1 < | -- SWE --> | 1 < | -- SWI --> | 40 < | -- USA --> |
Platinum[27] Platinum[28] | The Age of Plastic |
| "Living in the Plastic Age" | 1980 | 16 < | -- GBR --> | — < | -- AU --> | — < | -- AUT --> | 29 < | -- GER --> | — < | -- ITL --> | 29 < | -- NLD --> | — < | -- NZL --> | — < | -- SWE --> | — < | -- SWI --> | — < | -- USA --> | ||
| "Clean Clean" | 38 < | -- GBR --> | — < | -- AU --> | — < | -- AUT --> | 60 < | -- GER --> | — < | -- ITL --> | — < | -- NLD --> | — < | -- NZL --> | — < | -- SWE --> | — < | -- SWI --> | — < | -- USA --> | |||
| "Elstree" | 55 < | -- GBR --> | — < | -- AU --> | — < | -- AUT --> | — < | -- GER --> | — < | -- ITL --> | — < | -- NLD --> | — < | -- NZL --> | — < | -- SWE --> | — < | -- SWI --> | — < | -- USA --> | |||
| "I Am a Camera" | 1981 | — < | -- GBR --> | — < | -- AU --> | — < | -- AUT --> | — < | -- GER --> | 45 < | -- ITL --> | 46 < | -- NLD --> | — < | -- NZL --> | — < | -- SWE --> | — < | -- SWI --> | — < | -- USA --> | Adventures in Modern Recording | |
| "Adventures in Modern Recording"[29] | 1982 | — < | -- GBR --> | — < | -- AU --> | — < | -- AUT --> | — < | -- GER --> | — < | -- ITL --> | — < | -- NLD --> | — < | -- NZL --> | — < | -- SWE --> | — < | -- SWI --> | — < | -- USA --> | ||
| "On TV" | — < | -- GBR --> | — < | -- AU --> | — < | -- AUT --> | — < | -- GER --> | — < | -- ITL --> | — < | -- NLD --> | — < | -- NZL --> | — < | -- SWE --> | — < | -- SWI --> | — < | -- USA --> |
Gold[30] | ||
| "Lenny" | — < | -- GBR --> | — < | -- AU --> | — < | -- AUT --> | — < | -- GER --> | — < | -- ITL --> | 17 < | -- NLD --> | — < | -- NZL --> | — < | -- SWE --> | — < | -- SWI --> | — < | -- USA --> | |||
| "Beatnik"[31] | — < | -- GBR --> | — < | -- AU --> | — < | -- AUT --> | — < | -- GER --> | — < | -- ITL --> | — < | -- NLD --> | — < | -- NZL --> | — < | -- SWE --> | — < | -- SWI --> | — < | -- USA --> | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or did not have a release in that territory. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| scope=col | Song | scope=col | Year | scope=col | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row | "Video Killed the Radio Star" | 1979[32] | Russell Mulcahy[33] | ||
| scope=row | "Living in the Plastic Age" | 1980[34] | |||
| scope=row | "Clean, Clean" | 1980 | |||
| scope=row | "Elstree" | 1980[35] | |||
| scope=row | "I Am a Camera" | 1981 | |||
| scope=row | "Adventures in Modern Recording" | 1982 | |||
| scope=row | "On TV" | 1982 |
| Year | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [36] | NZ [37] | SWE [38] | US [39] | |||||||||||||||
| "Back of My Hand" by The Jags[40] | 1979 | 17 | — | — | 84 | |||||||||||||
| "Monkey Chop" by Dan-I[41] | 30 | 4 | 11 | — | ||||||||||||||
| "Film Star" by Tom Marshall | 1981 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or did not have a release in that territory. | ||||||||||||||||||