Buggles - Adventures In Modern Recording (1981)

Note: this release was originally purchased as an LP, later replaced by a the 2010 CD reissue with 10 bonus tracks (UK import). Judging by the prices I'm currently seeing online, this CD must have gone out-of-print after I purchased it.

I'll sidestep my usual responsibilities by letting Trevor Horn explain the history of his album. Just click the thumbnail below:

I agree that this album has weaker material, but unlike Mr. Horn, I don't like this one better than The Age Of Plastic. As mentioned in the Trouser Press review below, this album is "interesting but not gripping." I should also note that the Horn-Downes split was apparently acrimonious. Horn makes it seem like Downes wasn't involved when Downes appears on 4 tracks and has co-writing & co-producing credits on 3 of those 4. Rightfully, Horn should get most of the credit and if it took going the production of this album to get to later Horn-produced albums like The Lexicon Of Love, 90125, Who's Afraid Of The Art Of Noise, Duck Rock, Welcome To The Pleasuredome, and the stuff with Seal, I'm quite glad it happened.

However, if you like The Age Of Plastic, you're probably better off finding a copy of English Garden by Bruce Woolley & The Camera Club than Adventures In Modern Recording.

Press of the time:

• Smash Hits (5½ out of 10): "the whole is much less than the sum of the parts"
• Record Mirror: "a weedy piece of whimsy"
• Billboard: "electronic and progressive rock experimentations"
• CashBox: "Despite their light-hearted pop image, this duo did pioneer the use of many electronic and synthesizer effects that more serious-minded British groups are pushing today."
• Trouser Press: "interesting but not gripping. Who's this intended for?"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #161
• CashBox: #165

Tracks: My crack staff informs me that I Am A Camera was released as a US single, but failed to chart. My top picks are Beatnik, Vermillion Sands, and to a lesser extent, the title track and Inner City.

Bonus tracks: Includes 2 b-sides, the 12" mix of I Am A Camera, plus 7 demos. "Interesting but not gripping," but even more so. Leans more prog rock than synthpop. Two of the demos were given to Yes, another to Dollar.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Nothing from 1981; I wasn't aware of this album until the mid-'90s. When I finally learned of its existence, I picked up a used copy of the vinyl record as it had yet to be released on CD.

I saw "The Buggles" in concert in Houston on April 28, 2023 when they opened for Seal. They included a song from this album in the six song set. Downes wasn't invited and it was really the Trevor Horn show: he played bass, sang vocals, and it was all songs he had a hand in producing. To wit:

• Two Tribes (Frankie Goes to Hollywood cover; instrumental)
• Living in the Plastic Age (from The Age Of Plastic)
• Elstree (from The Age Of Plastic)
• I Am a Camera (from Adventures In Modern Recording)
• Owner of a Lonely Heart (Yes cover)
• Video Killed the Radio Star (from The Age Of Plastic)

Then the band changed clothes and returned to the stage as Seal's backing band. Yes, I bought an overpriced concert tee (two actually - one for Buggles, another for Seal). For what it's worth, when I saw Asia perform in April, 2008 in Dallas, Downes donned a silver sequined jacket and the band performed Video Killed the Radio Star.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Age Of Plastic (1980)