| "Elstree" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by the Buggles | ||||
| from the album The Age of Plastic | ||||
| B-side | "Johnny on the Monorail (A Very Different Version)" | |||
| Released | 27 October 1980 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | Island | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | The Buggles | |||
| The Buggles singles chronology | ||||
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8 tracks
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| Music video | ||||
| "Elstree" on YouTube | ||||
"Elstree" is a song by the Buggles from their debut album, The Age of Plastic . It was the fourth and final single from the album, released on 27 October 1980. It was written by Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes.
"Elstree" is a tribute to the U.K. film studios Elstree Studios. [1] It follows the story of a failed actor who, according to Wave Maker Magazine, is "taking up a more regular position behind the scenes and looking back at his life in regret." [2] The song is 4 minutes and 32 seconds long, and is played at a BPM of 136. [3] Geoff Downes performed an old-sounding grand piano and a minimoog in the song to emulate an oboe. [4]
The single was released on 7" vinyl via Island Records across Europe and Japan. It was not given an America release. [5] In the UK, the single was manufactured and distributed by EMI Records Ltd. [6] The single was also issued in Brazil through Island Records and Ariola, which was the umbrella company in Brazil for Island Records at the time. [7] For the single, the song was edited down by half a minute in comparison to the album version of the song. Despite this, the UK version of the single still dubbed the song "(Full-length Album Version)" on the A-side of the vinyl. [8] The single included the B-side "Johnny on the Monorail (A Very Different Version)" which was written by Downes and Horn. As the title suggested, the song is a different version of the closing album track of The Age of Plastic. The version was originally exclusive to the single before it appeared as a bonus track on the 2000 remastered re-issue of The Age of Plastic album, amongst other re-issues of the album. [9]
The majority of the releases of the single featured the same track listing, however the Japanese issue of the single, released on 21 July 1980 as a promotional release only, featured the full album version of "Elstree" and not the single version, whilst the B-side was "Island" which was originally the B-side to the band's second single "Living in the Plastic Age" from 1980. [10]
Most issues of the single featured a full colour sleeve with artwork of a camera. [5] The Japanese release used different artwork, using an alternate design of the drawing of the duo first seen as the artwork on their 1979 debut single "Video Killed the Radio Star". [11]
Additionally, a promotional single was released in the UK which featured "Elstree (Special DJ Version)" - a three and a half minute version of the song. [12] This version was originally exclusive to the single but would later see release as a bonus track on the 2010 Japanese CD re-release of The Age of Plastic, along with the single version of "Elstree". [13] The promotional single still featured the usual full colour sleeve. [12]
Gigi D'Agostino reused parts of the song's melodic structure for his 1999 hit "Another Way".
The song was parodied in the 1983 Central TV 'Christmas Tape', with reference made about the move from the ATV Elstree Studios to the then new Lenton Lane Studios in Nottingham - a voice-over from an advert for Tunes menthol sweets is played at the end: 'A Second Class Return to Nottingham, please'.
The song peaked at #55 in the UK singles chart and lasted in the Top 100 for a total of four weeks. [14] It was the band's final Top 100 release in the UK. [14]
The Independent, on 3 October 2010, spoke of the song in a review of The Buggles' live performance "The Lost Gig" in London, where the author Simon Price stated "The Age of Plastic, played in order, and accompanied by films generally involving old footage of things that once, like the songs, felt impossibly futuristic. Then again, minor hits such as "Clean Clean" and "Elstree" sound radiantly relevant now." [15] Krinein magazine reviewed the album in 2003, where writer L. Vincent stated "The great quality of The Age of Plastic is due to a whole in the spirit and the musical success of individual 'Video Killed the Radio Star'. For example, the titles "Living in the Plastic Age", "Kid Dynamo", "Elstree" and "Johnny On The Monorail" are quite as effective in their melodies, their rhythms and their harmonies." [16]
Nicholas Baker of Napster spoke of the song in a review of the album, stating "Don't overlook this '80s pop classic. Production deity Trevor Horn had more in him than just "Video Killed the Radio Star." His considerable songwriting prowess is also evident on "Plastic Age," "Elstree" (a tribute to the famed U.K. film studios) and "Clean Clean." [1]
A music video was filmed featuring Trevor Horn as a BBC janitor cleaning a cemetery set on a sound stage as he recalls his days as a bit player in Elstree Studio b-films. Intercut with scenes of black and white sword fighting and retro movie scenes are included in the video. As Horn reminisces, black-and-white footage of his "films" play, illustrating the various roles he recalls in the song. [17]
On 28 September 2010, The Buggles reunited to play their first full-length live concert. The event was billed as "The Lost Gig" and took place at "Ladbroke Grove's Supperclub", Notting Hill, London, and was a fund raiser with all earnings going to the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability. Except "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "The Plastic Age" which the band had previously played together, "The Lost Gig" saw the first live performances of all songs from The Age of Plastic, which included "Elstree". [18] [19]
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart [14] | 55 |
The Buggles are an English new wave band formed in London in 1977 by singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes. They are best known for their 1979 debut single "Video Killed the Radio Star", which topped the UK Singles Chart and reached number one in 15 other countries and was chosen as the song to launch MTV in 1981.
The Age of Plastic is the debut album by the English new wave duo the Buggles, first released on 10 January 1980 on Island Records. It is a concept album about the possible repercussions of modern technology. The title was conceived from the group's intention of being a "plastic group" and the album was produced in the wake of the success of their debut record, "Video Killed the Radio Star" (1979), which topped the UK Singles Chart. Most of the album's other tracks were written during promotion of the single.
Trevor Charles Horn is an English record producer and musician. His influence on pop and electronic music in the 1980s was such that he has been called "the man who invented the eighties".
Art of Noise were a British avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and music journalist Paul Morley. The group had international Top 20 hits with its interpretations of "Kiss", featuring Tom Jones, and the instrumental "Peter Gunn", which won a 1986 Grammy Award.
"Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley in 1979. It was recorded concurrently by Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club for their album English Garden and by British new wave/synth-pop group the Buggles, which consisted of Horn and Downes.
Adventures in Modern Recording is the second studio album by English new wave group the Buggles, released in November 1981 by Carrere Records. Although the Buggles began as a duo of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, the album ended up as mostly Horn's solo effort, as Downes left to join the English rock band Asia on the day recording was originally scheduled to begin. It contains nine tracks, including a version of a track from the Yes album Drama (1980), recorded during Horn and Downes' short initial tenure with the band. Originally named "Into the Lens", the Buggles rendition is titled "I Am a Camera". A stylistically and sonically varied progressive electronic album, Adventures in Modern Recording depicts Horn perfecting his skill as producer and was described by journalists as a document for how he would produce his later works. It was one of the earliest albums to use the Fairlight CMI, one of the first digital sampling synthesizers.
Gary Michael Langan is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician.
Drama is the tenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes, released on 22 August 1980 by Atlantic Records. It was their only album to feature Trevor Horn on lead vocals and the first with Geoff Downes on keyboards. This followed the departures of Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman after attempts to record a new album in Paris and London had failed. Drama was recorded hurriedly with Horn and Downes, as a tour had already been booked before the change in personnel. The album marked a development in Yes' musical direction, combining the band's progressive signature with Horn and Downes' new wave sensibilities.
Bruce Martin Woolley is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He wrote songs with artists such as the Buggles and Grace Jones, including "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "Slave to the Rhythm", and co-founded the Radio Science Orchestra.
"Living in the Plastic Age" is a synth-pop song written, performed and produced by the Buggles. It was released as the second single from their debut album The Age of Plastic on 14 January 1980.
"Into the Lens" is a song written by Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes. It was originally released in 1980 by progressive rock band Yes, of which Horn and Downes were a part, as a part of the album Drama, before being reworked as "I Am a Camera" for the 1981 album Adventures in Modern Recording by the Buggles, a duo consisting of Horn and Downes; both versions were released as singles, with the Yes single being re-titled "Into the Lens (I Am a Camera)".
Geoffrey Downes is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group the Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia.
"Clean, Clean" is a song composed by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley. It was recorded first by the latter for his band Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club in 1979, and later by the former two as the Buggles for their debut album The Age of Plastic. It was released as the album's third single on 24 March 1980.
"I Love You (Miss Robot)" is a song written, performed and produced by the Buggles, a duo of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, for their 1980 debut studio album The Age of Plastic. It was not released as a single. The song is, according to Downes, about "being on the road and making love to someone you don't really like", although music critics consider the song's subject having to do with a robot. The song was performed live in 2010, as part of the first performance of all the tracks from The Age of Plastic.
"Rock and Roll Preacher (Hallelujah I'm on Fire)" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released in 1982 as the fourth and final single from their tenth studio album Till Deaf Do Us Part. It was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Slade. The song was released as a single in Germany only, where it peaked at No. 49.
The Trevor Horn Band are an English group based around record producer and bass player Trevor Horn.
"I Am the World" is a song recorded by the Bee Gees, written and sung by Robin Gibb. It was released as the B-side of "Spicks and Specks". Later, it was included on the compilation Rare, Precious and Beautiful, Vol. 3 in 1969. It featured trumpet played by Geoff Grant. Its CD version was released in 1998 on the compilation Brilliant from Birth.
"Fly from Here" is a set of songs by progressive rock band Yes from their 2011 album Fly from Here and its 2018 remixed edition Fly from Here – Return Trip. With a complete length of 23 minutes and 49 seconds, the original version of "Fly from Here" is the longest composition ever released by Yes, beating "The Solution" by two seconds, while the Return Trip re-recording is 21 minutes and 31 seconds long.
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. The album charted in the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, and Japan.
English Garden, released in North America as Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club, is a studio album by Bruce Woolley and his new wave band the Camera Club. The band consisted of Woolley on vocals, Matthew Seligman on bass, Rod Johnson on drums, Dave Birch on guitar, and Thomas Dolby on keyboards. Before forming the group, Woolley was creating pop songs intended for publishing companies, but he was not happy with what the artists were doing with his songs and decided to write material for himself.
