I loved many of Jones’ songs and many others that came out during this era. It was another British explosion in America.
I know the 80’s faced criticism, but those pop classics had great melodies. I played in a corporate band in the 80’s to make money so we played many of them for parties, weddings, and corporate events.
The Progressive Aspect:
Howard Jones’s music career started when his family moved to Canada when he was a teenager. You may, or may not, be surprised to hear that his first band was Warrior, a progressive rock group who released an album in 1972 called Invasion, described as having shades of Genesis and ELP. As a keyboard player he cites Keith Emerson amongst his influences, but when he returned to England the Prog world’s loss ultimately became Pop’s gain. In 1983 he even hired the Marquee Club, during the early neo-prog years no less, to showcase his more fashionable synth pop talents, and later in that year his first single, New Song, was released reaching the Top 5 in the UK.
Jones was a one man synthesizer orchestra.
Many believe Howard was an overnight success, hitting the charts with his first single and his debut album “Human’s Lib” doing double platinum in England and giving him a foothold in America. But not many got to see Howard spending many years perfecting his one-man electronic show and building a following around where he lived in High Wycombe, about 30 miles northwest of London.
Practically surrounded by keyboards and drum machines, Howard knew that the people coming to his show were experiencing something that they had never before. He said he was always writing and then playing new material for his fans at his gigs to get a sense of how they responded to them.
—-“My goal was always to have my songs on the radio,” he said. “I grew up listening to the radio and all those songs that I listened to meant so much to me.”
I was intrigued by this release: ’80s Symphonic’ Gives Fresh Take on Iconic ’80s Singles
Do you have any favorites from the era?
