HOWARD JONES
Born John Howard Jones, 23 February 1955, Southampton, Hampshire,
England, Howard came to prominence as a synthesizer-pop maestro
and wrote a string of hits during the eighties. Howard started
his own band with his brothers and Warrior was born. They were
playing classic rock music with influences by Genesis and Emerson,
Lake, and Palmer. Howard spent the next few years with other bands,
and hit the local venues in London regularly. His new influences
of the early 1970's were David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, and T-Rex.
He completed school and studied classical piano for two years.
He soon knew he wanted to write and play pop music.
To earn some extra income he started giving piano lessons and
began to raise money to buy his own music equipment. This is also
around the time a the relationship developed between Howard and
Jan Smith. Jan was the sister of an old friend. They had known
each other, but it was the time they spent together during the
lessons that budded the romance. They were soon married. Howard
was working in the Cling Film factory (where the video for his
first hit New Song was filmed) and Jan in an office . Howard could
not devote as much time as he wanted to his music so they decided
to start up their own venture. They sold produce from the back
of a van.
It was during this time that Howard was able to work on his music,
both lyrically and vocally. He played in the local clubs. Unfortunately,
while standing at the back of the van selling goods, a drunk driver
hit the front and Jan was pinned under the wheels.
After some convincing Howard and Jan claimed some compensation
for the accident and used the money to get the equipment he needed.
He eventually ordered a synth but they sent him 2 instead of 1.He
liked the sound of them together so much he kept them both. This
was to be the turning point in his music career...
Howard was playing more gigs, and working on his writing. He had
developed a circle of fans including Jed Hoile, who later livened
his act by improvizing dance to his songs. It was through David
Stopps and his connections, that Howard was able to perform at
the Marquee Club in London. Jan organiseed coaches for his fans
to make it to the shows, and Risk, the fan club was born.
Jones was later offered a session by BBC disc jockey John Peel
which led to tours with OMD and China Crisis. WEA Records signed
him in the summer of 1983 and in September he charted with his
first single 'New Song'. He won several Best New Artist awards
and followed up with hits like 'What Is Love', 'Hide And Seek',
and 'Like To Get To Know You Well'. His debut Human's Lib topped
the UK charts as well as Dream into Action. Although he performed
most of the music on his recordings in 1985 he formed a touring
band with his brother Martin on bass, and Trevor Morais on drums.
Since the 80s Howard has continued to record sporadically and
perform live. He even joined the unplugged trend with Live Acoustic
America in 1996.
Recommended listening: Human's Lib, Dream into Action
