(John) Howard Jones was born on the 23th of February 1955 in Hythe (Hamsphire), UK. Howard was the eldest of four brothers. At seven he started to play the piano. The family moved to Canada twice and the first time was in Ontario where he joined his first band Warrior which he founded in 1971 and played with them until 1972. He returned to the UK permanently in 1972.
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| Howard on stage with Jed Hoile |
He attended the Royal Northern College Of Music in Manchester in the mid 70's while playing in many bands. But he left school before finishing because he didn't want to become a classicial pianist. He met Buddhist Bill Bryant, who wrote lyrics for some of Jones's songs and was a major influence in this period. His three other brothers formed a band called Red Beat at the end of the seventies while Howard prepared for a solo career. Howard appeared as a solo artist in local venues in High Wycombe before inviting mime artist Jed Hoile to perform improvised choreography as Howard played behind him. In 1983 he hired the Marquee Club in London and invited record labels to come and see him perform. After a BBC radio session he became the opening act for concerts by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and China Crisis. Finally in 1983 he signed to WEA records. Jones' debut single "New Song" was released in September 1983 and reached #5 in the UK, #19 in Germany and #27 in the US. The song was about why he wanted to be in the music business and why he wanted to write songs in the first place. It is also about when he was playing live in the early 80's before he got a record contract at night and meanwhile worked in a factory during daytime.
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| Howard's photo of the back of the album in colour |
He had more hit singles of his first album "Human's Lib" that reached #1 in the UK, #8 in Germany, #59 in the US and #15 in the Netherlands. Bill Bryant co-wrote 6 songs on the album. "What Is Love?" reached #2 in the UK, #6 in Germany and #33 in the US, "Hide And Seek" #12 in the UK and #32 in the Netherlands, and "Pearl In The Shell" #7 in the UK.
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| "New Song" single cover |
"What Is Love?" was questioning what love really means and that he never wanted to sing simple songs about love. "Hide And Seek" was inspired by the work of Alan Watts, particularly on his views of life and death. Jones recalled reading a book from Watts that discussed the concept of explaining the concept of God to a child from the paradigm of Eastern philosophy. He described "Hide and Seek" as a "very spiritual song" about being interconnected with the world.
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| "Like To Get To Know You Well" single cover |
In the summer of 1984 Jones released "Like to Get to Know You Well" which he said was 'dedicated to the original spirit of the Olympic Games reaching #4 in the UK and #49 in the US. He performed at the Live Aid concert in Wembley in 1985. He scored more hits after this songs like "Life In One Day" and "No One Is To Blame".
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| Original album cover |
Human's Lib (1984)
Conditioning / What Is Love? / Pearl in the Shell / Hide and Seek / Hunt the Self / New Song / Don't Always Look at the Rain / Equality / Natural / Human's Lib
AUDIO/VIDEO
Hide And Seek
New Song
What Is Love?