I hear their screams
February 20, 2018 11:52 PM Subscribe
Howard Jones released Dream Into Action in 1985 [CD-based YT playlist, ~55m] and it made quite a splash on both sides of the pond and around the world, with several charting singles and gigantic sales. UK Vinyl Side One: Things Can Only Get Better [video], Life In One Day [video], Dream Into Action, No One Is To Blame [video, completely different version], Look Mama [video], Assault And Battery
UK Vinyl Side Two: Automaton, Is There A Difference?, Elegy, Specialty, Why Look For The Key, Hunger For The Flesh
CD Bonus Tracks: Bounce Right Back, Like To Get To Know You Well [video] [UK video]
UK Vinyl Side Two: Automaton, Is There A Difference?, Elegy, Specialty, Why Look For The Key, Hunger For The Flesh
CD Bonus Tracks: Bounce Right Back, Like To Get To Know You Well [video] [UK video]
I love Howard Jones with a disturbing passion.
That is all.
posted by pompomtom at 12:43 AM on February 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
That is all.
posted by pompomtom at 12:43 AM on February 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
I need to reacquire some HoJo. I loved the hell out of his stuff when I was wee.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:12 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:12 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
As an 11 yr old in eastern North Carolina, I was obsessed with this album. To the point where I drafted - but didn't send - a letter to him which worked all the song titles into the letter. ie "Getting a reply from you would put my Dream Into Action. I'd say Look Mama, I told you he wasn't an Automaton" etc etc. I think about that episode - and that album - several times a year.
posted by jmccw at 2:47 AM on February 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by jmccw at 2:47 AM on February 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
As a teen I very much enjoyed Howard Jones, against the grain of my much cooler friends.
What is Love?
And of course New Song.
I don't wanna be hip and cool
I don't wanna play by the rules
Not under the thumb of the cynical few
Or laden down by the doom crew
posted by chavenet at 3:00 AM on February 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
What is Love?
And of course New Song.
I don't wanna be hip and cool
I don't wanna play by the rules
Not under the thumb of the cynical few
Or laden down by the doom crew
posted by chavenet at 3:00 AM on February 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
No One Is to Blame was in my head all night at work. Had no idea who it was, just remembered hearing it a lot in the '80s. And now through the miracle of synchronicity, the mystery is solved.
posted by Ducks or monkeys at 3:36 AM on February 21, 2018
posted by Ducks or monkeys at 3:36 AM on February 21, 2018
I played that LP so many times the grooves look flat. Great music.
posted by james33 at 4:00 AM on February 21, 2018
posted by james33 at 4:00 AM on February 21, 2018
I liked the one where he was walking down the street with his old friend Luke.
posted by rodlymight at 4:06 AM on February 21, 2018
posted by rodlymight at 4:06 AM on February 21, 2018
I can't tell you how excited this made me at the time, that there was a pop star named "Howard".
posted by hwestiii at 4:37 AM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by hwestiii at 4:37 AM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
I took my teenagers to see one of those “six bands from the eighties” he was headlining. He was great! Although he had EDM’d up “Things can only get better,” much to the confusion of the middle aged audience. Luckily I had my teens with me. “Kids,” I said, “did HoJo just drop the beat?” They loved it.
posted by Malla at 5:03 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Malla at 5:03 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
First album I bought with my own money. So many feels. I loved the album version of No One is to Blame so much, the single version was such an abomination! And I haven’t heard the album version in nearly 30 years. Wow. I so wanted to go to his concert at Hara Arena, Bynum mom thought 13 was too young for a rock concert. I tried to convince her he was wholesome and vegetarian, but that fact did not seem to mean as much to her as it did to me.
posted by rikschell at 5:05 AM on February 21, 2018
posted by rikschell at 5:05 AM on February 21, 2018
Also, wasn’t he the house band for 120 Minutes on MTV for a while?
posted by rikschell at 5:09 AM on February 21, 2018
posted by rikschell at 5:09 AM on February 21, 2018
The film Better of Dead has somehow been on youtube for a few years. Watching it there with an ex-GF a few years ago, we got to the part backed with "Like to Get to Know You Well" and even though I hadn't listened to HoJo for years, apparently the proper timing/pitch for the song was burned into my brain well enough that I suddenly knew... the movie was uploaded at about 4-5% faster than intended speed. Not much as super powers go, but whatever.
Speaking of super powers, there are a lot of Jones' songs that I've enjoyed, but there's nothing in his catalog that I respect like Out of Thin Air, which from where I sit, plays across a number of musical idioms and displays a level of fluency with the keyboard as an instrument that I'm just in awe of. As a kid I used to think someday I'd learn to play it; perhaps with enough tenacity someday I could, but even after getting to the point where I could more or less transcribe it there's still so much technique I was outright missing (let alone able to smoothly execute) that I realized it was a higher mountain to climb than I'd supposed and gave me one of my first appreciations of virtuosity.
posted by wildblueyonder at 5:11 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Speaking of super powers, there are a lot of Jones' songs that I've enjoyed, but there's nothing in his catalog that I respect like Out of Thin Air, which from where I sit, plays across a number of musical idioms and displays a level of fluency with the keyboard as an instrument that I'm just in awe of. As a kid I used to think someday I'd learn to play it; perhaps with enough tenacity someday I could, but even after getting to the point where I could more or less transcribe it there's still so much technique I was outright missing (let alone able to smoothly execute) that I realized it was a higher mountain to climb than I'd supposed and gave me one of my first appreciations of virtuosity.
posted by wildblueyonder at 5:11 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
If you watch his Live Aid performance, he name checked every member of his band if I remember correctly. Classy.
posted by Beholder at 5:19 AM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Beholder at 5:19 AM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
Ah, What Is Love remains my favorite song of his, and my favorite video, because I spent endless hours trying to get that spiky-hair-under-a-beret look down when I was in college. Turns out I will never be a pale, cute English pop star.
posted by xingcat at 6:06 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by xingcat at 6:06 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Hojo's "No One is to Blame" is one of the only pop tunes I know that was rerecorded by the original artist and imho the second version is way better than the original. ;) On the second version (which is far better known) the arrangement is different, his vocals are much improved, and also interesting is Phil Collins singing backup and playing drums.
Mr. Jones says here that fans like the original version better, but I will respectfully disagree. Great tune either way, HoJo!
posted by bitterkitten at 6:06 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Mr. Jones says here that fans like the original version better, but I will respectfully disagree. Great tune either way, HoJo!
posted by bitterkitten at 6:06 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
I saw him on the Dream Into Action tour (C.Y. Stephens Auditorium, Ames Iowa). Most of my friends were metal heads and thought I was an idiot for going, but it was awesome. He had this male dancer on stage during the show whose outfit was split vertically so one side was all business and one side was all party. He'd only dance with one of those sides to the audience, and then occasionally do a 180. For 80s teenage me, that was mind-blowingly cool.
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:25 AM on February 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:25 AM on February 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
I adore the bridge in "Things Can Only Get Better"; just the way that the horns echo the keyboards is lean and tight.
I'd also forgotten about him being on the soundtrack of Better Off Dead; the only song I'd remembered from that movie was Van Halen's "Everybody Wants Some" over the bit with the animated hamburgers. Savage Steve Holland's best, no doubt.
two dollars!
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:28 AM on February 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
I'd also forgotten about him being on the soundtrack of Better Off Dead; the only song I'd remembered from that movie was Van Halen's "Everybody Wants Some" over the bit with the animated hamburgers. Savage Steve Holland's best, no doubt.
two dollars!
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:28 AM on February 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
One of the first albums I bought with my own meagre funds. "Life in One Day" and "Things Can Only Get Better" were excellent work songs and midnight-dance-party-in-your-bedroom songs.
Once when I was a young teen and sick in the hospital I dreamed Howard Jones came to visit me there and answered all my questions about vegetarianism.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:35 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Once when I was a young teen and sick in the hospital I dreamed Howard Jones came to visit me there and answered all my questions about vegetarianism.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:35 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Previously with a link where you can download sheet music from HoJo's early albums.
posted by hippybear at 6:41 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 6:41 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
I always liked the way that, if you play Hide and Seek on the piano, the notes go up the scale, then come back down to where you began in a pleasing melodic fashion as though they reflect the cosmic story in the lyrics.
posted by Tarn at 6:50 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Tarn at 6:50 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Still a few dates left on his current US tour.
Which is apparently a solo tour, which I would heartily recommend everyone catch if you get the chance. I worked one of his solo shows about 8 or 9 years ago in a small club, and I went into it thinking, "Yeah, sure, Howard Jones, I remember his stuff, mostly didn't suck" and I came out of it going, "Whoa." He's still got a good voice, he's a fantastic pianist, and his songs really really work well stripped down to solo piano. A lot of the 80's pop you figure if you get rid of the bleeps and bloops and the backing vocals and the sax solo there's not much left. Jones' material holds up as good songs without the 80's production.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:58 AM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
Which is apparently a solo tour, which I would heartily recommend everyone catch if you get the chance. I worked one of his solo shows about 8 or 9 years ago in a small club, and I went into it thinking, "Yeah, sure, Howard Jones, I remember his stuff, mostly didn't suck" and I came out of it going, "Whoa." He's still got a good voice, he's a fantastic pianist, and his songs really really work well stripped down to solo piano. A lot of the 80's pop you figure if you get rid of the bleeps and bloops and the backing vocals and the sax solo there's not much left. Jones' material holds up as good songs without the 80's production.
posted by soundguy99 at 6:58 AM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
I used to mix Howard up with Thomas Dolby. I'm sorry! Young blond Brit thing, I reckon.
I remember a few of these because when I was kid in the 80s, a radio station out of Racine (WRKR) had a show at 10:00 every Sunday night called "Rock Over London" that played the BBC Radio 1 hits of the week—but the British ones only. I take it they skipped over any American songs that may have made their charts, because I heard not one American tune. I suspect the show was a Westwood One dealio because it had that cleanly-produced audio sheen. I'd sneak my small radio under my pillow to listen and fall asleep to it.
posted by droplet at 7:10 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
I remember a few of these because when I was kid in the 80s, a radio station out of Racine (WRKR) had a show at 10:00 every Sunday night called "Rock Over London" that played the BBC Radio 1 hits of the week—but the British ones only. I take it they skipped over any American songs that may have made their charts, because I heard not one American tune. I suspect the show was a Westwood One dealio because it had that cleanly-produced audio sheen. I'd sneak my small radio under my pillow to listen and fall asleep to it.
posted by droplet at 7:10 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
I always liked the way that, if you play Hide and Seek on the piano, the notes go up the scale, then come back down to where you began in a pleasing melodic fashion as though they reflect the cosmic story in the lyrics.
I loved that song and it was the reason I bought his first album. Am listening to it now on YT and it's giving me chills.
posted by fuse theorem at 7:39 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
I loved that song and it was the reason I bought his first album. Am listening to it now on YT and it's giving me chills.
posted by fuse theorem at 7:39 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
I used to mix Howard up with Thomas Dolby. I'm sorry! Young blond Brit thing, I reckon.
I didn't mix them up, but I loved them both, being the synth pop devotee I was at the time (and still am).
posted by DrAstroZoom at 7:50 AM on February 21, 2018
I didn't mix them up, but I loved them both, being the synth pop devotee I was at the time (and still am).
posted by DrAstroZoom at 7:50 AM on February 21, 2018
And of course New Song .
As an adolescent/teen in the 80s growing up with narcissistic hyper-religious simpleton parents, the only real wisdom that reached me in those years was through pop music. This might seem simple enough in middle age, but to a kid with an emerging self identity, it’s hard to indict lines like:
Don’t crack up
Bend your brain
See both sides
Throw off your mental chains
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 8:14 AM on February 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
As an adolescent/teen in the 80s growing up with narcissistic hyper-religious simpleton parents, the only real wisdom that reached me in those years was through pop music. This might seem simple enough in middle age, but to a kid with an emerging self identity, it’s hard to indict lines like:
Don’t crack up
Bend your brain
See both sides
Throw off your mental chains
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 8:14 AM on February 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
Was just listening to some of this the other day. Howard Jones sticks out as a quintessential 80s pop artist for me; synths, hooks, easy lyrics. Love it.
When I was a kid, I used to tape music videos off the TV. And I remember taping the "Life in One Day" video, but stopping it when the first glitch came up – I was sure something was wrong with our cable! Once I realized, oh hey, the music is still going, I smashed that record button as quickly as I could. One of those memories from childhood that just sticks out.
posted by hijinx at 8:46 AM on February 21, 2018
When I was a kid, I used to tape music videos off the TV. And I remember taping the "Life in One Day" video, but stopping it when the first glitch came up – I was sure something was wrong with our cable! Once I realized, oh hey, the music is still going, I smashed that record button as quickly as I could. One of those memories from childhood that just sticks out.
posted by hijinx at 8:46 AM on February 21, 2018
As a teen bass in a pop music culture dominated by tenors, the last three notes of "No One Is To Blame" were one of my favorite moments on the radio in the 80s.
posted by straight at 9:01 AM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by straight at 9:01 AM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
Oh thank you for this visit to the eighties, and Howard's take on love. The video is such a time piece!
posted by Oyéah at 9:09 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 9:09 AM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
LOVE LOVE Howard Jones. Thanks for posting!!
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 9:14 AM on February 21, 2018
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 9:14 AM on February 21, 2018
"New Song" and "Life in One Day" are indelibly burned into my brain. "No One Is To Blame" didn't hook me at the time, but an older and wiser hanov3r sees the beauty in that song now.
Thanks for this post!
posted by hanov3r at 10:50 AM on February 21, 2018
Thanks for this post!
posted by hanov3r at 10:50 AM on February 21, 2018
A big chunk of my '80s consisted of skateboards, Dungeons & Dragons, dingy arcades, and Howard Jones on the Walkman.
Amid the almost unmitigated misery that was junior high, my one shining moment came when I played "No One is to Blame" on the piano at a school assembly, accompanied by a synth-drum track I programmed myself.
I'll always have Howard to thank for that.
posted by gottabefunky at 11:14 AM on February 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Amid the almost unmitigated misery that was junior high, my one shining moment came when I played "No One is to Blame" on the piano at a school assembly, accompanied by a synth-drum track I programmed myself.
I'll always have Howard to thank for that.
posted by gottabefunky at 11:14 AM on February 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Dream Into Action was one of the first CD's I ever bought. With my Technics stereo blasting his gleaming, soaring synths through the crystalline perfection of digital audio, even the rats skittering in the ceiling in my dilapidated studio apartment must've realized that Space Age Utopia was closer than ever.
posted by xigxag at 11:50 AM on February 21, 2018
posted by xigxag at 11:50 AM on February 21, 2018
Yep, a damn fine songwriter and performer. The thoughtful humanist to Thomas Dolby's cracked dystopian raconteur. Loved this album as a kid, like so many others here, although I think Human's Lib is probably the canonical classic. (Redolent of the battle between The Hurting and Songs from the Big Chair from that "other" thoughtful, philosophy-influenced, synth-heavy outfit of the time.)
The tinklier end of Howard's '80s production choices didn't do favors for the material in the long run, but his solo tour (as with Dolby's a while back) has put the strength of the songwriting back on proud display. Glad he's still out there doing his thing.
posted by mykescipark at 12:22 PM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
The tinklier end of Howard's '80s production choices didn't do favors for the material in the long run, but his solo tour (as with Dolby's a while back) has put the strength of the songwriting back on proud display. Glad he's still out there doing his thing.
posted by mykescipark at 12:22 PM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
My sister took me to see the Eurythmics at Forest Hills and Howard Jones was one of the openers. He came onstage alone in a big plaid suit and opened with “Things Can Only Get Better”. The rest of the show was great but I’ll never forget Jones’ set; other than a guy who danced around the stage though not an official part of the show, it was just Jones, a synthesizer and a mic. He more than made up for a modest visual presence.
posted by kinnakeet at 12:45 PM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by kinnakeet at 12:45 PM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
→ He had this male dancer on stage …
He has a name, y'know: Jed Hoile.
posted by scruss at 5:34 PM on February 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
He has a name, y'know: Jed Hoile.
posted by scruss at 5:34 PM on February 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
I saw him on tour last year with Kim Wilde (remember her?!). He was awesome and I knew every song! My husband put a post up on FB teasing me a little about it only to find all the responses from other children of the 80s backing me up about how much they loved him too. Haha, suck it, husband!
posted by Jubey at 7:27 PM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Jubey at 7:27 PM on February 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
A while ago we went to an omnibus '80s concert at which he performed and it was INSANELY SATISFYING to hear people yelling "HoJo!" before, during, and after the show.
posted by mynameisluka at 9:46 PM on February 21, 2018
posted by mynameisluka at 9:46 PM on February 21, 2018
I love Howard Jones and have seen about five of his shows, from 1987 to 2016, and even met him and got his autograph once. He surprisingly showed up in my Southern Utah town for a concert a couple of years ago and did an acoustic show, just him and a piano, with the entire contents of Dream Into Action, and despite the fact that I love dance music and bought several synthesizers trying to sound like HoJo in the 80s, it was an amazing show. He can really rock a piano.
I always liked the way that, if you play Hide and Seek on the piano, the notes go up the scale, then come back down to where you began in a pleasing melodic fashion as though they reflect the cosmic story in the lyrics.
Remember back in the late 80s and early 90s when everyone was buying those keychain finders? You would put one on your keychain and if you whistled the right frequency it would beep back to help you find your keys.
Anyway, I would always walk around in public whistling the melodic line from "Hide and Seek", because I had discovered that it contained exactly the right notes to set off all of the common key finders, and so I'd hear beeping from every direction...
I don't believe I could possibly have a more 80s memory than that.
posted by mmoncur at 11:04 PM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
I always liked the way that, if you play Hide and Seek on the piano, the notes go up the scale, then come back down to where you began in a pleasing melodic fashion as though they reflect the cosmic story in the lyrics.
Remember back in the late 80s and early 90s when everyone was buying those keychain finders? You would put one on your keychain and if you whistled the right frequency it would beep back to help you find your keys.
Anyway, I would always walk around in public whistling the melodic line from "Hide and Seek", because I had discovered that it contained exactly the right notes to set off all of the common key finders, and so I'd hear beeping from every direction...
I don't believe I could possibly have a more 80s memory than that.
posted by mmoncur at 11:04 PM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
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I had Life in One Day on 45 and oh, my poor parents. Having to listen to it non-stop for months.
I didn't love No One is to Blame at the time, but in college I discovered it and would sing it while sobbing in my car.
posted by greermahoney at 12:31 AM on February 21, 2018 [3 favorites]