Howard Jones (British musician)

John Howard Jones (born 23 February 1955) is a British musician, singer and songwriter.

After returning to the UK, Jones attended the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in the mid-1970s while playing in various bands.

He met Buddhist practitioner Bill Bryant, who wrote lyrics for some of Jones's songs and was a major influence in this period.

The Jones brothers (minus Howard) had a band called Red Beat in the late 1970s.

Jones appeared as a solo artist in local venues in High Wycombe before inviting mime artist Jed Hoile to perform improvised choreography as Jones played behind him.

Jones is associated with 1980s synth pop.

He has been described by AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "one of the defining figures of mid-'80s synth-pop."

He had ten top 40 hit singles in the UK between 1983 and 1986, six of which reached the top ten, including "Like to Get to Know You Well", "What Is Love?", "New Song", and "Things Can Only Get Better".

Around the world, Jones had 15 top 40 hit singles between 1983 and 1992.

In 1983, he hired the Marquee Club in London and invited record labels to come and see him perform.

After a BBC Radio 1 session, Jones obtained support slots with China Crisis and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) before signing to Warner Music Group (WMG) in mid-1983.

He has cited influences such as OMD (whose song "Enola Gay" was covered by Jones in early live sets), Keith Emerson and Stevie Wonder.

His first single, "New Song", was released in September 1983.

It reached the top 30 in the US and the top 5 in the UK.

He made his debut performance on BBC Television's Top of the Pops on 22 September 1983, and he watched his tape-delayed performance on a borrowed television resting on an ironing board before a concert at the University of Kent.

He had four more hits over the next twelve months and a UK number one album, Human's Lib, which eventually went double platinum.

Bill Bryant was credited with jointly writing the lyrics for six songs on the album.

"New Song", "What Is Love?", and "Pearl in the Shell" all did well during 1983 and 1984.

Human's Lib was certified gold and platinum in several countries.

Jones had developed a loyal teen following.

His parents ran his fan club.

His 1984 album Human's Lib reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.

In the summer of 1984, he released "Like to Get to Know You Well", which he said was 'dedicated to the original spirit of the Olympic Games.' Although it was not an official Olympic anthem for the Games in Los Angeles that summer, it was a worldwide hit.

It reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart.

He performed at the historic Live Aid concert in 1985.

Born in Southampton to Welsh parents, Jones spent his early years in Rhiwbina, Cardiff, South Wales, where he attended Heol Llanishen Fach primary school and then Whitchurch Grammar School.

Jones is the eldest of four boys.

His brothers, Roy, Martin, and Paul, are all musicians in their own right.

Jones began taking piano lessons at age seven.

He later attended the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

The family moved to Canada when he was a teenager.

His first band was Warrior, a progressive rock group.

The sleeve featured the song title in ten different languages while Jones sang the title line in French and German on the extended 12" version. The song also appeared in the film Better Off Dead (1985) and the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006).

In February 1985, Jones appeared with Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and Thomas Dolby at the 27th Grammy Awards ceremony; the group performed a medley of material from all four artists.

Jones' second LP was a remix album.

It contained six songs, all but one of which had been previously released, but which appeared in elongated formats, including the multilingual version of "Like to Get to Know You Well".

The album was certified gold in the UK.

In 1985, Jones released his second studio album, Dream into Action, which included backup work by the trio Afrodiziak.

The 1986 hit single "No One Is to Blame" reached No. 4 on the US charts.

Four others placed in the US top 20.