Howard Jones challenged preconceived ideas and hit some people into feeling good with these bouncy pop nuggets of synthesized humanist philosophy. Jones had played with progressive group Warrior before meeting Buddhist speaker Bill Bryant, who helped him write lyrics to his own songs. Jones set up a gig at London's Marquee Club where he invited record labels to see his show. He eventually signed to WEA in the UK and Elektra in the US. His debut album 'Human's Lib' was recorded with producer Rupert Hine (Colin Thurston had produced his first single 'New Song') and featured Howard Jones on synthesizer, keyboards, and vocals; and Davey Payne on saxophone. Stephen W. Tayler and Ben Rogan engineered the record.
Jones looks back: "I’ve played the piano since I was seven. I went to music college to study it as well, so I’m reasonably accomplished as a pianist, but my passion was for keyboards. On Saturday mornings as a kid, I would go to the local Hammond showroom and sit all afternoon and play B3s and C3s, as well as Yamaha AR100s. I don’t know why, but the lovely guys in the shop used to put up with that. I also saw Keith Emerson play the Isle of Wight festival in 1970, where he debuted ELP. He had a huge Moog modular keyboard and was the front man. I had never heard a sound like that before and I thought that surely this was the direction I wanted to go in. By the time I’d left music college, that technology had been condensed down into affordable packages like the Moog Prodigy synth. I bought one and they sent me another by mistake, so I ended up with two of them. Then there were synths like the Roland Juno-60 and Jupiter-8, and Sequential Circuits Pro One. The Roland TR-808 drum machine was another breakthrough. These new, almost-affordable technologies really provided me a chance to do something different and orchestrate my music. I loved writing songs, but it was also fun to orchestrate them with all sorts of varied sounds. So, these things came together and I was very fortunate to be breaking at the time we had all the new toys and when studio recording was exploding as well. Rupert Hine, who produced my first two albums, and Steven W. Tayler, who engineered them, were pioneering sampling. They brought that technology to my albums, too. I can’t believe how fortunate I was to be working with them. It was a coming together of a lot of different things. You can hear the excitement of us exploring those new sounds on the records. I’d think 'Blimey, no-one’s ever heard a Yamaha DX7 synth on a record before.' That was buzzing through my brain. I also thought 'People are going to be as excited as I am when they hear this.' ... Rupert's influence had to do with his experience of technology. In 1982, he was pioneering with sampling and studio technology and he brought this forward thinking approach to my two albums."
'Human's Lib' went to number fifty-nine in the US, twelve in Switzerland, eight in Germany, five in Sweden, and number one in the UK.
http://www.howardjones.com/
"New Song" hit number sixty in Australia, twenty-seven in the US, nineteen in Germany, and number three in the UK.
"What Is Love?" went to number thirty-three in the US, thirty-one in Australia, seventeen in Italy, six in Germany, and number two in the UK. Jones says: "I think “What Is Love?” is the first time anyone heard DX7-based bass and shakuhachi flute sounds."
"Conditioning"
"Pearl in the Shell" charted at sixty in Germany and seven in the UK.
"Hide and Seek" found its way to thirty-eight in Germany and twelve in the UK.
"Hunt the Self"
'Human's Lib'
full album:
All tracks composed by Howard Jones unless indicated otherwise.
Side One
1. "Conditioning" (music Jones, lyrics Bill Bryant) 4:32
2. "What Is Love?" (music Jones, lyrics Bryant/Jones) 3:45
3. "Pearl in the Shell" 4:03
4. "Hide and Seek" 5:34
5. "Hunt the Self" (music Jones, lyrics Bryant/Jones) 3:42
Side Two
6. "New Song" 4:15
7. "Don't Always Look at the Rain" 4:13
8. "Equality" (music Jones, lyrics Bryant/Jones) 4:26
9. "Natural" (music Jones, lyrics Bryant) 4:25
10. "Human's Lib" (music Jones, lyrics Bryant) 4:03
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