British New Wave Pop Icon- Howard Jones

Published Jul 16, 2024, 7:00 AM

Join @thebuzzknight for this episode with singer, songwriter, musician Howard Jones. Howard had ten multiple hit singles during the 80's second British invasion and has sold over 10 million albums. He is heading out on a North American tour with ABC and Haircut 100 and is celebrating the 40th anniversary of his music career with a new compilation called "Celebrate it together."

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Taking a Walk.

I think of every gig as a special occasion, you know, and it's not just another show. It's like people have spent a lot of money to get there, They've traveled maybe hours to be there. They may not have seen me before, they may not have seen me again. So it's every gig is special.

I'm buzznight and welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast. Now, if you like this podcast, just like a couple of our friends, Bill Griffin from Sallynn's Bakery and Conquered Mass or Joevenudi from Bedford, Mass, then please share it with your friends. My guest on Taking a Walk today is a new wave icon, Howard Jones. Many many big hits, new song what is Love? Things can only get better Earl in the show. He's releasing a new live album, Live at the O two, and he's hitting the road, coming to a city near you. An ABC and a haircut one hundred on the bill, welcoming, oh Joe in a Walk Howard Jones, thanks for being on Taking a Walk, so appreciate it. Congrats on the live album Live at the O two. Does your approach to music differ in the studio versus performing live? Well?

I mean, they're two very, very very different things. Really, I suppose you know, when you're when you're in the studio, I'm usually composing and trying to think of how to make music that's going to excite people and move people, you know, because I know they'll be listening. And then the gigs are a totally different experience where you're you know, you're really trying to put out tons of energy from the stage to get people really excited and really involved and really give them like an exhilarating time and a great experience and something to lift them lift their spirits. You know, we live in a very difficult time for the world, and music and art can really lift people's spirits and it's just give them a bit more energy to keep going and do great things. So it's two very different things, and so I do. But when I'm composing in the studio, I am thinking about what this song will sound like live, you know, and how it will work, and whether it's a good tempo for live, whether it's got a good vibe. And yeah, so the two things are definitely connected. But you know, in terms of like your mental attitude is really really radically different for both of them now.

Is to a special venue to you.

I mean, yeah, it's probably like the best venue in the UK in my opinion. It's huge. I've been to see many people there. And so this was the first time we played it because my friend's OMD. It was the first time they'd done the O two as well, and so they wanted to invite me in special guests, you know, to join them. And it was a fantastic So it's felt like a very special event, you know, and the band was really psyched for playing, you know, probably the biggest indoor venue that we've we've played, you know since since back in the day. So so yeah, it was it was a special moment. So I put together a special set. I actually redid a few songs, reintroduced some songs just for that show. And you know, they had that special energy. So you know, we usually record everything that we do, and when I listened back to the multi tracks of it, it's like, for me, it felt like it really captured the excitement of that that night. So you know, I wanted to then mix it and get it right and make an album of it. It was a special event for me, so you know, and I know a lot of the fans were there, so they would have they would have heard it as well. Yeah, so yeah, it was. It was. It was a moment really.

Well besides O two, what are some other venues you particularly dig playing at, and maybe some of your other favorite cities across the world as well.

Well, you know, I mean, I really do enjoy any kind of gig, and I enjoy like sometimes I've done like tiny shows with you know, one hundred people where people can hear and with an acoustic piano, and some of I've done stuff of the tree. I don't know, we play you know, big festival gigs and then big, you know, big venues. I mean every gig. I think of every gig as a special occasion, you know, And it's not just another show. It's like people have spent a lot of money to get there, They've traveled maybe hours to be there. They may not have seen me before, they may not seen me again, So it's every gig is special. So I don't really know how to how to answer. I love I loved going to Tokyo because I love Japan and I love playing gigs there, and I love I obviously love touring the States because I taught tour them the United States more than anywhere else in the world. So I love going to you know, San Francisco. I love playing in l A. Yeah, I just I just you know, any gig is a great gig if you decide to you know. So, so the building is not the important thing. It's like, how do you feel when you get out there on stage? And luckily, you know, I have just the most amazing fans who always bring their their best self with them to the shows and we have a very great time.

So take me back, how old were you at your first concert experience? Uh? And who was that? And where was that?

Right? Okay, the first concert experience was was really quite bizarre one. Really, it's very eclectic line up. I was fourteen years old and my mass press persuade by dad to take me to the to this show. And it was in Ottawa in Canada because we were that's where we were living at the time. The whole family and the line it was the Who, the Trogs and the nineteen ten Fruitcum Company. So it was like it couldn't have been more eclectic. But it was just fabulous. I mean, obviously, you know nineteen ten Fruitcome company had just had this massive hit called Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, I've got love in my tummy. And then then you got the Who Who smashed up their instruments at the end of the show. So I was like, and then the trugs were just amazing, you know, dressed in these fabulous white suits with like colored shoes. I remember they had green some of them had green shoes. Had some of them had blue patent leather shoes. And the Who was it was the loudest thing that I'd ever heard in my life and the most exciting thing. And they and they did you know, that was the day when they were still smashing up the gear, you know, at the end, and it was like it was a real fantastic experience. And so those things, you know, you think, oh man, this is so exciting. This is what I want to be involved in this, you know, I want to be involved in this world.

I love it. What a visual, what a bill. Thank you so much for sharing that. I really appreciate it. Can you share for our audience you as a great piano player, who are some of your favorite pianists and how did they impact you?

Yeah? I mean, you know, I've been playing the pianist since I was seven, so you know, it was it was early on, I think, you know, I was still at school when I first heard about The Nice, which was Keith Emerson's band, and so Keith was always my biggest influence as a keyboard player because he was classically trained like me, and also he was a total rock rocker and he made the keyboard the lead instrument in the band. You know, he was like the sort of Jimi Hendrix of the keyboards. And I got to see like their second gig ever at the Isle of Wight Festival in nineteen seventy when he had the big Moog Modular on stage. So right, that's my first experience of synthesizers live, which was mind blowing. And then you know the band with Greg Lake and Carl Palmer on drums. I mean it was. It was an incredible thing. And you know, Keith was just thrusticking knives in the keyboard and rolling around with a Hammond L one hundred on top of him. It's like, wow, this is like, yeah, I wanted this is what I want to do. I want to do this. You know, It's a huge impression on me, and it was the festival where that Hendrix played as well, so I got to experience his amazing persona and two weeks later, you know, he was gone, he was dead. So Keith has always been been a massive influence on me, you know, studying his records, learning to play the parts, you know, his amazing keyboard parts, and then you know, so there's that side of it. And then the other huge influence on me was Stevie Wonder. It was just a completely different style of playing, groove orientated. He was really into sense as well, so it still is and you know, always wanting to do something great, new sounds and do things like that. So that was a huge, huge influence on me. So I would say those two were the two that really had the massive impact on me.

So I've loved your music and so many forms, like so many of the folks listening to this podcast, and I love listening to your music and other music in the headphones to really experience it in a different way. What are some of your personal favorites that you listen to when you've got some great headphones.

Yeah, well, I mean, I'm I'm into I really love this classical composer called Eric Whitaker who who composes for voices primarily. I mean, he does other compositions, but I really love listening to his his his vocal compositions. And I was listening to an interview with him the other day and he said that he he grew up listening to Depeche Mode, and I thought, that's right. Really, I didn't expect that at all, so he would have heard my music as well, you know, he was hearing Depression Mode. So so I just love I love what he did because I like working with voices and I like doing vocal arrangements, and I've worked with choirs in my life, and you know I have a Welsh heritage, so choie mean a huge, huge amount to me. I really liked the new Billie Eilish record as well. I mean, I have to say I think it's absolutely exquisite. She's amazing as a singer, but her brother as well, it's such a talented producer. So I'm really listening to that at the moment. And then the other artist I really love is Jacob Collier and all the amazing things that he does. He really is like a once, once of the generation type of talent and also honest jazz funky side. I really love it. Artists called Cory Wong who is an amazing guitarist but bali arranger and has an amazing live band. So I would I would say those four of the th that are really floating my boat at the moment.

How do you discover new music?

I have three grown up children and they are madly into music, so they they introduced me to a lot of stuff. And then I've got my my my collaborator, Robbie Brunneman, who is always keeping up with the latest electronic stuff and he recommends stuff to me and I, you know, I listen to Spotify. You know, I listen to Apple Music, not so much the radio these days. I just yeah, I kind of do my exploration in the on the streaming services.

Really, we'll be right back with more of the Taking a Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taking a Walk Podcast.

So can you take us inside to if there is a typical process that you have for writing a song. Maybe it's different for every song, but do you start with lyrics first or melody first, or what is your process?

My great friends who's passed away in there and produced my first two records, Group Behind. He always said to me, he said, don't write a song unless you've got something to say. And I pondered on that a lot, and I think he's absolutely right. So for me, a song that's got to come from the point of view of what you would like to express, how you want to get over a thought you had, you know, a vision that you've had, an experience that you've had that you really feel people would benefit from hearing. So I usually start with an idea of what the song is going to be about. And then you know, I collect stuff on my voice memos and my phone, ideas that you know, I won't necessarily remember. So I have like a stack of chord changes and riffs and stuff that that I keep on my phone, so I'll drag some of those out and like evolve those into something. You know, I'm very much into chord interesting chord shapes and unexpected turns and twists in a song, so I'm very bring into that. And then, you know, if it's an electronic record, and I'll be working on creating sounds that people won't have heard before, you know, trying to you know, give a new twist to things, and and then I will then apply the lyrics and the and the I will have already written the rhythm of the of the vocal line, but it's at that point I will add the lyrics. So that's the last thing. But it's the last thing because it's the most important thing to me. So yeah, that's usually my process of writing. But yeah, I don't think I've ever started with a whole lyric written and then set that towards I used to do that when I was at school, when I had friends who wrote poetry and they asked me to compose something around the poetry. Did then, But that's not the way I work. I always, you know, I always the lyrics are the last thing to go on.

If you ever get stuck with a block, writer's block, creator block, what's your method to break that? I mean, do you go take an actual walk around the block? I mean, how do you sort of break a block?

Yeah, I mean, you know, sometimes you get stuck with writing that you you're not quite sure that what you've done is good, and you just need to, as you say, get out of the studio, get out of the room and go and play with the dog, you know, outside, go for a walk, do something completely different, and then come back to it and go have a little bit more perspective, because it's always, you know, writing composing something. It's always about constantly critiquing your own work and going, oh, that's not good, this is good, I like this, I don't like this, And you're constantly having to make decisions and sometimes if you get a bit tired and wore down, you could make the wrong one, you know. So I always say that it's very important to wake up the morning after you've written something and for it's still to be resonating around in your head. And if it's not, you probably haven't got anything that's really good and we're worth keeping. So that's my test. Am I still singing it the next morning in my head? And if I am, then I will I'll continue with that. I won't ditch the idea. You know.

We've had a few guests on who were part of Live Aid the Philadelphia side of the Live Aid performance. John Oates from Hall and Oates and we also had Tom Bailey from Thompson Twins talking about their experience in Philly Live Aid. What was your memory of the Live Aid performance at Wembley.

And well, I mean it is an extraordinary was an extraordinary thing to be involved in the most extraordinary thing, really, I mean, the biggest gig that anybody will ever do, because it was a billion people, I don't know, two billion people watching on TV around There was a global event, so that in itself sets it apart from any other experience you're ever going to have. It was for such a brilliant cause and that's why absolutely thought to be part of it. I really wanted to be part of that, you know, And to me, it was like the best thing that happened in culture during the eighties. And you know, I canceled shows on the West coast of these states with my band to be there, and I flew in with my backing singers, Aprodisiac, and we flew in on a helicopter with the members of Queen, you know, Brian May and Roger Deacon and yeah, it was, it was. It was just amazing from start to winis I spent half an hour talking with Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, and Linda took a picture of me and Paul, which is one of my most prized possessions, and then came to the to the show, and you know, I was going to because the band and everything only equipment was on the other side of the planet. So I decided to do it, you know, as a piano performance. And I don't think people knew that I even played the piano. They thought I was the synth guy, you know, the synth pop guy. But obviously I've been playing since I was seven, so it was really like walking and breathing to me. So I chose to play some got Hide and Seek because I thought that was the most appropriate song for the occasion. It wasn't the biggest hit, you know, or anything like that, but it was the song that was about hope and it was and I thought that was the most important message to put out that day from me, and started the song, you know, verse a little quick, a little. I was so nervous because I was one hundred thousand people in Wembley, but let alone all the cameras and stuff. So I got to the chorus and then the whole audience joined in with me, and it was like, oh my god, that the feeling was the buzz was unbelievable, and it was like they were sort of lifting lifting me up, and you know, they were, they were really with me on that stage and it was such a wonderful feeling and something I'll you know, never never forget. And I felt so grateful to be there. I mean, there's so many experiences I had that day. I met David Bowie and chatting with him, and you know, it was just endless, endless. You know, could write a whole book about that day. But yeah, but it was something very proud of and glad that I was there, and glad that I chose to do that song.

So what are the biggest challenges that you faced in your career?

Hmmm, Well, I mean that the hardest thing at the beginning was actually getting a record deal, because in those days, that was the only way to get your music out there. It's very different now you can get your music out like instantly, but in those days, there was there was a there were gatekeepers, you know, you and it was the record companies and the publishers. And I got turned down by every publisher and every record company, and you know, partly because I was doing something I think completely original, was the one man electronic band. You know, I've been doing it for two or three years. I developed it into a thing, and and I think they thought well, and obviously I had a dance one stage as well Jed Hoyle, who was amazing. So there's a little bit out of their comfort zone in terms of they couldn't compare you to anyone else, right, So but I there was one guy from Stiff Records that actually got it, a guy called Paul Conroy, and he got poached and ended up going to Warner Brothers and wanted to take me with them. So so that was a very exciting thing because I ended up on the one of the you know, one of the best labels in the world, and within a team of people who totally believed in me. But that was the hard thing. It was getting through that door right at the beginning. And I think that once I was there, I was going to fight to stay to stay there, you know, I was. I was not going to give this up easily. And I think that's that's basically what it is. And you know, I'd learned that it's always down to you. You've got to drive things. You've got to drive the agenda. You've got to you've got to infuse people around you. You've got to you know, be the person who ignites people's energy and and you know, and desire to help because you you know what you do because I I can do the music, but I can't do all the other stuff. So you need great people around you to to to keep it all going. And but it's your job to make sure you have great people around you and that you look after them and that you appreciate what they're doing. So, you know, I think because it was so hard to get a record deal, I was very attentive to the fact that I'm not going to let this go.

So if there's some new artists or you know, up and coming artists that are listening to this podcast, what advice would you give them?

Well, you know, I always say, you know, because circumstances are always changing within our music industry. You know, when I first put my records out, it was on cassettes and vinyl and CDs are just coming out, and look where we are now, you know, I mean, it's a totally different world. So it's it's almost like patronizing to say to young people, oh, well, this is what I did when I was when I was started starting out. So but what what I do say was is whatever it is you you love doing. You know, if you love doing music, then you can't sit around and wait for it to happen. You have to make it happen yourself. So if you want to perform, then perform in any way you possibly can. So go around to your friend's house and with your guitar or your keyboard or whatever it is, and perform in their living room to them, or your friends or your family, or you know, do a little pig in the local towel hall or or whatever. But do what you would love to do and see if you still love it and find out if that's really what floats your boat, right, And because it's got to do that, because if you're going to make it a success of it, you have to be happy with just doing it to one or two people somewhere, you know, forget that playing stadiums and huge venues and you know, festivals. Do you enjoy it at its most basic level? And if you do, and if you love that and you can't live without doing that, then then it's going to work. It's going to work and the doors will open for you. But if you don't have that, then maybe there's something else that is going to be more exciting for you.

Tell me how excited you are to be hitting the road with the ABC and Haircut one hundred. This is going to be truly a feel great experience for everybody who goes to it. How do you feel about all this?

Oh? Yeah, I mean, you know, I always like to create a curates a great lineup so that people being really excited to come to the for the first minute of the show to the last, you know, So I think this is a I'm so excited just to hear Haircut and Martin Martin Fry every night. I mean, that's it's just going to be such a great night. I love touring anyway, I mean I love, I love what I do. I'm so fortunate to be doing what what I absolutely love. So yeah, I mean it's going to be a very cool show. And you know, people, well, I mean it's it's so so well that we've had to add extra dates all over the place, and so that's very exciting as well. So we know that when we get there, people are really, you know, really up for it. So yeah, very excited. It's going to be a fabulous end of the summer thing.

And as you said earlier, I mean we all need to be lifted up during difficult times, right.

Yeah, I really feel that's the function of of of music and art, you know, is to is to just reinvigorate people because it's tough. It's tough being the human being at the moment. Maybe it always has but it's particularly bad at the moment. So you know, we need that extra energy, and shows can be really you know, walk out the show, you know, feeling a little bit more energized about what we can do to change things.

But you also, I do believe believe in the power of sending good vibes in everybody's way, right, your your Buddhist teachings send out great emotion, right, Yeah, Well you.

Know, I.

You know, I've got my Buddi's practice. I've been practicing for thirty years now, and so I practice every day, and it is to be you know, wanting to start with you know, start with myself. If I want to change the world, I got to start with myself and change the way that I view things and the way I treat people and the way I conduct myself. So that needs constant effort, and that's why I have a practice. You know, each ant amorenge Kio, and you think about improving yourself and for the sake of your own life, but also for the lives of all the other people around you and anybody you have contact with. So you know, the music is an extension of that. You know, want to go out. I want to I want people to feel uplifted and to be feel more confident about how great they are and you know, and to do something that contributes to society and contributes to their family and their friends and the world. And you know, it starts with us. So I was trying to get that over in what I do.

Yeah, Howard, And closing, what are you still desiring to learn, either as a person or as an artist or both?

Well, you know, it's I think it's just it's always like the journey of becoming better at everything. Like you know, today I was, I was doing my vocal training exercises and I was on my bike getting fit for the for the tour. I you know, it's like, you know, taking it all seriously, getting better at at writing, getting better at expressing oneself, getting better at treating people well, and having a great feeling of a team around you that you look people you look after and make sure they're happy. And you know, it's it's all those things, and it's and it's like it's it's a cliche, I suppose a bit, but it's the journey of doing that. The results take care of themselves, you know. But if you if you have a great determination on the way, you know, then then then life can be very fulfilling. I would like to have a fulfilling life.

Thanks Howard Jones, good luck on the tour with ABC and Haircut one hundred coming to a city near you. And congrats it live at the two as well.

Okay, thank you so much, buzz that's great.

Thanks for listening to the Taking a Walk podcast with Howard Jones. Leave us a review at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcast. And thanks for listening to Taking a Walk on the iHeart Podcast Network, America's number one podcast network.