The 12" Album (2011 Remastered Edition) Howard Jones

• 1Always Asking Questions (2011 Remaster)04:27
• 2New Song (New Version) [2011 Remaster]05:23
• 3What Is Love? (Extended Mix) [2011 Remaster]06:35
• 4Like To Get To Know You Well (International Mix) [2011 Remaster]07:34
• 5Pearl In The Shell (Extended Mix) [2011 Remaster]06:39
• 6Total Conditioning (2011 Remaster)06:58
• Total Runtime37:36

Info for The 12" Album (2011 Remastered Edition)

Six 12-inch mixes by the British pop musician from 1984, whereby the long versions of ‘Always asking questions’ (4.27) and ‘Pearl in the shell’ (6.44) were previously unreleased. ‘New song’ (5.23) is artistically outstanding and fully convincing in the new extended version. The high-flyer ‘What is love’ (6.34) in the extended mix, one of my absolute favourites by Howard Jones, is a real hit. ‘Like to get to know you well’ (7.35) is represented here in the International Mix and is therefore the longest track on the album. ‘Total Conditioning‘ (6.58), the opener from Howard Jones’ debut album ‘Human's lib’, falls down in quality in the long version and can't keep up with the other tracks on the disc. Another point of criticism is the short playing time of only 37 minutes, as the album served as a gap filler between Howard Jones' first and second studio albums.

Howard Jones

Digitally remastered

John Howard Jones
was born in Southampton, England, on the 23rd of February 1955 to Welsh parents, John and Thelma Jones. He has 3 brothers, Roy, Martin and Paul, with Howard being the oldest. Howard learned to play the piano at the age of seven. His fathers' career took the family overseas to Canada, and Howard made an appearance on Canadian TV singing Welsh songs.

Howard attended several schools in England including Leicester, and Rugby, Cardiff in Wales and of course High Wycombe. He went to the Royal Grammar School where he got ten "O" and two "A" levels. (Howard said, "They served me no purpose whatsoever") And despite his music teacher advising him not to take music "A" level he formed his first band called Warrior. Warrior drew its musical influences from bands like Genesis, and Emerson Lake and Palmer. Howard describes the music as being Electro Classical Rock!

Howard enrolled in the Royal Northern College of Music, in Manchester in 1974, where he studied classical piano. Whilst he was there he earned extra money doing the night shift on Piccadilly Radio. Every 20 minutes between Midnight and 6am he would play a selection of his own music, on a synthesizer. The sessions were supposed to be purely instrumental, but on occasions Howard could not resist singing, and as a result had several phone calls... to complain!

Howard used to give piano lessons. It is there he met Jan Smith, who he later married. It was whilst they was selling fruit and veg off the back of a van that a runaway vehicle crashed into the van, injuring Jan. She wasn't hurt badly, but Howard persuaded her to claim compensation. She used the money to buy Howard a synthesizer. The Shop delivered two by mistake and Howard liked the combination of the two so much, that he paid for the extra one. The shop knows him as "Honest Howard"!

Howard began performing as a solo artist, in the clubs and pubs in High Wycombe. It was at one of these shows that Howard noticed Jed Hoile dancing and performing mime to his songs. This was the start of a very impressive visual partnership that continued to 1987.

Howard continues to be an active musician, producer and performer and records in his own studio, and lives in Somerset, England.

Electronic music pioneer Howard Jones has been a constant presence on the international touring scene for the past four decades, playing live in a number of different configurations including intimate solo shows and dates with his full high-tech band set-up. He first burst upon the contemporary music scene in 1983, with his very English songwriting and pioneering synthesizers with 'New Song'. His first two albums HUMAN'S LIB and DREAM INTO ACTION were worldwide hits. HUMAN'S LIB reached #1 in 1984 in the UK and featured the hits 'New Song,' and 'What Is Love?' In 1985, Jones released the follow-up, DREAM INTO ACTION, which quickly became a Top Ten Platinum album in the United States and featured the smashes: 'Things Can Only Get Better,' 'Life In One Day,' 'No One Is To Blame,' and 'Like To Get To Know You Well.'

Howard Jones has sold upwards of 10 million albums worldwide and continues to make new music and tour the world. Jones has performed on NBC's top-rated morning and nighttime shows respectively, Today and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. His ubiquitous hits can be heard in such high-profile television series and films such as 'Stranger Things,' 'Breaking Bad,' 'Watchmen,' 'The Carrie Diaries', 'Superstore' and 'Bumblebee'. Howard Jones' most recent album is DIALOGUE, which was released in September 2022. DIALOGUE is the third album in a trilogy of electronic releases from Jones with multi-media project ENGAGE released in 2015 and studio album TRANSFORM, released in 2019. DIALOGUE garnered serious coverage in outlets such as Spin, Stereogum and more.

This album contains no booklet.