Howard Jones

Howard Jones is a British singer, songwriter and keyboard player whose early-1980s success helped turn the synthesizer from the machinery of experimental electronic music into an instrument of emotionally direct mainstream pop. Born in Southampton in 1955 and trained in classical piano, Jones built his first solo shows around keyboards, sequencers and the visual performance of mime artist Jed Hoile before signing to WEA in 1983.

His debut single New Song reached the UK top five, followed by What Is Love?, and his first albums Human’s Lib and Dream Into Action established an optimistic, highly melodic form of synth-pop that also achieved substantial American success. Jones’s stage presentation was important to that identity: technology was made visible rather than hidden, while Hoile’s mime and projected imagery gave a one-man electronic performance a theatrical visual counterpart.