Howard Jones tells of his Saddleworth memories before his Manchester concert this week

Howard Jones – solo shows are an intimate trip through Howard’s 30 year music career

Reporter: Stuart Littleford

As Howard Jones prepares for his Manchester concert this Thursday he tells Saddleworth News about his visits to the area in the early days of his career.

It was in 1983 that Howard first burst upon the contemporary music scene with his very English songwriting, pioneering synthesizers and thought provoking lyrics.  He set out his manifesto in his very first single ‘ New Song’. The lyrics called on the listener to challenge their preconceived ideas, to see both sides and ‘throw off your mental chains’. New Song was recently used in a pivotal scene in ‘Breaking Bad’ where Aaron Paul’s character Jessie Pinkman quhat ive done in the pastestions if he wants to ‘play by the rules’. New Song peaked at number 3 in the UK singles charts.

Along with ‘New Song’, The first two albums, ‘Humans Lib’ and ‘Dream into Action’, brought Howard a host of hits including ‘Things Can Only Get Better’, ‘What is Love?’, ‘Pearl In The Shell’, ‘Like to Get To know You Well’, ‘Hide And Seek’ (performed at Live Aid), ‘Look Mama’ and  ‘No One Is To Blame’, which reached No.1 in the US.

Speaking to Saddleworth News editor, Stuart Littleford, Howard said: “I lived in a caravan in Whalley Range for a while and in winter it was that cold you almost died! I remember vividly the thick ice on the inside of the windows when you woke in the morning, it always seemed like your breath was going to freeze solid!

“How I got through those early days living around Manchester like that was a miracle. It was around that time I used to rehearse a lot with a band in Didsbury called Bicycle Seat.

“Later on I started to share a flat in Bramhall near Stockport with a mate from college. I remember it always seemed to be quite a ‘posh’ area and a lot different from where I had been living before.

“We used to do regular sessions on Piccadilly Radio in Manchester from 2am till 6am in the morning, I had to perform something live literally every twenty minutes on the show – it was all very intense.

“When I had some free time at weekends myself and a few others would travel out of Manchester and go up to Saddleworth and that area, the countryside was fantastic, I know it helped to clear my mind sometimes. It also helped in a creative way being in such nice surroundings, I remember the views from the hilltops were amazing – such a lovely place.

“When I was back in Manchester I used to like going to watch the opera and other concerts, there was always something happening in the city music wise, the atmosphere was always very good in the smaller music venues.”

I asked Howard how he thought his music had developed and changed over the years and what people could expect to find at one his concerts these days.

“I started my career in electronic music in the early 80’s but have recently tried to mix things around, my concert this week at The Royal Northern College of Music is really me telling my life story and what my music is all about now, as well as capturing the spirit of my early career to some extent.

“I wanted to make this gig it a little different to what people would expect me to be doing.

Howard explained that he now prefers to perform a lot more of his acoustic sets and how he has worked hard to develop these morey, he says fans have told him how they have “really enjoyed them” and that they believe have enriched the concerts even more.

He says these help to make the concerts “focus on the song writing more and not just the musical aspect”.

“Last year when I played the Academy in Manchester it was with the band, it was mostly the old electronic music, but this is going to be different, and I’m sure people will love it,” he added.

Howard has sold over 8 million albums across the globe and is one of a select group of British artists who have comprehensively ‘broken America’.

Howard Jones solo shows are an intimate trip through Howard’s 30 year music career. Many of his best known songs were composed on his favourite instrument; the piano.  Howard shares behind the scenes stories and reveals the inspiration behind the songs in these rare acoustic shows.

Howard will be supported by Elise Yuill, a Devonshire-based singer songwriter fast establishing herself in the contemporary folk scene. Elise, following successful shows in 2015 at Glastonbury festival and venues across the South West of England, will be performing songs from her debut album due for release in 2016.

There just a handful of tickets left for this weeks gig in Manchester on Thursday 18 February at the Royal Northern College of Music, if your interested you can contact the box office on: 0161 907 5200 or visit the website at rncm.ac.uk/performance/howard-jones

Author: Jude Gidney - Editor

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